PUTIN BUYS HIS LOVER AN APARTMENT WORTH 4.1 MILLION DOLLARS IN MONACO?! A new strike against the head of Russia after the explosion of The Pandora Papers affair!

Foto: Profimedia

Russian President Vladimir Putin bought his mistress an apartment worth 4.1 million dollars in the heart of Monaco, the latest leak of secret documents revealed. This affair unmasked that more than 300 world leaders, musicians and other celebrities have secret accounts in so-called tax havens so as to hide their huge fortunes there and to pay significantly lower taxes than they would have to do in their homelands.

This is the biggest leak of secret financial documents in history, even bigger than the Panama Papers affair, since it shone a light on no less than 12 million files from 14 companies. Accounts in the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Belize, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Switzerland are included.       

The documents were published thanks to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), assisted by 650 reporters from the BBC Panorama, the Guardian and 100 other media outlets. 

In these documents, Russian President Putin is not directly labeled as a person who owns wealth in one of the tax havens, but it has been established that an offshore company is run by Svetlana Krivonogikh, a woman who was recently claimed to be the Kremlin head's mistress. She allegedly gave birth to his daughter Elizaveta or Luiza in 2003, and although there is no evidence for such a thing, the West is convinced that Putin definitely has something to do with the attractive blonde. And she used precisely her offshore company to buy a valuable property in Monaco, located above one of the most famous casinos.             

It is worth mentioning that Krivonogikh is a former cleaner, and according to the British Guardian, she obviously "struck gold" at one point in her life. Apart from the Monaco apartment, she also owns an apartment in a luxurious part of Saint Petersburg, a lot of real estate throughout Moscow, as well as a yacht. The total combined value of her property is estimated at around 100 million dollars, which is something that the Kremlin has always refused to comment upon, as the Guardian points out.

Foto: Tanjug/AP

Apart from Krivonogikh, the papers also mention some of Putin's closest associates, paying a lot of attention to his childhood best friend, the late Peter Kolbin.  He was often referred to by the Western media as the "wallet" of Putin's personal wealth.

A total of 35 current and former world leaders have been targeted by the latest leak of financial documents, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie are among the big names. They reportedly "saved" 434.000 dollars in taxes when they bought an office in the heart of London by buying an offshore company that owned it.

Also, King Abdullah II of Jordan , who has 94.8 million dollars of secret wealth in accounts in Britain and the United States, primarily in Malibu, California, London and Ascot, dealt with suspicious transactions. Judging by the files, the British government failed to fulfill its promise and stand in the way of unhindered transactions on offshore accounts. It is feared that these transactions were used for money laundering or tax evasion. However, the Royal Family said briefly that such a practice of using offshore financial services was nothing new or illegal, and that people with a lot of money had been doing it since time immemorial.

Foto: Tanjug/S. AĆIMOVIĆ

The release of the documents could not have come at a worse time for Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis , who is facing elections next week, and who was revealed not to have reported owning two offshore investment companies which he used to buy two villas worth 16.2 million dollars in the south of France. Although it was known that he was one of the richest Czechs, he still did not need that kind of financial disclosure at this moment, the Guardian estimated.

On the other hand, Babis called the leak of information about his suspicious financial transactions a conspiracy against him, which had been designed so that he would lose the parliamentary elections on 8 and 9 October.

- I was waiting to see what they would pull out just before the elections to harm me and influence the Czech elections. This time a case 12 years old. From it, it is clear that I have done nothing bad or against the law, but that does not stop them from trying to slander me and thus influence the Czech elections - Babis pointed out.

The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, is also involved in the affair, since together with his closest family members and friends, he managed to become the owner of property worth 500 million dollars in Britain. He also made a profit from selling his London estate to the British crown, earning as much as 41.9 million dollars. It is also worth mentioning that the transaction was carried out thanks to the British Ministry of Finance. The family bought 17 properties, including one financial block of buildings in London worth 44.6 million dollars. That belongs to the President's son Heydar Aliyev, who is only 11 years old.

- We have never had so much evidence that showed us how world powers used their influence to access offshore accounts and companies in order to avoid paying taxes and hide their money - said Fergus Shiel from the ICIJ organization and explained how the rich used these accounts to buy valuable real estate around the world and thus achieve financial security for themselves, their family members and friends.

Foto: Tanjug/AP

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta did the same, along with six of his family members, who were discovered to own 11 offshore companies and own 30 million dollars worth of real estate.    

According to these documents, the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has millions, as well as the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. It is stated that he opened an offshore account shortly before he became the head of state in 2019.

Foto: Tanjug/AP

Since well-known music and film stars are not exempt from paying taxes, names like the Colombian singer Shakira and the German top model Claudia Schiffer were also in the Pandora Papers affair.

Shakira allegedly hid millions of dollars in her secret account in the British Virgin Islands in order to avoid paying taxes in the United States. As a reminder, those claims came only a few days after the Spanish Government sued the famous singer for avoiding to pay taxes in that country in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Schiffer (51) was also targeted, after which her legal team issued a statement almost immediately.

- Ms. Schiffer, a mother of three, duly pays taxes to Britain, where she currently lives - the statement briefly stated.

As a reminder, the Panama Papers affair reverberated around the world in 2016, but the Pandora Papers are expected to have more severe consequences for those who hide their wealth.