Update: 189 Vietnamese individuals and organizations named in the Panama Papers

Vietnam appeared in the Panama Papers list with 189 individuals, organizations and 19 shell companies established abroad.

189 Vietnamese individuals and organizations are named in the Panama Papers. Illustration photo: TNW

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the Panama Papers early this morning as a searchable database at offshoreleaks.icij.org. Information on 200,000 offshore entities set up by wealthy individuals around the world was revealed this time.

Before the full data was released, by searching the ICIJ website, viewers found 104 individuals and organizations in Vietnam named in the Panama Papers. By now, the number has increased to 189. Vietnam has 19 offshore shell companies, most of which are located in the British Virgin Islands. In addition, the documents also publicly disclosed the names of 23 individuals and intermediary organizations along with 185 addresses in Vietnam.

In Europe, the UK and Russia are the two countries with the largest offshore shell companies, with 17,973 and 11,516 entities, respectively. In addition, the number of individuals and organizations from these two countries appearing in the ICIJ database is 5,676 and 6,285, respectively.

The number of shell companies, organizations and individuals related to the US is 6,254 and 7,325.

In Asia, China also has a large number of offshore shell companies, with 4,188 entities. Meanwhile, the number in Japan is 28. Singapore also has a high number of offshore shell companies, with 5,869 entities.

The documents were part of a 2.6TB trove of data sent to the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung more than a year ago by an anonymous source, known only as John Doe. They originated from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm that specializes in setting up and operating offshore entities.

Since its publication on April 3, the Panama Papers have created a global stir. This is considered one of the largest document leaks in history.

Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and Spanish Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria resigned after their names appeared in the Panama Papers. British Prime Minister David Cameron was forced to release his tax records. Wealthy people in Australia, France, India, Mexico, Peru, Spain and other countries are also under investigation for suspected tax evasion.

According to VNE