The leak of the so-called Panama Papers exposed the offshore banking info of several celebrities, revealing that Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan and martial-arts movie star Jackie Chan were among those shifting money to offshore accounts.
According to Time, Chan has no less than six shell companies under the management of Mossack Fonseca, the Panama-based law firm from which the documents leaked.
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However, it’s important to point out that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which led the year-long probe to uncover the information, said “there is no evidence that Chan used his companies for improper purposes.”;
While offshore accounts themselves aren’t illegal, the way they are used can be, with offshore accounts often utilized as tax havens for the rich and for illicit money laundering.
“There are legitimate uses for offshore companies, foundations and trusts,”; the ICIJ has said in a statement. “We do not intend to suggest or imply that any persons, companies or other entities included in the ICIJ Power Players interactive application have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly.”;
Chan has yet to respond.
