Back in April, the Panama Papers rocked the world, exposing just how the global elite use offshore trusts in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands, Panama and the Bahamas to hide their wealth and dodgy deals. Thanks to an anonymous whistleblower who leaked a huge amount of data from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, we now have confirmation of the full extent of global tax avoidance.
UPDATE: Prime Minister John Key has made a desperate attempt to shift focus away from the real issues in the Panama Papers by repeating some long discredited allegations connected to charities seemingly appearing in a search of the 2013 ‘offshore leaks’ dump (not the Panama Papers). The Prime Minister is wrong. The search shows an entity mischieviously named “Greenpeace International” as a beneficiary of something called Exodus Trust. But Sunday Times in the UK reported this as a scam three years ago at the time of the document dump. The scam sees tax dodgers using the names of charities, like Greenpeace, and Amnesty to shelter hundreds of millions of dollars from the tax authorities in offshore trusts.
Protesters in Reykjavik, Iceland
The consequences of the Panama Papers have been far-reaching; there’s been high profile resignations, raids and some improved regulation, as well as mass protests and corporate firings. And that’s just for starters.
New Zealand has been implicated as a tax haven and Prime Minister John Key himself is coming under pressure.
Governments often tell us they can’t afford environmental safeguards. This systematic tax avoidance facilitated by Governments shows how hollow those claims are.
A new leak…
Early this morning, a new trove of top secret information from the Panama Papers hit the web. It’s likely to be the largest ever leak of secret offshore funds and the people behind them. Previously, the leaked documents were only handed to a small number of journalists. But now a huge list of the offshore companies and the names of their owners – who used Mossack Fonseca – is available to for us all to search through. In fact, the database is so huge that the world’s journalists and those working on it need as much help as they can get to uncover more of the Panama Papers’ secrets.
Would you like to have a go at uncovering the next big story? We’d love to hear from you…
Sounds good! What can I do?
Excellent, good on you! This is a chance for people like you to continue the investigation, and to help expose those exploiting the planet for profit.
If you have a little time to spare, you can help to sift through the data and see if you can uncover any leads. If you discover something juicy, there’s an opportunity to shine some light on the darker corners of global finance and unearth some great stories.
So what exactly am I looking for? And how do I search?
We’re looking for people and organisations in New Zealand or with interests in New Zealand who have links to offshore trusts. We’re talking about the usual suspects – wealthy politicians, polluting companies, oil companies, organisations involved in deforestation or ocean exploitation, or individuals who are connected to those companies. It could be someone Greenpeace has campaigned on before, or someone entirely new. It’s up to you.
Just go to the ICIJ database, and run your list of names through the search engine. You can search by country, jurisdiction or names (tip: try different spellings to find more results). There’s some more detailed advice on the ICIJ website.
If available, you’ll get a graphic (like the one below) showing any offshore trusts registered to your target. Then let us know what you found!
It’s useful to keep in mind – there can be legitimate and legal explanations for using offshore trusts. At worst though, they can help individuals and companies to avoid paying their fair share, and even to hide bribes and dodgy underworld payments.
We can’t guarantee we’ll be able to turn every bit of information into a story. But together we can follow the best leads and see where they go. We’ll also keep your information completely confidential, unless you tell us otherwise.
How can I contact you?
Simple – just drop an email to 
with what you’ve found, or any questions, and we’ll be in touch. Happy hunting!
I know about something else - how can I share it with Greenpeace?
To enable you or someone you know to provide us with information that will expose shady corporate practices and lobbyists, put the spotlight on polluting industry practice or help hold our elected leaders to account we have set up Safesource.org.nz
Safesource is a secure and encrypted way for people to blow the whistle anonymously and help us clean up our politics and our environment.
SafeSource uses SecureDrop, an encrypted ‘dead drop’ system that allows us to receive and protect files from anonymous sources. SecureDrop is open-source software managed and developed by Freedom of the Press Foundation. It was originally coded by the late Aaron Swartz and Kevin Poulsen. It is used by The Guardian, The Intercept, and ProPublica amongst others.