Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim’s family is among the rich and powerful named in the latest dump of confidential documents, according to Cumhuriyet, the only Turkish news outlet that collaborated in the international investigation.
Yildirim’s family, including his two sons, were found to have investments in Malta enabling them to avoid paying taxes in Turkey, the newspaper said this week. They join a list of sundry figures like Queen Elizabeth, U2 front man Bono and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as well as corporate giants, who have used offshore companies to hide their wealth, according to data taken from the Bermuda-based law firm Appleby Group. More than 13 million documents were leaked in the latest trove, dubbed the Paradise Papers.
Such tax avoidance is technically legal, experts said, but the news raises questions about the ethics of elected officials or celebrities seeking tax havens not widely available to the general public and comes at a time when many are deeply frustrated that the super-wealthy do not pay their fair share.
The popular Yildirim, who served as transportation minister before taking over a top government post last year, said the report was an attempt to create “a perception” around him, though he did not deny the existence of the investments.
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