More than 30 companies and individuals are being investigated by the Panama Papers taskforce, the chancellor and the home secretary have announced.
The taskforce was set up by the government following the leak of the Panama Papers earlier this year, exposing the offshore tax havens used by some of the world’s richest and most powerful people. It included details on more than 214,000 offshore entities connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories.
When the taskforce was created seven months ago, it was said to be investigating 700 leads linked to Panama. The taskforce is led by HMRC and the National Crime Agency, while investigators, compliance specialists and analysts from the Serious Fraud Office and the Financial Conduct Authority also help on the cases.
In an update to the House of Commons, chancellor Philip Hammond and home secretary Amber Rudd said the £10m taskforce was actively investigating 22 individuals and 8 companies, but said “hundreds more” were under detailed review.
Since April, the team has also identified nine potential professional enablers of economic crime, placed 43 high net worth individuals under special review while their links to Panama are further investigated, and established links to eight active Serious Fraud Office investigations.