If you thought the fantasy land of Bollywood, at least, would not be tainted by the Panama papers leaks, you were wrong. Bollywood stars Amitabh and his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are among the 500 Indian citizens whose names appear:
"The Express stated that, back in 1993, Bachchan was appointed director in at least four offshore shipping companies which were registered in tax havens. Three of these were registered in the Bahamas with another in the British Virgin Islands.
"According to the newspaper, "The authorized capital of these companies ranged between a modest $5,000-50,000 but they traded in ships worth millions of dollars."
"The newspaper also added that it had earlier attempted to solicit a response from the actor and his company AB Corporation, but did not get a response."
Russian political scientist Maria Snegovaya spoke with RFE/RL's Russian Service about how the Panama leaks could affect Russia.
"It is clear that these documents are not directed straight at Russians because Russians are hardly likely to find out about them -- the Kremlin-controlled media are not going to show them -- and even if Russians did find out, they would say: 'We already know that, but at least he gave us back Crimea.'
"This information is for the West, for organizations that investigate corruption mechanisms, and for Western leaders who know have clear proof of the Kremlin's corruption. I have no doubt that the State Department and other U.S. structures had this information earlier, but the value of these documents is that they give precise legal levers of influence over the Kremlin."
In case you haven't seen it yet, RFE/RL has aggregated its English-language coverage of the Panama papers here.
Popular television detective Columbo has a question for British Prime Minister David Cameron:
Gonzalo Delaveau, the head of the Chilean branch of the international NGO Transparency International resigned on April 5 after his name appeared in the Panama papers linked to at least five offshore firms. It is not known if he did anything illegal, but the revelation was embarrassing.
Transparency International issued a statement that read in part:
"While Delaveau is not reportedly accused of illegal activity, and he may be able to explain his activities, for us that is not the point. Not all secret companies are illegal, but many are used to hide money flows and to support acts of corruption. As we said yesterday in a press release about the Panama Papers investigation: Transparency International wants public registers of all companies' beneficial owners to make it harder for the corrupt to hide their illicit wealth in secret companies and trusts that use nominees to register ownership.
"We are now looking into measures to ensure this does not happen again."
Money laundering:
The Guardian on April 7 continues to probe the connection between the Panama leaks and the father of British Prime Minister David Cameron. A holding fund that Cameron's father set up was apparently doing extensive research on tax-avoidance schemes in 2012, at a time when Cameron himself was already criticizing them. "Some of these schemes we have seen are quite frankly morally wrong," Cameron is quoted as saying at the time.
This poster is making waves in Russia as the official state media continue to largely ignore the implications of the Panama papers for President Vladimir Putin's government. In Russian, "panama" usually refers to a panama hat and this poster shows Putin wearing one (in the style of gonzo American journalist Hunter. S. Thompson) with the caption: "What panama?"
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which is coordinating the investigation of the Panama papers, has issued a FAQ on themselves and the entire project.