More than 800 wealthy Australians are under investigation by the Australian Taxation Office for possible tax evasion linked to their alleged dealings with a Panamanian law firm.
The agency said on Monday that it had identified the individuals in data published by an international coalition of media outlets as part of an investigation into the offshore financial dealings of the world’s wealthy elite. The Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said the cache of 11.5 million records detailed the offshore holdings of a dozen current and former world leaders, celebrities and others.
The tax office’s deputy commissioner, Michael Cranston, said the agency was working with the Australian Federal Police, Australian Crime Commission and the nation’s financial intelligence agency, Austrac, to cross-check data from the documents.
