Pandora Papers: Media hype around '2 Zaman Park' creates suspicion

• "The investigative team thought it is possible to have more than 2 addresses with the same name," Umar Cheema says.
• Shahbaz Gill had issued a clarification regarding the 2 Zaman Park address, saying there are two addresses with the same name.
• Gill says he was questioned whether PM Imran Khan registered an address abroad with someone else's name.

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While the International Consortium of Investigative (ICIJ) did not find anything suspicious about Prime Minister Imran Khan's 2 Zaman Park residential address in the Pandora Papers probe, "pre-empted" media noise over the issue has raised eyebrows.

Speaking to Geo News, senior Pakistani investigative journalist Umar Cheema, who was part of the investigative team of Pandora Papers, said that during the probe, the ICIJ did not find anything implicating PM Imran Khan.

"After the investigative team started probing the address and the ICIJ sent queries to the PM’s spokesperson to seek an answer, the team had the impression that there is nothing suspicious about the address," he said.

"We thought that it is possible to have more than two addresses with the same name and did not think of it as something problematic," Cheema said. 

However, the way the government reacted to it by saying the PM does not own any offshore company, even before the official release of the Pandora Papers, made the matter look suspicious, he added.

Earlier today, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill issued a clarification regarding the 2 Zaman Park address and said that he was questioned whether the premier has registered a property abroad under someone else's name, therefore, he wishes to issue a statement regarding that. 

He said that there are two properties, about half a kilometre apart, with two separate entrances, but with the "same address" — 2 Zaman Park.

Gill said whosoever owns the offshore companies will have to answer for his businesses himself. The prime minister does not personally know the man who owns the other address nor has ever met him or his father, the premier's aide said.

"So this is in response to all those who are trying to spread misinformation that the premier has registered a property abroad under someone else's name."

What are Pandora Papers?

On Sunday, the Pandora Papers, an investigation uncovering financial secrets held by high-profile individuals across the world, exposed the names of more than 700 Pakistanis, including Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi, Senator Faisal Vawda, Ishaq Dar’s son, PPP’s Sharjeel Memon, the family of Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar, and PTI leader Abdul Aleem Khan, among others, with alleged links to offshore companies.

Some retired army officials, businessmen — including Axact’s CEO Shoaib Sheikh — and media company owners, have also been named in the leaks.

ICIJ received more than 11.9 million documents containing 2.94 terabytes worth of confidential information from service providers who helped set up and manage offshore companies and trusts in tax havens around the world.

The ICIJ shared the data with 150 media organisations and has led the broadest collaboration in journalism history. It took the ICIJ almost two years to organise the investigation that involved more than 600 journalists in 117 countries, making it the biggest-ever journalism partnership.

By comparison, for the Panama Papers, almost 400 journalists from 80 countries participated in the investigation.

The News was the only ICIJ partner from Pakistan on both occasions. In addition, The News also partnered with the ICIJ in the Bahamas leak and the Paradise Papers.

The Pandora Papers leak has uncovered financial secrets of more leaders and public officials than the Panama Papers did and provide more than twice as much information about the ownership of offshore companies.

The Panama Papers were based on the data of a Panama-based law firm called Mossack Fonseca that revealed offshore holdings of 140 politicians, public offshore and sports stars. Those documents were obtained by the German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, which contained records dating back 40 years.

By comparison, the Pandora Papers investigation is bigger in size and revelations about politicians and public officials are also far more than what previously came to public attention.

PM Imran Khan welcomes Pandora Papers investigation

Taking to Twitter minutes after the Pandora Papers were released, PM Imran Khan said that he welcomes the probe.

"We welcome the Pandora Papers exposing the ill-gotten wealth of elites, accumulated through tax evasion and corruption and laundered out to financial 'havens. The UN SG's Panel FACTI calculated a staggering $7 trillion in stolen assets parked in largely offshore tax-havens," he wrote.