- Sunday, May 04, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
LEAKED documents, numbering in millions and called the Pandora Papers, along with a worldwide journalistic consortium on Sunday (3) have claimed to have found financial secrets of several current and former world leaders, politicians and public officials in nearly 100 countries and territories, including India.
And one of the names that have been found in connection with the revelations is former India cricket captain Sachin Tendulkar, the world’s highest run-getter who is revered as “God” in the country. The 48-year-old is also the only Indian sportsperson to have been accorded the country’s highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna‘.
India, Pak vow to probe ‘Pandora Papers’ leak
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which involved UK media outlets like the BBC and The Guardian and Indian newspaper like The Indian Express among 150 houses in its investigation, said in its report, “People linked by the secret documents to offshore assets include India’s cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar, pop music diva Shakira, supermodel Claudia Schiffer and an Italian mobster known as ‘Lell the Fat One’.”
Kiran-Mazumdar Shaw slams reports on ‘Pandora Papers’ leak
The consortium said it obtained the trove of nearly 12 million confidential files to discover secret financial dealings of several super rich.
“Mr. Tendulkar’s attorney said the cricket player’s investment is legitimate and has been declared to tax authorities. Ms. Shakira’s attorney said the singer declared her companies, which the attorney said do not provide tax advantages. Ms. Schiffer’s representatives said the supermodel correctly pays her taxes in the U.K., where she lives,” the report said while revealing the defence of the accused stars.
Reaction came pouring on Twitter after the revelation was made.
#SachinTendulkar
God of Cricket… huh!!! pic.twitter.com/oZudqcfr00— Meme Wale Baba (@meme_wale_baba) October 4, 2021
Never meet your heroes. The realization is heartbreaking after meeting them. Rahul Dravid is the lone exception.#SachinTendulkar #PandoraPapers
— ?????? ?????? (@imacuriosguy) October 4, 2021
Shocking… He is keep on telling #India #India.. Indians..
But he illegally invested and cheated whole India.
Very worst little master. Bharat Ratna.?? @sachin_rt @ICC @BCCI @IndianExpress @BBCWorld pic.twitter.com/TQJW1zIv0K
— Ravikumar R (@ravikumarr_offl) October 4, 2021
A number of politicians have also been found linked to the offshore dealings and among them, six are reportedly Indians. Seven are from Pakistan, it said.
“ICIJ’s latest investigation, the Pandora Papers, brings renewed attention to the use of offshore companies by Pakistani political players. This time, the offshore holdings of people close to (Prime Minister Imran) Khan are being disclosed, including his finance minister and a top financial backer,” the report claimed.
According to the ICIJ, its secret documents expose offshore dealings of the likes of the King of Jordan, the presidents of Kenya, Ukraine and Ecuador, the prime minister of the Czech Republic and former British premier Tony Blair.
The files also revealed financial activities of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s “unofficial minister of propaganda” and more than 130 billionaires from Russia, the US and several other nations.
