PANAMA CITY, Panama – Former Iraqi vice president Iyad Allawi’s name has surfaced in the Panama Papers scandal, alleging that he was the owner of multiple luxury properties in London. Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian company that is at the heart of the scandal and which specialized in setting up offshore accounts where some of the world’s most powerful leaders squirrelled away secret funds, reportedly had set up a similar arrangement for Allawi, who was vice president between 2014 and 2015. “Mossack Fonseca supplied his 1985 Panama-registered company I.M.F. Holdings Inc. with people who stood in for Allawi as directors. He was listed as the sole shareholder in 2000,” say the papers, which were obtained by a so-called Consortium of Investigative Journalists (CIJ). “Until its dissolution in 2013, I.M.F. owned a house in Kingston upon Thames, [Surrey]. As of April 2013 the property appeared under the name of Allawi and had an estimated value of about $1.5 million. Allawi’s other offshore company, Moonlight Estates Limited, also held a property in London on his behalf. Documents for this British Virgin Islands-registered entity identify the source of funds as personal savings,” Britain’s Independent newspaper quoted the papers as saying. There were widespread allegations of corruption in Iraq during the time Allawi was interim prime minister from 2004 to 2005 – shortly after the US-led invasion of Iraq. He was also accused of collaboration with the United States, backing hardline security policies that earned him the nickname of “Saddam without a moustache” among ordinary Iraqis. The Panama Papers name other regional former or standing leaders who benefited – or continue to benefit – from offshore funds and front companies. They include Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, and Rami and Hafez Makhlouf, who are cousins of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman’s name also appears in the papers, as does that of the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, who is president of the United Arab Emirates. The former emir of Qatar and Russia’s powerful President Vladimir Putin also figure in the papers, as does the family of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Iceland’s prime minister Sigmundur Davio Gunnlaugsson was the first victim of the Panama revelations. He was forced to step down after revelations he had hidden millions in offshore accounts arranged by the Panamanian company. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has also admitted he benefited from offshore accounts owned by his father
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