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British actress Emma Watson, who is famous for her role in the Harry Potter movie franchise, has become the latest celebrity to be named in the Panama Papers leaks, joining thousands of business people, celebrities and world leaders who are hiding millions of dollars in offshore tax havens.
OPINION:
Has the Media Failed the Public on the Panama Papers?
Watson’s name appears on a list of shareholders of Falling Leaves Ltd., a British Virgin Islands-based firm, as part of a searchable database the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released Monday.
A spokesman for the 26-year-old confirmed the news, but stressed the offshore account was used for privacy purposes. “Emma (like many high profile individuals) set up an offshore company for the sole purpose of protecting her anonymity and safety,” he told The Spectator.
Earlier this week, ICIJ made 200,000 offshore account details from Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm at the center of the leak, available online.
Last month, In what is described as the biggest documents leak in the history of journalism, an unknown whistleblower exposed more than 11.5 million documents belonging to the Panamanian law firm. The documents were obtained by various news organizations and advocacy groups including ICIJ and The Guardian.
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