In Pakistan, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been handed a jail sentence because of what the Panama Papers revealed and because he and his family could not explain where he got the money to buy luxury flats in London.

In Malta, amnesties are given to people to regulate their situation with the tax authorities when large sums of money are uncovered like what happened in Swiss Leaks. The same seem to be happening with regard to what the Panama Papers revealed. This has happened under both Nationalist and Labour administrations.

We should ask these honourable people (in name only) where the money came from.

I think that one way of transforming hidden money into legal assets is by fuelling it into development. That is why we need planning laws with no loopholes because the money involved is huge and no environmental NGO has the resources to combat the twists and turns.

 

Joe Portelli

Nadur