Former Indian cricketer and Mumbai Indians mentor Sachin Tendulkar has been named in the ‘Pandora Papers’ leak that claimed to have exposed the offshore dealings of world leaders, politicians, celebrities, and billionaires.
The Pandora Papers feature investigations from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which has around 600 journalists from media and involves investigations based on the leak of 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services.
The papers have exposed the financial secrets of some well-known people from the world and include celebrities, politicians, and world leaders, one of which is also Sachin Tendulkar.
ICIJ in their report remarked, “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’.”
It further added, “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.”
According to the Pandora Paper reports, Sachin along with his wife Anjali and father-in-law Anand Mehta were the Beneficial Owners (Bos) of an offshore entity known as Saas International Limited, which is based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) which was liquidated in 2016.
During the time of its liquidation, the shares were bought back by the shareholders that include Sachin and Anjali Tendulkar, and Anand Mehta as well.
It is important to note that the date of liquidation of this offshore entity Saas International Limited came just three months after the Panama Papers expose.
Reports also suggest that in the leaked documents of this offshore entity, the names of Sachin Tendulkar and Anjali Tendulkar have been categorized as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and are put in the “high risk” category.
When questioned about the legitimacy of this deal, Mrinmoy Mukherjee, CEO and Director of Sachin Tendulkar Foundation, said, “The referenced investment by Mr Tendulkar has been made by him from his tax paid funds under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and has been duly accounted for and declared in his tax returns.”