Revelations accusing the Russian president, who shouldn’t be instantly named however linked through associates, are ‘unsubstantiated’, says Kremlin.
Russia has dismissed revelations leaked within the Pandora Papers as “unsubstantiated claims” after an investigation by a media consortium shone a lightweight on wealth allegedly amassed by Kremlin-linked people.
The Pandora Papers investigation, involving some 600 journalists from media together with The Washington Submit, the BBC and The Guardian, is predicated on a leak of 11.9 million paperwork from 14 monetary providers corporations world wide.
The information had been leaked to the Worldwide Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and printed on Sunday.
Putin shouldn’t be instantly named, however he’s linked through associates to secret belongings in Monaco, notably a waterfront dwelling acquired by a Russian girl reported to have had a toddler with the Russian chief.
However Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday slammed the leaks as “only a set of largely unsubstantiated claims”.
“We didn’t see something on hidden wealth inside Putin’s inside circle,” Peskov mentioned, including it was not clear “how this info could be trusted”.
The leaks reveal that the $4m Monaco property was bought by an offshore firm in the direction of the tip of 2003 for the lady – a local of Putin’s hometown Saint Petersburg – who was beforehand reported to have had a relationship with Putin.
“If there are severe publications, which can be based mostly on one thing concrete and confer with one thing particular, then we are going to learn them with curiosity,” mentioned Peskov.
Russian investigative outlet Proekt reported in November final 12 months that the lady, Svetlana Krivonogikh, had at one level labored as a cleaner, and was the mom of Putin’s little one.
The acquisition of the property went forward shortly after Krivonogikh gave start, the leaks confirmed.
The media consortium mentioned Krivonogikh had not responded to requests for remark.
Proekt final 12 months described Krivonogikh as an elusive millionaire who lives in Russia’s former imperial capital and is the recipient of high-priced items from Kremlin-connected people.
It mentioned facial-recognition evaluation of pictures obtained by their reporters confirmed Krivonogikh’s daughter bears an in depth resemblance to Putin.
The investigative outlet was earlier this 12 months declared an “undesirable organisation” by authorities as a part of a broader crackdown on dissenting voices, banning its work in Russia below the specter of jail time.
The Pandora leaks additionally revealed that the top of a state-run tv community, Konstantin Ernst – who oversaw the opening and shutting ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics – was gifted a stake in a billion-dollar Moscow property deal.