Jordan's king denies impropriety in luxury home purchases
Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday denied any impropriety in his purchase of luxury homes abroad, citing security needs for keeping quiet about the transactions that are reportedly worth more than $100 million. He said no public funds were used. But in a sign the Royal Palace was concerned by the report of the purchases, Jordanian media, much of which is directly or indirectly controlled by the palace, made no mention of it.
Even independent Jordanian media outlets engage in self-censorship, avoiding criticism of the king, the royal family and the security forces. The revelations were first published Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which reported that hundreds of world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires, celebrities, religious leaders and drug dealers have been hiding their investments in mansions, exclusive beachfront property, yachts and other assets for the past quarter-century.
The report is based on a review of nearly 12 million files obtained from 14 firms located around the world, the consortium said. The report is being dubbed the "Pandora Papers" because the findings shed light.
on the previously hidden dealings of the elite and the corrupt, and how they have used offshore accounts to shield assets collectively worth trillions of dollars.
For instance, the investigation found advisers helped Jordan's king set up at least three dozen shell companies from 1995 to 2017, helping the monarch buy 14 homes worth more than $106 million in the U.S. and the U.K. One was a $23 million California ocean-view property bought in 2017 through a British Virgin Islands company. The advisers were identified as an English accountant in Switzerland and lawyers in the British Virgin Islands.
The statement described the consortium's report on his real estate portfolio as a "flagrant security breach and a threat to His Majesty's and his family's safety."
