Trudeau's chief fundraiser and Putin allies among big names in 13.4 million files

An enormous new leak of tax-haven financial records — rivalling the Panama Papers in size and scope — is laying bare some of the financial secrets of the world's elite, from the Queen to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chief fundraiser to U.S. President Donald Trump's commerce secretary, along with more than 120 politicians across the globe.

The 13.4 million records in what is being dubbed the Paradise Papers come largely from Appleby, one of the biggest offshore law firms on the planet, which was founded in Bermuda and has branches in tax havens around the world.

The records expose the assets and sometimes murky dealings of a host of characters, as well as the ways corporate giants like Apple, Nike and Uber avoid taxes legally through increasingly creative bookkeeping.  

The leak was obtained by German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and a network of more than 380 journalists in 67 countries, including CBC/Radio-Canada and the Toronto Star in Canada.  

The leaked Appleby files contain the names of more than 3,000 Canadians and Canadian entities, including hundreds of companies, wealthy individuals, lawyers, accountants, and people who inherited money stashed in their family's offshore accounts in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands. Read more at CBC News