Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has become the latest personality whose name figure in the controversial Panama Papers as the global scandal continues to hit headlines.
Turnbull, a former investment banker, has been named as a former director of a British Virgin Islands company set up to exploit a Siberian gold prospect.
The aforementioned company, star Technology Services Limited was set up by Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca in the 1990s.
He joined the board of Star Mining NL with former New South Wales Premier Neville Wran in 1993, but both resigned two years later.
The company hoped to develop a A$20 billion ($14.67 billion)Siberian gold mine called Sukhoi Log, according to the Australian Financial Review, which first reported the story.
The use of shell companies, foundations or trusts in offshore jurisdictions is often legal and Turnbull rejected any wrongdoing.
"Can I just say to you that as the article acknowledged, there is no suggestion of any impropriety whatsoever," he told reporters on the campaign trail in Melbourne ahead of national polls on July 2, which are shaping up as a close race.
"There is nothing new there. The company concerned was a wholly-owned subsidiary of a public-listed Australian company."
The Panama Papers are leaked records from Mossack Fonseca which provide a rare insight into the legal practice used by world’s most prominent leaders, politicians and celebrities to move money to decrease tax burdens.
Tax havens and transparency have been thrust into the spotlight as governments worldwide launch probes into possible financial wrongdoing after the details of hundreds of thousands of clients’ tax affairs were leaked from Mossack Fonseca.
