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The Pandora Papers is a leak of 12 million documents and files from companies providing offshore services in tax havens around the world. They expose the financial secrets of some of the world’s richest people, including world leaders, politicians and celebrities. The data was obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in Washington DC, which has organised the biggest ever global investigation spanning 117 countries and involving over 600 journalists. In the UK the investigation has been led by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Panorama and the Guardian. The files include details of the ownership of property around the world, including London. But why does the ownership of houses in some of London's wealthiest streets matter? Tom Burgis, author of The Looting Machine about the plunder of African treasuries, and Kleptopia about the dirty money in the global economy, argues that it matters, particularly for those who live in kleptocracies, where those in power use their positions to pilfer a nation's wealth, as it allows leaders to hide the funds they've taken. But he says it should also matter to people in democracies like the UK, because nations like Russia are 'weaponising' kleptocracy in an undeclared and unconventional war against wealthy democracies. This should be the incentive, he says, for western nations to rethink the global rules and mechanisms which benefit the rich and allow corruption to flourish. "In ever greater parts of the world, people are holding power to profit from it, in order to loot the countries where they hold power. Kleptocratic billions are percolating into the democratic system and... those democratic systems are struggling to withstand this onslaught." (Image: A graphic showing a range of London properties Credit: ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ)