An aerial picture shows the building that houses the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Munich, Germany.(Photo: EPA)
The German newspaper that first obtained the Panama Papers said Thursday the names of few<span style="color: Red;">*</span>prominent Americans have been found<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in documents that show how some of the world's most powerful people hid money from tax authorities.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the files revealed copies of 200 American passports and 3,500 shareholders in offshore companies.
It made the disclosures responding to questions by its readers as to why more American and German names were not appearing in the documents.
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“One possible reason why comparatively few Americans appear in the documents could be that U.S. citizens have no reason to contact a law firm in Panama,” the Munich-based media group said. “That’s because offshore companies can easily be created in U.S. states such as Wyoming, Delaware or Nevada.”
Some Americans have been identified including Benjamin Wey, a Wall Street banker; Igor Olenicoff, a real-estate tycoon; and Jonathan Kaplan, an ex-Massachusetts-based executive. More than<span style="color: Red;">*</span>1,000 firms<span style="color: Red;">*</span>identified by USA TODAY as being created by law firm<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Mossack Fonseca in the U.S. are based in Wyoming and Nevada.
The McClatchy newspaper group, which had access to the documents, said Liesel Pritzker Simmons, a former Hollywood child star and heiress to the the Hyatt hotels fortune, appeared in the dossier. She is related to U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker. Music and film mogul David Geffen's name was also in the documents.
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