7 May 2016

Cooks Islands a financial fraud mecca - Panama Papers source

11:05 am on 7 May 2016

The anonymous leaker of the Panama Papers has targetted New Zealand's Prime Minister in a statement about the motives behind the leaks.

John Key is the only politician named in the 1800 word statement issued overnight, which begins with the words "Income equality is one of the defining issues of our time."

The leaker, who calls him-or herself John Doe, says Mr Key has been curiously quiet about New Zealand's role in enabling what the statement calls the financial fraud mecca of the Cook Islands.

The governments of Britain and the United States, and the European Community are also singled out for criticism in the statement, but their leaders are not named.

The statement also says that in return for immunity, the source is willing to help law authorities make prosecutions.

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