Emma Watson Owns Offshore Company Named In Panama Paper List: Will Hermoine Cast Disappearing Spell? [VIDEO]
ByEmma Watson, who played the character of Hermoine Granger in the "Harry Potter" series did not need to depend on witchcraft to guarantee her taxes stays low. What she needed was the right law firm.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) posted data of more than 200,000 entities on its official website Monday evening. The database included information on companies, foundations and trusts while users may track networks linking the offshore companies.
According to CNN Money report, Watson's representative confirmed that the 26-year-old had opened up an offshore company. However, the spokesperson said she does not take advantage on tax or monetary privileges at all. She uses it for privacy purposes, the spokesperson added.
According to the leaked data, Watson put up a company named Falling Leaves Ltd in 2013 in British Virgin Islands. The UK Caribbean oversees territory has been acknowledged by the European Commission as haven for taxes, CNN Money reported.
Watson took the offshore company for the singular reason of protecting her anonymity and safety because the UK companies are required to publish in public the information of their shareholders. Therefore, they do not give her the needed anonymity required to guard her personal safety and privacy, which in the past has been jeopardized due to such information for being publicly accessible, the report added.
Owning an offshore account or company is legal, but they can be potentially used to avoid taxes or conceal wrongdoing or evidence of illegal conduct. The Panama Papers were obtained from law firm Mossack Fonseca, which upheld that it observes policies requiring it to name its clientele. The database does not comprise anything that could compromise the privacy of persons named, e.g. records of bank accounts, mails, contact information or email exchanges, the report quipped.
