Data released on Nov. 5 by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on the offshore activity of current or former leaders of famous companies and various countries indicate that the sons of the Turkish prime minister are involved in offshore holdings.
The data, known as the Paradise Papers, include over 13.4 million documents containing information on close to 120 political figures around the world and “show how deeply the offshore financial system is entangled with the overlapping worlds of political players, private wealth and corporate giants … that avoid taxes through increasingly imaginative bookkeeping maneuvers,” said ICIJ in its report.
According to the materials published by ICIJ, Erkam Yıldırım and Bülent Yıldırım are the adult sons of the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, whose family made its fortune in the shipping industry. The brothers are the sole shareholders of two companies registered in Malta: Hawke Bay Marine Co. Ltd., which was set up in April 2004 and according to public records owns or manages shipping vessels; and Black Eagle Marine Co. Ltd., incorporated in January 2007.
Record show that Erkam Yıldırım, who was the majority shareholder of the companies, is also the director of both and in addition operates his own shipping business.
The companies were listed as active in the Malta Registry of Companies in October 2017.
The Yıldırım brothers did not respond to a request for comment from ICIJ and its media partner in Turkey, Cumhuriyet.
The new files come from two offshore services firms as well as from 19 corporate registries maintained by governments in jurisdictions that serve as waystations in the global shadow economy. The leaks were obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with ICIJ.