King Abdullah II of Jordan has contracted a law firm in the US to file a lawsuit. It is said that King Abdullah will demand a huge amount as compensation for his alleged defamation.
The journalist group that brought the Pandora Papers to the fore and the world’s media houses that first printed it will face defamation lawsuits. Earlier, when the same journalist group – International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) had exposed the tax evasion networks operating in the world named Panama and Paradise Papers, no such lawsuit was filed by either party. But this time King Abdullah II of Jordan has tied up with a law firm in the US to file a lawsuit. It is said that King Abdullah will demand a huge amount as compensation for his alleged defamation.
News website Axios.com has reported that it has seen documents related to the Shah of Jordan’s contract with the law firm. Other media reports suggest that King Abdullah is upset with his name appearing in the Pandora Papers. They were already aware of the details to be given in these papers. So a week before the release of the Pandora Papers, Jordan’s royal court entered into an agreement with law firm DLA Piper.
According to the agreement, DLA Piper will provide legal advice to King Abdullah in a possible defamation suit. Along with this, he will also provide proper advice in the investigation of this issue or in any other legal matters. Mary Elizabeth Gately, partner at DLA Piper and its Washington branch head, will play a key role. In return, they will receive a fee of $1,335 per hour. According to axios.com, Getley did not respond to queries sent by this website in this regard.
DLA Piper has issued a statement on the information published by the ICIJ and the Washington Post about King Abdullah. It said that there is nothing unreasonable in the properties of King Abdullah mentioned. Nor can any legal action be taken on its basis. The Pandora Papers details that Shah has invested his money and assets in companies offshore (filed in tax havens). These documents give details of offshore investments for the purpose of tax evasion of wealthy countries and companies around the world. It is said that there is a stir in many countries regarding this.
There is a growing demand in America that the US government should take action to stop the international flow of stealthy money. John Curtis, a member of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the US Congress (parliament), and Tom Malinowski, a member of the Democratic Party, said in a joint statement – ’The unfolding of the Pandora Papers has made it clear that foreign corruption continues unabated. A big danger remains.’ Both these leaders are co-chairs of the Congressional Committee against Tax Evasion and Foreign Corruption.
