The Pandora Papers: AC Quoted in ICIJ’s Expose
October 5, 2021
On October 3, 2021, The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published a groundbreaking investigation of millions of leaked documents that revealed stunning financial secrets and offshore dealings of world leaders, politicians, and billionaires from around the globe, better known as the Pandora Papers.
One of the actors targeted in the expose is Douglas Latchford, the notorious antiquities trafficker indicted in 2019 for dealing in stolen art and artifacts. This investigation uncovers how Latchford and his family set up trusts in tax havens shortly after he was linked to looted antiquities, and used trusts and offshore accounts to store antiquities.
The expose is a must-read, deeply reported investigation that destroys so much of the false narrative that glorifies Douglas Latchford and the antiquities trade. The loopholes exposed threaten not just nations such as Cambodia, or even our world heritage, but the responsible market and the global financial system.
As the Pandora Papers reveal the extent of the harm committed by Latchford, museums should investigate the origins of artifacts with ties to the indicted criminal, says the reporting team.
The team also drew from an art blog called “Chasing Aphrodite” published by investigative journalist Jason Felch who had already located a number of Latchford-owned pieces in museums. They also consulted with art experts Angela Chiu, a scholar of Asian art and Tess Davis, a lawyer, archaeologist and the executive director of the Antiquities Coalition, an organization that campaigns against the trafficking of cultural artifacts.
Read more on how this team of investigative journalists tracked Cambodian antiquities to leading museums and private galleries from ICIJ here.