5. Nicos Anastasiades
The current president of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades faces some difficult questions, apart from the fact that Cyprus itself is considered a controversial offshore haven as well. First elected in 2013, and then re-elected in 2018, Anastasiades is a lawyer by profession. And it is one of the law firms he founded that the leaked documents are pointing an accusatory finger at.
His firm Anastasiades & Partners has been accused of hiding the assets of controversial Russian billionaire Leonid Lebedev behind fake company owners. The firm had claimed that four of the offshore companies it was managing were beneficially owned by its staff, however, the leaked papers point to Lebedev as the true owner. The firm denies this all and Anastasiades claims to have had no direct involvement with the firm since 1997 when he became leader of the opposition.
