Super-rich face financial data leak after Appleby hack

Wednesday 25 October 2017

Financial details of the super-rich could be exposed after the digital records system of an offshore firm with a major presence in Jersey was hacked last year.

In a statement released without warning shortly before 22:00 last night, Appleby revealed that they had been subject to a “data security incident” in 2016, which involved some of their data being “compromised.”

They said that since then they had received a number of media enquiries from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and associated organisations surrounding information gleaned from the leak. 

“These enquiries have arisen from documents that journalists claim to have seen and involve allegations made against our business and the business conducted by some of our clients… We are disappointed that the media may choose to use information which could have emanated from material obtained illegally and that this may result in exposing innocent parties to data protection breaches,” Appleby said. 

The firm added that they had “vigorously investigated” the ICIJ’s allegations and found that they were “unfounded and based on a lack of understanding of the legitimate and lawful structures used in the offshore sector.”

The exact allegations involving Bermuda-based Appleby, which has offices in low-tax jurisdictions including the Channel Islands, BVI, Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, Mauritius and the Seychelles, remain to be clarified. The Telegraph reported this morning, however, that the ICIJ is braced to release this information “in the coming days.” 

The news comes around a year and a half after the release of the ‘Panama Papers’ – believed to be the biggest leak in history with 11.5million documents about account holders and client files put into the public domain.

Mossack Fonseca – a global law and trust company which had offices in Jersey – was at the heart of the resulting scandal, which involved a $2billion offshore trail leading to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaughsson and senior members of the Chinese politburo were also named in the files, along with 23 individuals who were subject to sanctions imposed on them for their links to the ruling regimes in North Korea, Zimbabwe and Syria.

Pictured: Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca was based in Osprey House in Old Street, across the road from the States building at Cyril Le Marquand House.

It is unclear at this stage what role Jersey will play in the Appleby revelations.

The firm moved to reassure clients that they take “any allegation of wrongdoing, implicit or otherwise, extremely seriously.”

“Appleby operates in highly regulated jurisdictions and like all professional organisations in our regions, we are subject to frequent regulatory checks and we are committed to achieving the high standards set by our regulators. We are also committed to the highest standards of client service and confidentiality. It is what we stand for. This commitment is unequivocal.”

Nonetheless, they said that they would be “happy to cooperate fully with any legitimate and authorised investigation of the allegations by the appropriate and relevant authorities.”

Express has contacted Appleby for further comment and is awaiting a response.