Emma Watson – star of the “Harry Potter” film series – has become the latest celebrity involved in the “Panama Papers” scandal.

The actress is said to have shares in a company based in the British Virgin Islands, called Falling Leaves Ltd. 

However, her representative quickly shared with Spectator magazine that Watson only used the company for private purposes and did not evade taxes.

Spectator quoted the actress’s representative as saying: “Emma (as well as many other famous figures) established a company abroad for the sole purpose of protecting her identity and safety. 

British companies require detailed shareholder information to be published, so she couldn’t hide her identity, which caused problems. 

Emma received absolutely no tax-free money or any money of unknown origin from this company. 

This action (setting up a company abroad) is purely for private purposes.”

Like many clients of Mossack Fonseca Law Firm, there is currently no evidence that Watson is using companies for improper purposes. Establishing companies in foreign countries is not illegal in itself, the problem is that many anti-poverty activists believe that they can become “shields” to help rich people’s money avoid being taxed or subsidized. supporting money laundering activities from many bribery activities, embezzlement and other forms of corruption.

On May 10, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published additional data on 200,000 subjects on the website “offshoreleaks.icij.org”, which contains a lot of information about companies and funds related to a series of “ghost” companies abroad. This information, along with many previous data, was widely spread after being stolen from the law firm Mossack Foneca in Panama.

According to the results of Mossack Fonseca’s investigation of nearly 12 million leaked documents, this law firm created a “tax haven” that helped about 140 politicians, including 12 leaders or former leaders of countries, along with sports stars, drug lords… tax evasion. This is considered the largest data leak ever and it revealed the identities and secrets of many world leaders, with huge assets abroad.

Emma Watson, born in 1990, is an English actress, model and social activist. She is best known for her role as Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” film series, adapted from the novel of the same name by female writer JK Rowling.