Aid agencies voice concern as Red Cross appears in Panama leak

PanARMENIAN.Net - Some of the world's biggest aid agencies voiced concern on Monday, April 11 that they may be further exposed to risk from the murky world of offshore finance after the latest release of the Panama Papers showed the name of the Red Cross was falsely used, according to Reuters.

The cache of documents revealed how Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca created dummy foundations, with one of its fictitious beneficiaries listed as the "International Red Cross".

The misappropriation of the International Committee of the Red Cross' (ICRC) name was condemned by the Swiss-based agency and other international aid organizations concerned about the reputational risk this may carry for the sector as a whole.

The leaked emails, which first appeared in European newspapers, suggested the law firm used the humanitarian organization as a cover when facing down demands for information from prying banks and financial institutions.

"It has become difficult to withhold the identity of the beneficiary," one of the alleged emails from an unnamed Mossack Fonseca staffer said.

"This is the reason why we created this structure, that is, appointing the International Red Cross (sic). So it is not complicated," the leaked 2009 email said.

The ICRC said it was not previously aware that the name of its organization had been misappropriated and would investigate.

But the leaked emails exposed the risk charities take in accepting private donations, whose origins can sometimes be hard to trace.

An ICRC spokeswoman, Jenny Tobias, said the organization "cannot be 100 percent sure" other private donors do not have links to the Panamanian law firm, as it has "neither the means nor the expertise" to examine each and every fund or trust.

The agency, which depends on the generosity of governments for more than 80 percent of its funding, has a number of due diligence procedures in place for all donations, including anonymous ones, over 100,000 Swiss francs ($105,000), she said.

"We strive to ensure the funds we receive will not contravene our principles of action and jeopardize our humanitarian operations for those most is need," Tobias told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.