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Almost all Tory voters agree company tax avoidance morally wrong, poll finds

Almost all Tory voters agree company tax avoidance morally wrong, poll finds
A majority of the public, including Conservative voters, support tougher action against tax avoidance, according to an opinion poll after the revelations in the leaked Pandora Papers about widespread use of offshore tax havens by some of the world’s wealthiest people.
Among Conservative voters in the 2019 general election, 90% agreed that tax avoidance by large companies was “morally wrong even if legal”, the poll found.
That was higher than the figure for Labour voters, 85% of whom agreed. Support for the statement that tax avoidance by individuals is “morally wrong even if legal” was 87% among Conservative voters, 80% of Labour voters, and 81% of the public overall.
The poll, by Survation for the campaign group Tax Justice UK, followed reporting of the cache of files, named the Pandora Papers, leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), BBC Panorama and international media partners. The largest ever such leak exposed the secret offshore holdings and finances of several wealthy donors to the Tory party, 35 world leaders, and more than 100 billionaires, celebrities and many other notable figures.
Several countries whose citizens were shown to own assets through offshore companies rapidly announced inquiries, but the British government has so far not responded robustly.
Tax Justice UK is calling for tax loopholes to be closed, such as the exclusion from stamp duty when properties are sold through offshore companies, under which Tony and Cherie Blair saved £312,000 in tax when they bought a London office in 2017. The group is also calling on the government to introduce a register identifying people who own UK property through offshore companies, promised by the former prime minister David Cameron in 2015 but which has still not been implemented.
The poll found 80% of people, including 83% of Conservative voters, agreed that the evidence of the Pandora Papers “makes me want to see tougher action against tax avoidance”.
Dame Margaret Hodge, chair of thecross-party parliamentary group on anti-corruption and responsible tax, said: “The Pandora Papers lifted the lid on a whole spectrum of immoral and illegal behaviours, including the very worst tax avoidance. Now this important polling from Tax Justice UK shows that people are well and truly fed up with tax dodging. What is striking is that it’s Tory voters who are most upset at this egregious conduct.
“It’s high time that Boris Johnson hears the outcry from his voters and finally takes action. The big corporations and rich individuals who shirk their responsibilities must be made to pay a fair share.’
The Treasury has been approached for comment.
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Man eaten alive by pet lion just days after buying the animal to keep in his back garden

A man was mauled to death and eaten by his pet lion just days after buying the beast to keep in his back garden.
A resident of Najaf, southern Iraq, was horrifically attacked by the predator before it consumed most of his body on Thursday, May 8.
“Today in a garden in the city of Kufa in Najaf, a citizen was attacked by a lion in his own garden and died immediately,” Mufid Tahir, spokesperson for the Najaf Police, told local news site Rudaw.
He added that the lion had to be k!lled because it had eaten a large portion of the man’s body, and refused to leave the remains.
The victim, 50-year-old Aqil Fakhr al-Din, had reportedly been keeping lions and other wild animals in his garden for several years, according to Tahir.
But on Thursday, the predator launched a surprise attack on its trainer before ferociously mauling him to death and devouring him.
One of the victim’s neighbours reportedly intervened and shot the lion with a Kalashnikov rifle, killing it with seven bullets, as per local TV reports.
The mans was immediately transferred to Al-Sadr Medical City Hospital in Najaf but did not survive due to the extent of his injuries.
Grisly images showed the man covered in blood as he laid on a hospital bed and an official investigation has also reportedly been opened into the circumstances of the incident.
A clip of the dead lion in the garden is also making rounds on social media, raising concerns about how al-Din was able to keep the wild animal on his property.
According to local reports, the victim had purchased the lion just days before the tragedy, with the intention of raising and taming it at home.
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Court jails T-dollar, TobiNation for spraying naira notes

The duo of Babatunde Peter Olaitan (T-Dollar) and Tobilola Olamide (TobiNation) have been sentenced to six months imprisonment each for mutilation of the Naira notes.
They were jailed by Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The convicts were arraigned on a separate one-count charge of tampering with the Naira notes and spraying, to which they each pleaded “guilty”.
The charge against Olaitan reads: “That you, BABATUNDE PETER OLAITAN, on 8th April 2025, at 23, Macdonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N200 (Two Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying it, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”
The charge against Olamide reads: “That you, TOBILOLA OLAMIDE A.K.A TobiNation, on 8th April 2025, at 23 Macdonald Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N200 (Two Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying it, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”
In view of their pleas, prosecution counsel, C.C. Okezie and H.U.KofarNaisa, respectively, reviewed the facts of the cases through Ibrahim Bukar, an investigative officer with the EFCC.
In his evidence, Bukar specifically told the court that the Commission, on April 10, 2025, generated an intelligence-driven investigation on TikTok, where Olaitan, also known as T-Dollar, was seen spraying Naira notes.
He also told the court that “Upon the approval of the intelligence by the Zonal Director, a letter of investigation was sent to the defendant, requesting him to make a statement regarding the video.
“The defendant reported to the Special Operations Team, SOT, on May 5, 2025 and his statement was recorded under caution.
“He stated that he went to a night club on April 8, 2025 and met some of his fans sharing money.
“He also said that a fan, in the process, gifted him a bundle of N200 notes, which he sprayed on some of his other fans.
“He was shown a video of him spraying the money and he made a statement regarding it.”
Consequently, the defendants’ extrajudicial statements and video recordings were rendered and admitted in evidence by the court.
Okozie and KofarNaisa, therefore, respectively prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly.
Justice Owoeye convicted and sentenced both Olaitan and Olamide to six months imprisonment each, with an option of fine in the sum of N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira).
The convicts’ road to the Correctional Centre started when they were arrested by operatives of the EFCC for Naira abuse. T
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Alleged N33.2bn arms procurement fraud: Re-arraignment of businessman stalled

The re-arraignment of Olugbenga Obadina, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Almond Projects Limited, on Monday, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) suffered a setback.
Obadina is being prosecuted over his alleged involvement in the misappropriation of N33.2billion meant for the purchase of arms by retired Col. Sambo Dasuki, a former National Security Adviser (NSA).
The matter, which was fixed for hearing before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, could not proceed because the amended charge, claimed to have been filed by the EFCC, was not in the court record.
Upon resumed hearing, the prosecution lawyer, Ibrahim Buba, informed the court that he had an amended charge filed on May 2 and served on the defendants.
But Justice Omotosho could not see the amended charge in the court record after a thorough search.
“Counsel, I do not have that charge before this court and I have checked our ledger and I do not see it there,” he said.
The judge said the amended charge might have been mistakenly taken to another court at the instruction of the anti-graft agency’s lawyer during the filing of the process.
Buba, who admitted that the amended charge might have been taken to Court 8, instead of Court 7 where the trial judge presides, tendered an apology for the mixup.
Adeola Adedipe, SAN, who appeared for the defendants in the case, also apologised to the court on behalf of the prosecution.
Justice Omotosho subsequently adjourned the matter until June 26 for re-arraignment of the defendants.
“This matter is adjourned to June 26 for arraignment of the defendants for the amended charge that is not before this court as a result of the prosecution given wrong number of the court at the Process Unit,” the judge said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obadina, alongside his company, was earlier re-arraigned on Jan. 13, 2024, by the anti-corruption commission on eight-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N2.17 billion before Justice Omotosho.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the counts and the judge ordered his remand in Kuje Correctional Centre pending the perfection of his bail conditions.
NAN reports that Dasuki, a former NSA during the President Goodluck Jonathan government, was accused of criminal diversion of funds to the tune of 2.1 billion U.S. dollars.
The money was allegedly part of funds earmarked by the Federal Government to fight Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
The EFCC had, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/142/2016, sued Obadina and Almond Project Limited as 1st and 2nd defendants, following their alleged link with Dasuki’s misappropriated funds.
They were formerly being prosecuted before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of a sister court before his elevation to the Court of Appeal.
In court three of the charge, Obadina and Almond Projects Ltd were alleged to have, on April 3, 2014 directly took possession or control of the sum of N 648,000,000.00 (Six Hundred and Forty Eight Million Naira) paid into the account of Almond Projects Ltd with Zenith Bank Plc Account No: 1010921116.
The money was allegedly to have been paid from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria without contract award.
The agency said the fund formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity of Col. Dasuki (rtd) and the offence is contrary to Section 15(2), (d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
NAN reports that Justice Dimgba had, on July 4, 2024, adjourned for adoption of final written addresses after the EFCC had closed its case with four witnesses and the defendants called two witnesses before he was elevated to the Appeal Court.(NAN)
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