Kochi: In a major development, the Income Tax Department has initiated an investigation into the Malayalis mentioned in the Pandora Papers, a 2021 leak of approximately 12 million documents exposing hundreds of global leaders and wealthy for tax evasion and corruption.

The probe is, at present, ongoing against Manoj Padmanabhan, Joseph Job and Cleetus Kurishingal. The income tax officials on Thursday conducted a raid at the office of a software company linked to them in Kochi. Interestingly, Manoj Padmanabhan was the former coordinator of the Aam Aadmi Party in Kerala. 

The probe had unearthed that Manoj Padmanabhan, Joseph Job, and Cleetus Kurishingal own shell companies 'Peacock Technologies', 'NewGen Info Solutions', and 'Catalyst IT' respectively, in the British Virgin Islands.

Based on the findings, Income Tax Department conducted the inspection at Spectrum Soft Tech Solutions in Kochi. Cleetus Kurishingal is also the director of this company.

After examining the records of the company's financial transactions, the Income Tax Department has found that a large part of their earnings went to the shell companies in the British Virgin Islands under the guise of an IT firm in Dubai. The officials are also investigating their relationship with an NRK identified as Francis Kunnumpurath, residing in the USA.

According to Pandora documents, the trio started the shell companies in 2010. The Income Tax Department is said to be examining the companies' operations and financial dealings. 

In 2021, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) dropped a bombshell by publishing around 11.9 million documents, exposing the secret offshore accounts of world leaders, as well as wealth elites, celebrities, and business leaders.