It's surprising that King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein bought only $106 million worth of luxury homes around the world using his 36 shell companies. After all, his country received billions in aid from western nations. A shrewder monarch would have been able to acquire ten times as much property. Or maybe he's just really good at hiding his wealth.
From The Toronto Star:
As his Middle Eastern monarchy strained under the weight of regional wars, Arab Spring protests and a flood of refugees, the King of Jordan secretly stockpiled a real estate portfolio of luxury homes from California to London, an investigation by the Star and its international partners has found.
King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein acquired 14 properties abroad worth more than $106 million (U.S.) using some of his 36 shell companies based in secretive tax havens, a cache of newly leaked documents reveal. He did it at a time when Canada and other Western nations were sending billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance to Jordan.
From The Washington Post:
Between 2014 and 2017, companies associated with the king spent nearly $70 million on three adjacent homes overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, according to the files and other documents, forming one of the largest bluff-top complexes in the celebrity enclave of Malibu.Read key takeaways from the Pandora Papers investigation
At the center is a 14,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style mansion that has seven bedrooms and nine baths and is outfitted with a gym, theater, outdoor spa and infinity swimming pool — all set on more than 3½ acres of prime coastal property.
The acquisition of these homes followed similar transactions in Washington, D.C., where documents show that Abdullah spent nearly $10 million on luxury condominiums with expansive views of the Potomac River in Georgetown.
