In December 2019, Distributed Denial of Secrets and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project released #29 Leaks, more than 450 gigabytes of data from Formations House, a company-formation business now known as The London Office. More than 20 media outlets in 18 countries examined the material, which showed how the firm registered and operated companies for clients that included organized-crime groups, state-owned oil companies, and fraudulent banks. The release was compared with the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers because it illuminated the infrastructure behind opaque corporate ownership.
The documents provided a working map of how company mills can turn incorporation services into a concealment mechanism, allowing questionable actors to obtain legal entities and financial access while obscuring beneficial ownership. Belgian tax authorities initiated an investigation that month based on data published by DDoSecrets, alongside an investigation prompted by the group’s Cayman National Bank leak. The source does not establish criminal liability for every named client or employee, but it documents the investigation and the broader regulatory demand for reforms to company creation and registration.
