May 10 2016
The world of chess has been drawn into the Panama Papers scandal after two companies linked to its governing body and a legend of the game were named in the latest release. Anatoly Karpov, the legendary world champion who reigned from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov, was listed in the leaked files of secret offshore companies as a director of a Cyprus-based company called Indiforth Ltd.
After retiring from the game, Karpov was elected a state deputy in Russia’s parliament, the Duma, for Putin’s party, United Russia, in 2011. He is also famous for being a keen philatelist with a stamp collection worth at least £10 million. There is no suggestion of illegality and Mr Karpov has previously said he had nothing to do with business in the offshore zone and called allegations he was a mistake.
Two British Virgin Islands-based companies linked to the world chess federation FIDE, Chess News Agency and Chess Lane S.A., are also mentioned in the files.