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Appleby subject of illegal hack

Law firm hits back at media

Offshore law firm Appleby, currently at the centre of the so-called Paradise Papers revelations, has hit back at the intense media spotlight it is under.

Both the BBC Panorama programme last night and today's Guardian newspaper - the British members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists - have referred to a massive leak of data.

Appleby, which has an office in Douglas, says there was no leak - it has been subjected to a serious criminal act.

Appleby says the release of parts of the Paradise Papers are not the work of any employee - it was an illegal computer hack.

The firm says that the source of documents is not confined to just Appleby - Panorama stated they have nearly seven million documents from Appleby whereas the BBC website says the Paradise Papers contains 13.4 million documents.

And the statement hits out at the media "The journalists do not allege, nor could they, that Appleby has done anything unlawful. There is no wrongdoing. It is a patchwork quilt of unrelated allegations with a clear political agenda and movement against offshore.

And it concludes - "Appleby has thoroughly and vigorously investigated the allegations and we are satisfied that there is no evidence of any wrongdoing".

The second Panorama programme is on BBC One this evening (Monday 6th November) starting at 9pm and the Isle of Man is expected to feature more prominently than it did in last night's broadcast.

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