New Delhi

Pandora papers data dump that named rich and powerful across the world and mentioned their offshore finances has elicited denials from the power circles of any wrongdoing.

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The Kremlin said it had seen no evidence in the leak of hidden wealth among Russian President Vladimir Putin's entourage, after the Washington Post said the documents showed Putin's mistress had used offshore funds to buy a flat in Monaco.

Jordan's King Abdullah, a close U.S. ally, was reported to have used offshore accounts to spend more than $100 million on luxury homes in the United Kingdom and the United States.

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The royal palace said in a statement it was "no secret that His Majesty owns a number of apartments and residences in the United States and the United Kingdom. This is not unusual nor improper."

In his first comments on the matter, Abdullah told tribal leaders: "The cost of these properties and all related expenditures have been personally funded by His Majesty. None of these expenses have been funded by the state budget or treasury."

"There is nothing I have to hide from anyone but we are stronger than this and this is not the first time people target Jordan," the monarch told the gathering.

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Also Read | Russia sees nothing special in Pandora Papers leak and dismisses ‘unsubstantiated claims’

The Kremlin said it had seen no evidence in the leak of hidden wealth among Russian President Vladimir Putin's entourage, after the Washington Post said the documents showed Putin's mistress had used offshore funds to buy a flat in Monaco.

Days ahead of the Czech Republic's Oct. 8-9 parliamentary election, the documents reportedly tied prime minister Andrej Babis to a $22 million estate near Cannes, France.

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Speaking in a television debate, Babis, who was a billionaire before he entered politics, denied any wrongdoing.

"The money left a Czech bank, was taxed, it was my money, and returned to a Czech bank," Babis said.

Lebanon's former prime minister Hassan Diab said he had given up shares in a company he was linked to in the leak, and denied wrongdoing. A statement by his office said he had taken part in founding the company in 2015 and owned 17 shares, but that the firm had no activity since then and he had resigned and sold his stake.

The dump of more than 11.9 million records, amounting to about 2.94 terabytes of data, was five years after the leak known as the "Panama Papers" exposed how money was hidden by the wealthy in ways that law enforcement agencies could not detect.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a Washington-based network of reporters and media organizations, said the files are linked to about 35 current and former national leaders, and more than 330 politicians and public officials in 91 countries and territories.

(With inputs from agencies)