Welcome to the Inquiry Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Ruth Alexander.

Each week we bring you four expert witnesses answering one pressing question from the news.

This week we delve into the Paradise Papers, millions of confidential documents

that have been published to reveal the tax haven secrets of some of the world's richest

individuals and companies.

We're focusing on just one name that's emerged from the pile.

You'll have heard of it. One day in late March 2014 the sound of an email pinging into an inbox was heard simultaneously in the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands,

Bermuda, Mauritius, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey.

It contained 14 questions about the tax advantages for a company choosing to base itself in any of those places.

Not just any company, one belonging to the tech giant Apple.

A ripple of excitement went through the air.

The world's most profitable company appeared to be

searching for a place to put its money, a place where it could avoid tax.

E-mails that followed stressed that Apple wanted to keep all this secret.

The whole world has now found out.

The emails were published alongside millions of other confidential financial documents earlier this month.

Apple avoids tax was the headline around the world.

It's by no means the only multinational to arrange its finances offshore. And when some of the world's biggest and best known companies operate out of tax havens,

it raises serious questions about whether something needs to be done.

Less tax paid means less money for our schools, hospitals and roads.

In this inquiry, we're shining a light on the financial arrangements of this one household name to highlight how

companies find a way to dodge round international laws.

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