Offshore Leaks: Vast Web of Tax Evasion Exposed

[xchrom]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/icij-journalists-expose-mass-web-of-global-tax-evasion-a-892505.html


The town of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands: The UK territory is at the center of an explosive new report on global tax havens.

Oligarchs and dictators' daughters apparently have a penchant for bunkering their assets on the British Virgin Islands. Barons and composers, on the other hand, seem to prefer the Cook Islands. To cheat on taxes, they create bogus firms with imaginative names like Tantris, Moon Crystal or Sequoia.

Those are just a few details published this week on a major global system of tax evasion, which sheds new light on the methods used to deceive fiscal authorities and hide money. In what is believed to be the largest data leak in history, anonymous informants have provided an international consortium of journalists with around 2.5 million documents detailing activities in tax havens around the world.
The virtual Everest of data exposes some 120,000 letterbox entities, offshore accounts and other dubious deals in more than 170 countries, in addition to the names of 140,000 individuals alleged to have placed their money in known tax havens. The list includes politicians, celebrities, weapons dealers, oligarchs, financiers and a very diverse cast of characters. It also includes hundreds of Germans. Reporters at the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper noted that the most famous German featured on the list is society playboy Gunter Sachs, best known abroad as Brigitte Bardot's husband for a brief period in the 1960s, who committed suicide in 2011 at the age of 78.

A 15-Month Reporting Project

"The investigation lifts the curtain on the offshore system and provides a transparent look into the secret world of tax havens and the individuals and companies that use and benefit from them," said Gerard Ryle, director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the organization that managed the global research. "We already knew how secret and inaccessible the offshore industry is, but we were surprised by how vast and far-reaching it is."

[xchrom]

1. Anonymous hidden wealth revealed after data leak

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/world/anonymous-hidden-wealth-revealed-after-data-leak-1.1348735


The identities of thousands of holders of hidden wealth have been revealed after more than two million emails and documents were leaked from Britain's offshore financial industry.

A number of high profile names were linked with offshore trusts and accounts, based mainly in the British Virgin Islands, including presidents, wealthy individuals and families, government officials, a British millionaire, and the eldest daughter of former president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos.

More than 200GB of financial data stretching back more than a decade was analysed by the Guardian and other international media as part of a project in collaboration with International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, based in Washington.

The files include data on the global transactions of BVI private incorporation agencies, and entities in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Cook Islands in the Pacific.

[nc4bo]

3. xchrom, are they actually public yet?

If not it should be available for the entire world to view.

[xchrom]

5. i don't know yet.

i'm guessing it'll come out though.

[nc4bo]

2. Jesus Christ on a trike.......

The entire database of names, etc. should be made public. If not in a huge "official" datadump then certainly by any means necessary.

Disgusting on so many levels.

[xchrom]

4. +1

[librechik]

6. countdown to the US Press going after this

Meh. Don't even start the clock.

[xchrom]

7. i thought this would be of more interest to more people. nt

[nc4bo]

8. I thought so too.

It really is "part of the problem" so to speak.

It's not just a domestic problem, it's a global one.

The list of names really needs to be made public - perhaps once people can identify the names and make it more personal, the more interest would be generated?

I'm very interested in the Americans myself.

[oldhippie]

11. And what would you think about .....

..... my name being on the list? See my post below. I would be on the list. So what? I did nothing wrong or illegal. All it would be is an invasion of my privacy. The IRS already knows everything about my previous account in a "tax haven."

[nc4bo]

12. Unless you were deliberately trying to avoid paying taxes than I don't think anyone would care

to raise pitchfork or torches against you.

Unless you were/are hiding millions/billions.

This list is/should spotlight a specific group of 1%ers.

[oldhippie]

14. And how would you be able to sort out .......

.... who are your "specific group of 1%ers" vs the people who were legal and legitimate, just from seeing a list of names? Even some 1%ers have legitimate and legal reasons for having funds in a tax haven, particularly if you travel there regularly. How would you know which were avoiding paying taxes and who wasn't?

[nc4bo]

20. 3 words: Pay your taxes and there's nothing to fear - it's that simple.

We should all play by the same set of rules, period.

What's the big deal....um?

[oldhippie]

23. But you didn't answer my question ......

The list of names really needs to be made public - perhaps once people can identify the names and make it more personal, the more interest would be generated?

I'm very interested in the Americans myself.

How would YOU (or any member of the general public) be able to tell who is engaging in illegal tax evasion and who (like me) complied with all the laws and reporting requirements? I can see where the IRS and State tax officials need the list, but what is the purpose of releasing it to the public? It could only result in all on the list being tarred with the same brush. The general public is so ignorant of general global financial systems and planning that there is a common misperception that anyone who has an account in a tax haven is illegally evading taxes. I would rather not be accused of that by an ignorant public. I'm fine with giving the list with my name on it to the IRS, but making it public invades my privacy.

[nc4bo]

26. Are YOU an "oligarch or dictators' daughter" hiding money?

Did you "create bogus firms with imaginative names like Tantris, Moon Crystal or Sequoia"?

Does THIS fit the description of the assets you've deposited in offshore accounts: "Those are just a few details published this week on a major global system of tax evasion, which sheds new light on the methods used to deceive fiscal authorities and hide money"

The article makes it perfectly clear the intent of the disclosure and the importance of it. There is nothing to answer that isn't in the article.

What IS there left to answer?

[oldhippie]

27. OK, don't answer the question

It really doesn't matter. Just further confirms my general observation.

Have a good day.

[nc4bo]

28. I can read and so can you. Every person in this thread gets the gist of the article but you.

There is nothing else that can be said.

[eppur_se_muova]

22. There's already three other threads on this ... all now on Greatest Threads.

Last edited Thu Apr 4, 2013, 12:29 PM - Edit history (2)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014443839

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022612770

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017110020

The more the merrier; hope everyone on DU sees at least one of them.

[oldhippie]

9. The list also includes ......

... in addition to the names of 140,000 individuals alleged to have placed their money in known tax havens. The list includes politicians, celebrities, weapons dealers, oligarchs, financiers and a very diverse cast of characters.

The list would also include many normal people, like me. I had a bank account in a Swiss bank for many years. So I guess I would be on that list of 140,000 individuals alleged to have placed their money in known tax havens. So what? I reported the account on my form 1040 each year, as required. I dutifully paid US income taxes on the interest earned (in addition to some Swiss tax.) I complied with all US and Swiss reporting and tax laws.

Just being on the list does not indicate any illegal behavior. There are a lot of legitimate reasons to have funds in a "tax haven" for normal business and personal reasons that have nothing to do with anything illegal.

[lonestarnot]

15. so you're not a suspect then?

[oldhippie]

16. But how would you know that .....

.... only by seeing a list of names? It was merely the public release of the list of names that was advocated above in post #8.

[lonestarnot]

17. you said so.

[nc4bo]

19. Must be among the very wealthy 1%ers who feel they don't need to play by the same rules

as the rest of us.

If so, I'd be happy to say congratulations to him/her and then a suggestion to pay your taxes!

[Ligyron]

18. I guess unless yer famous

no one on the list will generate any interest anyway

[oldhippie]

25. But what happens to the famous people on the list .....

... that complied with every law and reporting requirement. What do you think the public will feel about them? The public does not have access to the person's tax returns and records. They will just assume (because they have been told so many times) that they must be illegally evading taxes. How would you like that to happen to you? How would you like to be on a list in your community that also included a bunch of sex offenders, even though you never did any such thing? Maybe you just had the same name as one of them.

I'll quit now. I don't think anyone here gets my point. It's all about "generating interest."

[kentuck]

10. I think we might be surprised to see how many Congressmen and Senators....?

...have these secret accounts?

Maybe even Presidents and Cabinet officials?

[Oilwellian]

13. This could get interesting

I didn't know the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists existed. It gives one a touch of hope in this corrupt world.

K&R

[Ichingcarpenter]

21. Don't worry Attorney General Holder is on the case

to find out who the hackers and leakers were.

[WillyT]

24. HuffPo Has It Here: (K & R !!!)

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/03/offshore-companies-politicians_n_3008426.html