The Guardian (UK): The Panama Papers: the $2bn offshore trail that leads to Vladimir Putin

[Jack Rabbit]

From The Guardian (UK)
Dated Sunday April 3

Revealed: the $2bn offshore trail that leads to Vladimir Putin
By Luke Harding

A network of secret offshore deals and vast loans worth $2bn has laid a trail to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.

An unprecedented leak of documents shows how this money has made members of Putin’s close circle fabulously wealthy.

Though the president’s name does not appear in any of the records, the data reveals a pattern – his friends have earned millions from deals that seemingly could not have been secured without his patronage.

The documents suggest Putin’s family has benefited from this money – his friends’ fortunes appear his to spend.

Read more at the link.

[bjo59]

1. Im a fan of looking at the log in one's own eye before zeroing in on the splinter

(or another log, as the case may be) in someone else's.

[leveymg]

2. OMG, Russia's kleptocracy might be as corrupt as ours?

Perish the thought! Well, that decides it. We'll just have to bomb them until they learn international norms.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. The short answer to that is "yes"

The introduction to the longer answer is "On balance, yes, but in a somewhat different way."

A revolution here should be directed at the oligarchs. If the Russian people want to cleanse their society of evil at the top, they should go after Putin. Changing the president or Congress here won't do much; the system is rigged and no one becomes president and few elected to Congress without the permission of the oligarchs. In Russia, it's pretty difficult to become or remain an oligarch without Putin's permission. Neither system serves the common people well.

I'm not a big Putin booster in the first place, so I'm going to enjoy watching him stew in his own juices over this. I will feel sorry for the journalists in Russia who make an honest attempt to cover this. Some may pay with their lives.

[Blue_Tires]

3. I wonder if the Guardian now feels guilty

Last edited Mon Apr 4, 2016, 02:48 PM - Edit history (1)

For cheerleading Putin all these years....

It probably killed them to write this...

[leveymg]

5. Actually, the Intel services decided 40 yrs ago that Leftwing journo cover is the best

Just ask Judy Miller.