Prosecutors open probes as world's wealthy deny 'Panama Papers' links

[jerrym]

Guess who is playing the taxes in place of many of the wealthy.



Governments across the world began investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful on Monday after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialized in setting up offshore companies.
The "Panama Papers" revealed financial arrangements of politicians and public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine.
While holding money in offshore companies is not illegal, journalists who received the leaked documents said they could provide evidence of wealth hidden for tax evasion, money laundering, sanctions busting, drug deals or other crimes.
The law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which says it has set up more than 240,000 offshore companies for clients around the globe, denied any wrongdoing and called itself the victim of a campaign against privacy. Mossack Fonseca, in a statement posted on its website on Monday, said media reports had "misrepresented the nature of our work."
The U.S. Department of Justice would determine whether there was evidence of corruption and other violations of U.S. law, a spokesman said. A White House spokesman said that "in spite of the lack of transparency that exists in many of these transactions," there were U.S. experts who could find out whether they violated sanctions and laws. ...
Financial prosecutors in France announced the opening of a preliminary investigation for aggravated tax fraud.
Germany would also “pick up the ball” in the case, a Finance Ministry spokesman said on Monday. Financial market watchdog Bafin is looking into the matter, said a source close to the regulator, which reports to the ministry.
Australia, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands were among other countries that said they had begun investigating the allegations based on more than 11.5 million documents. Banks came under the spotlight over allegations they helped clients hide their wealth offshore.
In Argentina, political opposition parties demanded an explanation from center-right President Mauricio Macri because he served as a director of an offshore company in the Bahamas related to his wealthy father's business in the past.


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-panama-tax-idUSKCN0X10C2

[PullTogether73]

Were you bored last night?
5 new threads in one night plus comments on several existing threads?
:rolleyes:

[Wobbler]

I'm quite excited about the "Panama papers" scandal.

This disclosure includes a vast amount of information about the generally illegal banking practices of a large number of people over several decades. It's a financial earthquake; prepare for aftershocks. A few people will go to jail, a lot of money will be recovered by countries in desperate need, and (most importantly) thousands will think twice before becoming corrupt.

[jerrym]

The Iceland Prime Minister who was forced to resign today over the Panama Papers is only one of 72 current or former heads of state with links to the Panama Papers. In the video accompanying this article, British PM David Cameron proclaims he has no ties and that his record with regard to protecting taxpayers from offshore tax havens helping people avoid their taxes is second to no one in British history, despite the fact that the British Virgin Islands are the largest tax haven globally, and the British crown dependencies Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man are notorious tax havens. The video also mentions that 8 members of the Chinese Politburo are linked to Panama Papers tax havens.



Former Conservative MPs, peers and David Cameron’s (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/david-cameron/) late father are among scores of people and politicians whose financial affairs have been exposed by a massive leak of data about offshore investments. ....
The leak of more than 11 million documents from the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, casts an unprecedented light on the way the rich and powerful are able to use tax havens to shield their wealth. ....
Ian Cameron, the prime minister’s father who died in 2010, is reportedly named as a client of the firm. Six members of the House of Lords, three former Conservative MPs and “dozens” of donors to UK political parties who have been shown to have had offshore assets – although none have so far been named.
The leak also reportedly shows links to 72 current or former heads of state, including dictators accused of looting their own countries including Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi and Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/panama-papers-uk-politicians_uk_57... (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/panama-papers-uk-politicians_uk_570205eee4b0884065f0d79b)

[jerrym]

The Panama Papers continue to raise questions about a wide range of world leaders.



The reverberations from a leaked trove of Panamanian documents rippled through several nations on Thursday, with President Vladimir V. Putin (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/vladimir_v_putin/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Russia (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/russiaandtheformersovietunion/index.html?inline=nyt-geo) calling the exposure of a proliferation of shell companies and tax havens an American plot, while Iceland picked a new prime minister and Prime Minister David Cameron (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/david_cameron/index.html?inline=nyt-per) of Britain (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/unitedkingdom/index.html?inline=nyt-geo) admitted that he had profited from an offshore trust.
After days of contention, Mr. Cameron admitted that he had earned money through an offshore trust established by his late father, who was named as a client of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the documents known as the Panama Papers. Mr. Cameron told ITV News that he and his wife, Samantha, owned shares in Blairmore investment trust, before selling them for about £30,000, or $42,160, in 2010, the year he became prime minister. The dividends were taxed, Mr. Cameron said, adding that he had never tried to hide the fact that his parents were wealthy. He had, however, been on the defensive over the issue since Monday, when his office initially described the question of his investments as a “private matter.”
The Panama Papers were also embarrassing for Mr. Cameron because they identified the British Virgin Islands, an overseas territory of Britain, as a major center of offshore activity. That prompted critics to call into question Mr. Cameron’s claims to be leading the international fight against tax evasion. “David Cameron, who described the use of complex tax avoidance schemes as ‘morally wrong,’ has been forced to admit that he held shares in a fund now linked to tax avoidance,” said Tom Watson, the deputy leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party. ...
In Argentina (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/argentina/index.html?inline=nyt-geo), a federal prosecutor sought to open a criminal investigation into the business activities of President Mauricio Macri that were made public by the leaked papers. The prosecutor, Federico José Delgado, said in a document that Mr. Macri’s involvement in offshore companies warranted a judicial investigation, chiefly because he did not disclose the activity in required declarations of his assets.
The leaked papers showed that Mr. Macri was a director of an offshore company, Fleg Trading Ltd., which was owned by his father. It was incorporated in the Bahamas in 1998 and dissolved in 2009. Mr. Macri was separately found (http://www.perfil.com/politica/Que-revelan-las-actas-de-Kagemusha-la-otra-firma-de-Macri-en-Panama-20160405-0008.html) to have been a director at a second offshore company, Kagemusha S.A., that also involved his father. ...
And in Iceland, Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, the country’s agriculture and fisheries minister, said that he had secured President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson’s backing to become prime minister. The announcement came after Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson stepped down as prime minister when the leaks showed that he had owned an offshore firm with his wife.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/08/world/europe/vladimir-putin-panama-papers-american-plot.html?_r=0

[jerrym]

Here's the Canadian connection to the Panama Papers.


When the dust settles on the Panama Papers saga, the Canadian angle may not be how much federal and provincial treasuries have been bilked by our own One Percenters, but what an inviting and unquestioning haven this country is for foreigners wishing to hide their wealth.Two key Canadian government agencies have already warned that this country’s lack of rules, regulations or even basic data-gathering leaves it open to money-laundering and questionable investments. These warnings have come after a belated examination of the vast amounts of money being thrown into the Toronto and Vancouver property markets, primarily — but not exclusively — by wealthy Chinese, many of them closely connected by blood or loyalty to the Communist Party regime in Beijing.
There have been rumours for some time in the wake of studies by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) that a major problem in gathering useful information is that very many purchases are made in the name of numbered companies registered in tax havens. This makes it nearly impossible to identify the beneficial owners of property or businesses purchased in Canada by non-resident foreigners. Canada — unlike other countries such as the United States — does not keep records of buyers’ countries of permanent residence or the beneficial owners of property or businesses.
The 11.5 million leaked confidential documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, the world’s fourth largest provider of anonymity for tax haven investors, confirms the route many wealthy Chinese are taking to get money out of their country. The papers also show the enormous challenge facing countries like Canada and many others if they want to get serious about ending the evils of tax avoidance and the increasingly socially divisive hidden fortunes of the mega-rich.
That said, the gross inflation of Toronto and Vancouver property prices cannot be blamed entirely on foreign money. Many Canadians have jumped on the bandwagon and have flipped their way up the ladder of desirable homes. The foolish have splurged on the credit lines made available to them on the supposed value of their homes. Short-sighted municipalities are basing their property tax assessments on the transitory valuations of houses — and driving fixed-income people out of town.


http://ipolitics.ca/2016/04/06/from-panama-to-hong-kong-and-why-you-cant-afford-to-live-in-vancouver/