http://fortune.com/2016/04/03/document-leak-panama/

A team of 370 journalists in more than 75 countries researched the 11.5 million documents.

In one of the largest and most far-reaching document leaks in modern history, more than 370 journalists from 76 countries spent over a year plowing through 11.5 million records on offshore accounts and dummy corporations created by a secretive Panamanian law firm.

What the group—which was co-ordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and over 100 media entities around the globe—found was a trove of files that detail the holdings of 140 politicians and public officials, including the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan and the president of Ukraine.

The documents, which cover more than 40 years worth of offshore companies created by the Mossack Fonseca firm, also exposed the holdings of a dozen other global leaders. According to the ICIJ they show how officials tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin moved as much as $2 billion in Russian currency through a variety of banks and dummy corporations.

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

http://fortune.com/2016/04/03/document-leak-panama/

A team of 370 journalists in more than 75 countries researched the 11.5 million documents.

In one of the largest and most far-reaching document leaks in modern history, more than 370 journalists from 76 countries spent over a year plowing through 11.5 million records on offshore accounts and dummy corporations created by a secretive Panamanian law firm.

What the group—which was co-ordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and over 100 media entities around the globe—found was a trove of files that detail the holdings of 140 politicians and public officials, including the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan and the president of Ukraine.

The documents, which cover more than 40 years worth of offshore companies created by the Mossack Fonseca firm, also exposed the holdings of a dozen other global leaders. According to the ICIJ they show how officials tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin moved as much as $2 billion in Russian currency through a variety of banks and dummy corporations.

Yep, gonna be an interesting week ... month ... year?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...dde_story.html

I've always wondered how the means of production once owned by 'The Workers' of the old Soviet Union ended up in than hands of powerful capitalists, most of whom used to be powerful communists. Hopefully, this will shed more light on the next inevitable phase in the development of a communist culture... crony capitalism.

Originally Posted by B Butler

I've always wondered how the means of production once owned by 'The Workers' of the old Soviet Union ended up in than hands of powerful capitalists, most of whom used to be powerful communists. Hopefully, this will shed more light on the next inevitable phase in the development of a communist culture... crony capitalism.

I think that ownership by 'the workers' was a sham so the a new group of dictators could take over. It is not clear to me the theory of communism every amounted to anything but a ruse for new dictators to emerge. The power elite are everywhere.

Originally Posted by XYMOX_4AD_84

Yep, gonna be an interesting week ... month ... year?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...dde_story.html

What isn't mentioned is the involvement of American tycoons, financiers, and executives. Tax evasion is a veritable sport, a way of extracting profits from national governments while doing little to contribute to the system that allows those profits.

Originally Posted by radind

I think that ownership by 'the workers' was a sham so the a new group of dictators could take over. It is not clear to me the theory of communism every amounted to anything but a ruse for new dictators to emerge. The power elite are everywhere.

There were true believers. Arguably, the true believers were more dangerous and did more harm than the dictators who were in it for the power. "Ivory Tower Marxists" pushed idealistic theories that just didn't work, contributing to many large scale failures. The famines in both the Soviet Union and China were made worse by such misguided idealism. See also China's disagreements between the 'Reds' and 'Experts'.

But there is a great deal of truth to what you say. The victors in a violent revolution tend to be power hungry and ruthless. The winners of power struggles within a single party rule autocratic government might be even more so. In a Darwinistic sense, single party autocratic environments select far less than admirable rulers.

Overall, there is merit in your 'ruse' perspective.

About time someone did a document dump using the Kremlin archives.

Not all of what was leaked was illegal. There was, however, of illegal activity exposed in the leak.

I highly recommend a trip to Panama City to experience raw capitalism as conducted today. See the rebuilding of the Canal to accommodate the super cargo ships of tomorrow, but really check out all the art deco sky scrappers and bankING HQs. Google the City'so skyline and particularly the Trump Ocean Club that started it all. If one could count illegal transactions including drugs and guns, P. City could give NYC and London a run for the crossroad of today's money flows. Trump sits in the middle of all that, and yet middle class White dudes believe he's their answer. Pretty amazing and depressing.

Originally Posted by naf140230

Not all of what was leaked was illegal. There was, however, of illegal activity exposed in the leak.

Want to keep your employees safe from disclosure of their vulnerabilities in high-risk places? OK. Keep your legitimate trade secrets secret? Fine. Avoid getting ripped off? Reasonable. Make honest deals with trading partners with shady sidelines? Acceptable.

Cheating on taxes, alimony, or property settlements? Despicable. Concealing assets during a bankruptcy so that one can stick creditors or pump-and-dump dealings in securities? Horrible. Facilitating criminal acts such as bribery, embezzlement, terrorism, or illegal commerce (drugs, environmental pillage, human trafficking, arms-smuggling, terror)? Good Lord!

Bank secrecy has its merits at time. It might protect ethnic and religious minorities so that they need not stay put and take the worst of pogroms and persecutions. Sometimes people have due cause to take the money and run.

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

It might protect ethnic and religious minorities so that they need stay put and take the worst of pogroms and persecutions.

Don't be rude.

LONDON/PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - 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.

...some of Iceland’s most powerful bankers, executives, and investors had to answer to special investigator Olaf Hauksson. ... Haukkson has spent the past six years investigating the transactions that brought Iceland’s economy to its knees in October 2008.

At the time, the country’s three biggest banks folded within just three days, in part because their senior executives had illegally doctored the stock listings of their own banks. “Market manipulation”, as Hauksson curtly calls it.

When asked what happened to the three bank bosses in the end, Hauksson grins. “They all went to jail,” he says, pointing to the empty chairs. “They sat right there.”

Olafur Hauksson has only just begun to wrap up proceedings for the biggest scandal in Iceland’s history. And it’s entirely possible that the publication of the Panama Papers will trigger the next one.

http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/...b8d3c3495adfc/

Remember the soccer scandal?

The ethics committee has launched a preliminary investigation of Juan Pedro Damiani

Damiani is an influential attorney from Uruguay and one of the country’s wealthiest men. He is also president of Peñarol Montevideo, the country’s most popular football team. In Eckert’s chamber, he sits in judgments over potentially corrupt FIFA members. Now, as a result of the Panama Papers revelations, Damiani has a problem of his own: the ethics committee has launched a preliminary investigation of its own member.

Managing shell companies appears to be one of Damiani’s areas of expertise. The Panama Papers show that his law firm J.P. Damiani is among the bigger clients of Mossack Fonseca (Mossfon), a provider of offshore companies. Until now, Damiani’s firm has managed more than 400 such companies, many of which have been involved in scandals. The leaked documents reveal that Damiani, the FIFA ethics expert, also managed companies through which FIFA members may have received bribes.

The Panama Papers show that his law firm’s offshore clients include three of the defendants in the FIFA scandal: Damiani’s fellow countryman and former FIFA vice-president Eugenio Figueredo, as well as Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano Jinkis, two Argentinian businessmen who own and operate a football broadcasting rights company.

According to the FBI allegations, the father and son team paid millions in bribes to senior FIFA officials in exchange for low-cost broadcasting rights that would then be sold at a high profit. These included the rights for the Copa América regional tournament, the South American equivalent of the European championship. The Jinkis allegedly used shell companies to make secret payments. In May 2015, the US Department of Justice brought charges against the Jinkis and twelve other people. In December of the same year, charges were brought against another 16 people. The American indictments repeatedly refer to a company called Cross Trading. According to the documents, several of the bribes paid to secure the TV rights deals were allegedly transferred via Cross Trading accounts.

The Panama Papers now show that Damiani’s law firm aided Hugo and Mariano Jinkis in having Mossfon set up three shell companies – all three of them called Cross Trading. The companies are situated in three different tax havens: on Niue island in the South Pacific, in the US state of Nevada, and in the Seychelles. The J.P. Damiani law firm managed the Niue and Nevada companies.

http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/...b8d3c3495ae00/

So far the biggest crooks are not Americans. I just wonder how many Americans are messed up in this. Add to this -- how much money intended as foreign aid has gone to the secret accounts of foreign leaders and their cronies?

Any American violating sanctions of the US government is a traitor if America is at war or practically at war with the entity (such as ISIS). Scams intended to cheat the US Treasury of income taxes are themselves tax fraud. Then there are the usual thefts and illegal enterprises.

Originally Posted by playwrite

I highly recommend a trip to Panama City to experience raw capitalism as conducted today. See the rebuilding of the Canal to accommodate the super cargo ships of tomorrow, but really check out all the art deco sky scrappers and bankING HQs. Google the City'so skyline and particularly the Trump Ocean Club that started it all. If one could count illegal transactions including drugs and guns, P. City could give NYC and London a run for the crossroad of today's money flows. Trump sits in the middle of all that, and yet middle class White dudes believe he's their answer. Pretty amazing and depressing.

I got off my horse so I can post some pretty pics.

Here's the PC skyline -



That's not Manhattan or Dubai. Not bad for a Latin American city, ey? I guess it was all those Canal fees, ey?

This is what started the building boom -



- Trump Ocean Club.

Originally Posted by B Butler

There were true believers. Arguably, the true believers were more dangerous and did more harm than the dictators who were in it for the power. "Ivory Tower Marxists" pushed idealistic theories that just didn't work, contributing to many large scale failures. The famines in both the Soviet Union and China were made worse by such misguided idealism. See also China's disagreements between the 'Reds' and 'Experts'.

But there is a great deal of truth to what you say. The victors in a violent revolution tend to be power hungry and ruthless. The winners of power struggles within a single party rule autocratic government might be even more so. In a Darwinistic sense, single party autocratic environments select far less than admirable rulers.

Overall, there is merit in your 'ruse' perspective.

I am not sure about the true believers being more dangerous. They don't seem to last long enough to cause much damage before the power seekers throw them aside. My take is that most of the damage was done by the dictators who used communism as a cover to acquire and maintain power & control.

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

So far the biggest crooks are not Americans. I just wonder how many Americans are messed up in this. Add to this -- how much money intended as foreign aid has gone to the secret accounts of foreign leaders and their cronies.

Any American violating sanctions of the US government is a traitor if America is at war or practically at war with the entity (such as ISIS). Scams intended to cheat the US Treasury of income taxes are themselves tax fraud. Then there are the usual thefts and illegal enterprises.

If these people are not guilty of a crime , then they are certainly not Patriots and should be vilified.
Doing something because it is 'legal' does not make it right.
Until we find some way to prevent this, we might consider taxing the money as it is spent in the USA.

Originally Posted by radind

If these people are not guilty of a crime , then they are certainly not Patriots and should be vilified.
Doing something because it is 'legal' does not make it right.
Until we find some way to prevent this, we might consider taxing the money as it is spent in the USA.

I agree that we are allowing rampant greed ... aiding and abetting, in fact. But one thing for sure, raising sales taxes will only hurt those who are already paying. The wealthy and powerful can always buy their yachts and aircraft in tax havens using a corporate name. No, we need to tighten the rules all around.

Apparently, we've have some luck recently, since Pfizer has decided to kill its inversion plan. If seems that the ultimate tax dodge is a bit tarnished these days. That's a start. More is needed.

Originally Posted by Marx & Lennon

I agree that we are allowing rampant greed ... aiding and abetting, in fact. But one thing for sure, raising sales taxes will only hurt those who are already paying. The wealthy and powerful can always buy their yachts and aircraft in tax havens using a corporate name. No, we need to tighten the rules all around.

Apparently, we've have some luck recently, since Pfizer has decided to kill its inversion plan. If seems that the ultimate tax dodge is a bit tarnished these days. That's a start. More is needed.

The tax code is so large and complex that the corporations use armies of lawyers to avoid many taxes. There must be a better way to do this, but we would need to review the entire system.
I am not for raising taxes on everyone, just want consider taxes on spending by wealthy who avoid taxes on their income.
It would be better to essentially start over and change the entire tax system.

Originally Posted by radind

If these people are not guilty of a crime , then they are certainly not Patriots and should be vilified.

Yes, they are disgusting. So are people who pass gas in public. So are people who use copious profanities and racial slurs (and those usually go together as signs of a lack of of self-control). So are people who cut off eighteen-wheeler trucks.

So are people who burn the American flag.

Doing something because it is 'legal' does not make it right.

Nullum crimen sine lege.

Until we find some way to prevent this, we might consider taxing the money as it is spent in the USA.

As it is spent? It's hard to tax luxury expenditures in a foreign country. Thus if an American embezzler takes his loot to some tax paradise and spends his loot on real estate (usually lightly-taxed) and domestic servants (who could include hired carpenters to make the furniture, thus largely avoiding sales taxes at IKEA) he might never face taxes until he is extradited to the US. The IRS is one of the most efficient tax agencies in the world, and one of the most dreaded. Some Americans speak of the IRS as if it were the KGB, which is often hyperbole -- and often isn't. Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion, and not for murder or bootlegging.

It's difficult to earn non-poverty income in America without having it taxed in America. Win a pair of movie passes, and the IRS knows about it. The IRS typically withholds more tax than you must pay and compels you to seek a return of the excess payment.

There are no federal sales taxes, but there are state sales taxes. There are ways to evade state sales taxes because states find it hard to enforce taxes on mail-order and on-line purchases. (I suggest that the federal government tax such interstate commerce and apportion the revenue to the States, even allowing States to rebate such taxes to residents for tax-exempt transactions, such as on interest in all but a few states, food and medicines in most, clothing in some, and everything in some others...)

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

Yes, they are disgusting. So are people who pass gas in public. So are people who use copious profanities and racial slurs (and those usually go together as signs of a lack of of self-control). So are people who cut off eighteen-wheeler trucks.

So are people who burn the American flag.

Nullum crimen sine lege.

As it is spent? It's hard to tax luxury expenditures in a foreign country. Thus if an American embezzler takes his loot to some tax paradise and spends his loot on real estate (usually lightly-taxed) and domestic servants (who could include hired carpenters to make the furniture, thus largely avoiding sales taxes at IKEA) he might never face taxes until he is extradited to the US. The IRS is one of the most efficient tax agencies in the world, and one of the most dreaded. Some Americans speak of the IRS as if it were the KGB, which is often hyperbole -- and often isn't. Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion, and not for murder or bootlegging.

It's difficult to earn non-poverty income in America without having it taxed in America. Win a pair of movie passes, and the IRS knows about it. The IRS typically withholds more tax than you must pay and compels you to seek a return of the excess payment.

There are no federal sales taxes, but there are state sales taxes. There are ways to evade state sales taxes because states find it hard to enforce taxes on mail-order and on-line purchases. (I suggest that the federal government tax such interstate commerce and apportion the revenue to the States, even allowing States to rebate such taxes to residents for tax-exempt transactions, such as on interest in all but a few states, food and medicines in most, clothing in some, and everything in some others...)

We could only tax money spent in the USA. If everything is out of the country , then they are safe.

This article is interesting, but I wonder if there is not corporate income and tax evasion that was overlooked.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...-s-tax-breaks/
… "Most tax breaks specified in the report benefit individuals rather than corporations. We counted 118 individual breaks with a net total estimated cost in fiscal 2016 of nearly $1.15 trillion, compared with 80 corporate breaks totaling $185.2 billion. More than half of that corporate total comes from one break, the deferral of taxes on income earned overseas through foreign subsidiaries and affiliates.”…

The UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) has just gotten attention from Swiss federal police.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0537661884736

Prediction: major restructuring of international soccer.

For those who don't know: American football involves this:



and the name used for football that uses this 'ball' is called American football or its translation in places like Germany and Brazil where this is the sort of ball is used (variants exist):

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

Yes, they are disgusting. So are people who pass gas in public. So are people who use copious profanities and racial slurs (and those usually go together as signs of a lack of of self-control). So are people who cut off eighteen-wheeler trucks.

So are people who burn the American flag.



Nullum crimen sine lege.




As it is spent? It's hard to tax luxury expenditures in a foreign country. Thus if an American embezzler takes his loot to some tax paradise and spends his loot on real estate (usually lightly-taxed) and domestic servants (who could include hired carpenters to make the furniture, thus largely avoiding sales taxes at IKEA) he might never face taxes until he is extradited to the US. The IRS is one of the most efficient tax agencies in the world, and one of the most dreaded. Some Americans speak of the IRS as if it were the KGB, which is often hyperbole -- and often isn't. Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion, and not for murder or bootlegging.

It's difficult to earn non-poverty income in America without having it taxed in America. Win a pair of movie passes, and the IRS knows about it. The IRS typically withholds more tax than you must pay and compels you to seek a return of the excess payment.

There are no federal sales taxes, but there are state sales taxes. There are ways to evade state sales taxes because states find it hard to enforce taxes on mail-order and on-line purchases. (I suggest that the federal government tax such interstate commerce and apportion the revenue to the States, even allowing States to rebate such taxes to residents for tax-exempt transactions, such as on interest in all but a few states, food and medicines in most, clothing in some, and everything in some others...)

Did you know that the Prime Minster of Iceland was forced to resign?