Panama Tax Evasion Probe

waltky · Apr 4, 2016

Data hack leads to tax evasion probe...

Tax authorities begin probes into some people named in Panama Papers leak
Mon Apr 4, 2016 - Tax authorities in Australia and New Zealand are probing local clients of a Panama-based law firm at the center of a massive data leak for possible tax evasion.

The leak involves more than 11.5 million documents from the files of law firm Mossack Fonseca, based in the tax haven of Panama, revealing details of hundreds of thousands of clients in multiple jurisdictions. The documents are at the center of an investigation published on Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other news organizations around the globe. Suddeutsche Zeitung reported it received the huge cache of documents and then shared them with the other media outlets.

A company list showing the Mossack Fonseca law firm is pictured on a sign at the Arango Orillac Building in Panama City

The leaked "Panama Papers" cover a period over almost 40 years, from 1977 until as recently as last December, and allegedly show that some companies domiciled in tax havens were being used for suspected money laundering, arms and drug deals, and tax evasion. Britain´s Guardian newspaper said the documents showed a network of secret offshore deals and loans worth $2 billion led to close friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters couldn't independently confirm those details.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) said on Monday it is investigating more than 800 wealthy clients of Mossack Fonseca. "Currently we have identified over 800 individual taxpayers and we have now linked over 120 of them to an associate offshore service provider located in Hong Kong," the Australian tax office said in a statement emailed to Reuters. It did not name the Hong Kong company.

DATABASE "HACK"
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Exclusive: U.N. audit identifies serious lapses linked to alleged bribery
Sun Apr 3, 2016 - The United Nations' internal investigations office has uncovered serious lapses and due-diligence failures in the world body's interaction with organizations tied to an alleged bribery scheme involving a former U.N. General Assembly president.

The 21-page confidential report by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services' (OIOS), reviewed by Reuters, outlines the results of an audit ordered by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in response to charges against John Ashe, General Assembly president in 2013-2014, and six other people. The report gave the U.N. an overall grade of "partially satisfactory" in the March 22 report, which is available to U.N. member states on request. It noted "important deficiencies" in the way United Nations and its staff interacted with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and oversees U.N. employees. It is the biggest financial corruption crisis to rock the United Nations since the Oil-for-Food scandal hit the world body during the tenure of Ban's predecessor Kofi Annan. U.N. officials and diplomats say latest scandal highlights the need for greater transparency at the United Nations.

OIOS recommended improvements in internal U.N. risk management and controls in light of the irregularities uncovered - a U.N. document improperly altered, travel expenses paid by NGOs against U.N. guidelines, U.N. employees keeping iPads given to them by an NGO headed by an indicted individual. OIOS urged Ban to ensure that any outside organizations the U.N. deals with are properly vetted. It also said that the U.N. should review any continuing relations with NGOs linked to the indictment. The audit came in response to an ongoing U.S. investigation that has since October resulted in charges against seven people including Ashe, a former U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda.

U.S. prosecutors say Ashe received $1.3 million in bribes from Chinese businessmen including Ng Lap Seng, a billionaire real estate developer who heads Macau-based Sun Kian Ip Group and was seeking to build a U.N.-sponsored conference center in Macau. Francis Lorenzo, a suspended deputy U.N. ambassador from the Dominican Republic who prosecutors said helped facilitate Ng's bribes and received bribes himself, pleaded guilty in March and agreed to cooperate with U.S. authorities.Sheri Yan, chief executive of Global Sustainability Foundation, a New York-based NGO, and Heidi Hong Piao, its finance director, accused of facilitating bribes to Ashe, pleaded guilty in January. Julia Vivi Wang has not yet entered a plea, and Ng's assistant Jeff Yin pleaded not guilty. Attorneys for those charged either did not respond or declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office also declined to comment.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that while the Secretary-General was glad that the audit found many controls working properly, the flagged procedural lapses were a concern. "Instructions reinforcing the correct procedures with respect to document issuance have been issued to the Departments and Offices concerned," Dujarric said. "With regard to the specific cases referred to in the audit, action is being taken to determine responsibility and any measures, including possible disciplinary action, that may be deemed appropriate," he said, adding that the U.N. was committed to cooperating with the U.S. authorities.

ALTERED DOCUMENT AND FREE IPADS
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waltky · Apr 4, 2016

Wonder if dey found any o' El Chapo's money?...

'Panama Papers': World leaders, politicians, celebrities hide fortunes offshore
April 3, 2016 | WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- An unprecedented leak of millions of documents allegedly show politicians, prominent world leaders and celebrities hide millions in secret offshore tax shelters and use offshore accounts to skirt tax laws.

The so-called Panama Papers, reviewed by numerous investigative journalists throughout Europe, raise questions about the ethics of such tax havens, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said. It is not unlawful to use offshore accounts, but what the documents reveal is likely to provoke urgent calls for reform. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung first obtained the 11.5 million documents from an anonymous source. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, based in Washington, D.C., shared the documents with The Guardian, BBC and scores of other news agencies, The Guardian reported.

The papers were leaked from the database of Mossack Fonseca, the world's fourth largest offshore law firm. The journalist consortium reported the offshore holdings of current and former world leaders, including prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the president of Ukraine and the king of Saudi Arabia. Some 214,000 offshore entities are connected to the leak documents and people in more than 200 countries and territories. The papers show major banks have driven the creation of hard-to-trace companies in offshore havens. The documents also implicate a number of governing bodies.

Among the alleged findings are as follows:

- Key member of FIFA's powerful ethics committee -- the group that is supposed to be spearheading reform at world football's scandal-riddled governing body -- acted as legal counsel for individuals and companies recently charged with bribery and corruption. FIFA said it has done nothing illegal.

- Mossack Fonseca has worked with at least 33 people and companies blacklisted by the U.S. government due to evidence they were involved in wrongdoing, such as doing business with Mexican drug lords, terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and rogue nations like North Korea and Iran.

- Offshore companies are linked to the family of China's top leader, Xi Jinping, someone who has vowed to fight "armies of corruption," as well as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who calls himself a reformer in a country shaken by corruption scandals.

- Movie star Jackie Chan had at least six companies managed through the law firm

- Close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin moved up to $2 billion through offshore banks and secret accounts.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-N...ortunes-offshore/3971459712617/?spt=sec&or=tn
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waltky · Apr 4, 2016

World figures deny wrongdoing as 'Panama Papers' turn spotlight on tax evasion...

World figures deny wrongdoing as 'Panama Papers' reveal offshore wealth
April 4, 2016 - 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 global 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.

The Kremlin said the documents contained "nothing concrete and nothing new" while a spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said his late father's reported links to an offshore company were a "private matter." 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 which said they had begun investigating the allegations based on more than 11.5 million documents. Banks came under the spotlight over allegations that they helped clients hide their wealth offshore. A White House spokesman said that while he had no specific comment on the leaked papers, "greater transparency allows us to root out corruption." The documents, covering a period from 1977 until last December, were leaked to more than 100 news organizations around the world, cooperating with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a Washington, D.C.-based network.

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Data trove offers glimpse of how the rich hide their money
Apr 4,`16 -- A leak of 11.5 million documents from a Panama-based law firm offers a glimpse into the shadowy world where the rich and powerful hide their money, raising sharp questions about the use of shell companies that obscure the identities of their true owners.

Leaders of the Group of 20 - representing about 80 percent of the global economy - have vowed to crack down on the practice, which is blamed for helping conceal money laundering, corruption and tax evasion. By themselves, shell companies aren't illegal. Countries have tightened rules on using them - but not enough to satisfy anti-corruption activists. News organizations working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists have been processing the legal records from the Mossack Fonseca law firm that were first leaked to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper based in Munich, Germany.

In reports that began Sunday, they said the document dump that they dubbed the "Panama Papers" shows the hidden offshore assets of politicians, businesses and celebrities, including 12 current or former heads of state. Among the countries with past or present political figures named in the reports are Iceland, Ukraine, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Argentina. The law firm said in a statement it observed all laws and international standards covering corporate registrations.

Ramon Fonseca, a co-founder of Mossack Fonseca - one of the world's largest creators of shell companies - confirmed to Panama's Channel 2 that documents investigated by the ICIJ were authentic and had been obtained illegally by hackers. But he said most people identified in the reports were not his firm's direct clients but were accounts set up by intermediaries. One of the most prominent subjects of the report is Russian President Vladimir Putin, although his name does not appear in the documents. ICIJ said on its website that the documents show how complex offshore financial deals channeled as much as $2 billion to a network of people linked to Putin.

One focus was Sergei Roldugin, a professional cellist and childhood friend of Putin. Roldugen was listed as the owner of companies that obtained payments from other companies worth tens of millions of dollars, and of a stake in Bank Rossiya, described by the U.S. Treasury as "designated for providing material support to government officials." "The evidence in the files suggests Roldugin is acting as a front man for a network of Putin loyalists - and perhaps for Putin himself," the consortium said. Roldugin was unavailable for comment Monday. A receptionist at the St. Petersburg House of Music, where he is artistic director, said he was not in.

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Deckel · Apr 4, 2016

Tax avoidance and tax evasion are not the same thing.

waltky · Apr 5, 2016

Granny says, "Dat's right - this story gonna have legs...

Panama Papers vs NSA: How big is the latest leak?
April 4, 2016 - The Panama Papers created a global stir, not only for detailing how rich and powerful people hide their wealth, but for the sheer size of the data involved. But is it, as Edward Snowden claims, bigger than his leaked NSA data? And how does it compare to the fallout from U.S. diplomatic information released by Chelsea Manning via WikiLeaks?

SIZE

According to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which first shared news of the Panama Papers, the leak consisted of 11.5 million documents, including 4.8 million emails. That compares to about 1.7 million documents taken by Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked details of the organization's surveillance efforts. The NSA release amounted to just 15% the number of documents involved in the Panama Papers investigation. Snowden himself noted on Twitter the Panama Papers represent "the biggest leak in the history of data journalism."

Biggest leak in the history of data journalism just went live, and it's about corruption. https://t.co/dYNjD6eIeZpic.twitter.com/638aIu8oSU
Edward Snowden (@Snowden) April 3, 2016

Data size was also massive. Suddeutsche Zeitung received a jaw-dropping 2.6 terabytes of data (1 terabyte is equal to 1,000 gigabytes). The 2010 leak of diplomatic cables through WikiLeaks, the organization led by Julian Assange, was the equivalent of 1.7 GB of data, in contrast.

SCOPE

According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, who partnered with Suddeutsche Zeitung to release the Panama Papers, the data is connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Offshore holdings of 140 politicians and public officials were revealed, including 12 current and former world leaders. Among them: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iceland's Prime Minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.

In 2010, roughly 250,000 diplomatic cables and documents were shared on WikiLeaks by anonymous sources. The cables were sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 embassies and consulates worldwide. The cables revealed the State Department asked diplomats to collect personal information, including credit card numbers and Internet passwords. The NSA leak involved the collection of phone and Internet records of millions of Americans. As The Guardian reported in 2013, a classified document showed the NSA collected 3 billion pieces of intelligence from computer networks in the U.S. in one month.

IMPACT
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Five key figures implicated in the 'Panama Papers' scandal
April 4, 2016 - Protesters in front of the Icelandic Parliament call for the resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson

The story starts with a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which sets up shell companies in offshore tax havens to protect the global elite. After an anonymous insider leaked a vast trove of the firms documents to a German newspaper more than a year ago, hundreds of journalists from dozens of news outlets in more than 80 countries teamed up to investigate how the worlds rich and famous as well as the infamous move their money around and hide their wealth. The leaked files are called the Panama Papers. And the first round of stories published this weekend has already rattled governments and public figures around the world, with the news outlets led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists promising more to come. Heres a look at some of the most prominent world figures who have been implicated so far.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Putins name reportedly does not appear in the 2.6 terabytes of data leaked from Mossack Fonseca, which has branches around the world. But theres another name that does: one of Putins closest friends, Sergei Roldugin, a 64-year-old cellist who has somehow amassed $100 million through three offshore companies that list him as owner. The leaked files suggest that Roldugin is not keeping this wealth for himself, but is funneling the money to Putin's inner circle. The Guardian reports that Putin is at the center of a network of $2 billion in offshore deals and loans, with Putins friends and associates, including Roldugin, earning millions from deals that seemingly could not have been secured without his patronage.

The transactions, the Guardian reports, include apparently fake share deals, with shares traded retrospectively; multimillion-dollar charges for vague consultancy services; and repeated payments of large sums in compensation for allegedly canceled share deals. Roldugin declined to comment about the transactions when approached by an investigative journalist after a concert in Moscow in March, saying he was afraid to be interviewed, and adding: Where's the money from? Whose [money is it]? I know all that. These are delicate matters. Russian government officials criticized the Panama Papers reports as being part of an anti-Russia conspiracy. Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the reports lack details and are based on arguments and speculations.

Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson
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waltky · Apr 6, 2016

Granny says, "Dat's right - dem corrupt Chinamens got a lotta money dey embezzled squirreled away...

Panama Papers law firm has large China presence
Wed, Apr 06, 2016 - DISINFORMATION: Chinese media have largely refrained from reporting on the leak, especially concerning Chinese, but have called it politically motivated lies

The Panamanian law firm at the heart of a massive leak of offshore banking records has more offices in China than any other country, its Web site shows, raising questions about its activities in the country. The scandal erupted on Sunday when media groups began revealing the results of a year-long investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specializes in creating offshore shell companies. At least eight current or former members of the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) Politburo Standing Committee, the partys most powerful body, have been implicated, according to reports.

Mossack Fonseca operates branches in eight Chinese cities, including Hong Kong, its Web site showed yesterday. The British-based Guardian newspaper said an internal Mossack Fonseca survey found the biggest proportion of its offshore company owners came from mainland China, followed by Hong Kong. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing has launched a much-publicized anti-corruption drive, but has not instituted systemic reforms, such as public declarations of assets, to try to combat the scourge. Among those named in the Panama Papers are close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Xis brother-in-law, who was previously identified in a New York Times investigation into the wealth accumulated by Xis family.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Hong Lei pauses as he listens to a journalists question during a daily briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Beijing yesterday as the ministry denied reports based on documents that linked relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians to offshore companies.

Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and Barcelona striker Lionel Messi have also been named. Chinese media have largely avoided reporting on the leaks, and social media have been scrubbed of references to them, with foreign news broadcasters such as the BBC blacked out when they report on the issue. In an editorial yesterday, the Global Times, a newspaper with close links to the CCP, implied the leaks were part of a disinformation campaign by Western forces. It did not mention any of the Chinese revelations, focusing instead on the allegations involving Putin, nor did a report by the Shanghai Daily, which is linked to the government of the commercial hub.

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Panama Tax Evasion Probe

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