The Panama Papers: Proof of Corruption on the Grandest Scale

Don't tell me he stuck his dick in a pig too!

Robear wrote:

Kazooka, Americans and American corporations are well-known for sending money off-shore, and have been for decades. You'll be disappointed if you think otherwise. :-)

No, I agree that there are likely going to be a lot of American names coming. I'm more speculating about a potential systemic reason for an absence of US accounts.

Could be the whistle blower doesn't want to end up on the wrong side of the fence with Uncle Sam corporates and private wealth. Or they didn't have any clients from there.

Most ridiculous media response I've heard so far by an Aussie named in the papers was: "British Virgin Isles? BVI. You're talking about Britain, right?"

To avoid nearby investigations, most fat cats don't drop their money with the firm next door, so I'm not shocked there's not much US money showing from Panama. For the US assets you'll have to wait for the UK offshore territories like Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, as well as Andorra, Mauritius, Lichtenstein, Monaco and Hong Kong to open their books ... and it will likely be a very long wait

Four Corners FTW. Here's the link to the program.

http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/fou...

For Aussies. Americans can feel the burn of 'this video not available in your region'. Here's the show's iconic opening logo over the years instead.

https://youtu.be/lKeUtKcdfRU

Tamren wrote:

Jackie Chan too?!

Learnt relatively recently from a Chinese friend that, contrary to his image in the West, Jackie Chan is a phenomenal asshole.

Iceland's prime minister resigns

Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has resigned, the deputy chair of Iceland's Progressive Party said Tuesday.
Gunnlaugsson had been under intense pressure to step down since leaked documents hacked from a Panamanian law firm revealed his links to an offshore company, triggering mass protests in the capital.

I hope he has tucked a bit of money away for retirement....

I hear Central America is nice, this time of year. And it has good tailors...

Robear wrote:

. And it has good tailors...

Oh bravo!

I've personally seen a major Australian corporate open up a Panama subsidiary to take advantage of its special economic zones and the country's trade ties to Latin America. It's not always about moving money offshore.

But the issue concerning bank secrecy is not a new problem as we saw years ago with someone releasing infamous Swiss bank account details. Former Iceland PM fell on his sword pretty quickly, he must have had a lot at stake with whatever he was doing offshore to want it buried before more scrutiny is directed at him.

Bfgp wrote:

I've personally seen a major Australian corporate open up a Panama subsidiary to take advantage of its special economic zones and the country's trade ties to Latin America. It's not always about moving money offshore.

But the issue concerning bank secrecy is not a new problem as we saw years ago with someone releasing infamous Swiss bank account details. Former Iceland PM fell on his sword pretty quickly, he must have had a lot at stake with whatever he was doing offshore to want it buried before more scrutiny is directed at him.

Or maybe a sense of shame.

kazooka wrote:
Robear wrote:

Kazooka, Americans and American corporations are well-known for sending money off-shore, and have been for decades. You'll be disappointed if you think otherwise. :-)

No, I agree that there are likely going to be a lot of American names coming. I'm more speculating about a potential systemic reason for an absence of US accounts.

I don't think theres any American names coming of significance.

You were on the right thread of thought with your original post. Planet money did a good podcast about setting up shell companies that came to the conclusion you don't need to be going to Belize etc and its actually easier doing it in the States.

Any American looking to get dodgy with their money is probably advised to go the Delaware route and from there its their own prerogative. People looking to dodge taxes are also not looking to stick their money in countries they are not entirely sure about.

KPMG got caught in Canada running a haven for clients that involved the Isle of Mann. Also lending to the argument that people are doing it with companies they trust and or in places they trust.

Actually, you may be able to watch the episode in-browser here, I'm not sure: http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stori...

There's also a transcript for those super interested.

There's probably another simpler reason why not many US citizens have been caught up in the expose; typical jurisdictions I've seen private wealth set up from US investors are Cayman Islands, closely followed by Bermuda and more distantly the BVI, Guernsey, etc. From memory the US has a double taxation agreement with Panama which means more scrutiny possible by IRS.

UPDATE Panama Papers: King of Saudi Arabia accused of secretly donating $80M to Netanyahu's Israeli election campaign

Opposition Labour leader Isaac Herzog, identified in the original article as the source accusation denies having made the accusation; and called the websites claiming he did "unsane."

It's hard to enumerate all the people to whom this would be politically significant: the Israeli opposition; leadership rivals from Benjamin Netanyahu's own party; Islamists who are at odds with wahabiism; fighters in Yemen and other territories where Saudi is fighting direct or proxy wars, and the citizens and elites of those countries.

“In March 2015, King Salman has deposited eighty million dollars to support Netanyahu’s campaign via a Syrian-Spanish person named Mohamed Eyad Kayali. The money was deposited to a company’s account in British Virgin Islands owned by Teddy Sagi, an Israeli billionaire and businessman, who has allocated the money to fund the campaign Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”, Herzog cited a leaked Panama Paper.

Wow.

farley3k wrote:

UPDATE Panama Papers: King of Saudi Arabia accused of secretly donating $80M to Netanyahu's Israeli election campaign

Opposition Labour leader Isaac Herzog, identified in the original article as the source accusation denies having made the accusation; and called the websites claiming he did "unsane."

It's hard to enumerate all the people to whom this would be politically significant: the Israeli opposition; leadership rivals from Benjamin Netanyahu's own party; Islamists who are at odds with wahabiism; fighters in Yemen and other territories where Saudi is fighting direct or proxy wars, and the citizens and elites of those countries.

“In March 2015, King Salman has deposited eighty million dollars to support Netanyahu’s campaign via a Syrian-Spanish person named Mohamed Eyad Kayali. The money was deposited to a company’s account in British Virgin Islands owned by Teddy Sagi, an Israeli billionaire and businessman, who has allocated the money to fund the campaign Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”, Herzog cited a leaked Panama Paper.

I think I speak for pretty much everyone when I say...

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.

Is questioning Netanyahu's motives antisemitism yet?

Paleocon wrote:

Is questioning Netanyahu's motives antisemitism yet?

You're basically Hitler.

The Boing Boing article's been taken down, which isn't surprising considering that Herzog says the quote was fabricated. The Middle East Observer was the original source, but it never said where or when Herzog allegedly said the quote, and provided no source.