What has this to with us? Dr Michael Benjamin, Community Psychiatrist ------------------------------- myRay: On-line Self-Help CBT http://www.myRay.com http://www.myRay.org ------------------------------ Mental Health: http//www.MyDoctorExplains.com -------------------------------- Auditing || Quality Control http://www.MyDoctorExplains.com/alamo/ -------------------------------- Blog: http://www.DrMichaelBenjamin.com
On 4 April 2013 17:29, Rick Duniec <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/03/offshore-secrets-offshore-tax-haven > > Millions of internal records have leaked from Britain's offshore financial > industry, exposing for the first time the identities of thousands of > holders of anonymous wealth from around the world, from presidents to > plutocrats, the daughter of a notorious dictator and a British millionaire > accused of concealing assets from his ex-wife. > > The leak of 2m emails and other documents, mainly from the offshore haven > of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), has the potential to cause a seismic > shock worldwide to the booming offshore trade, with a former chief > economist at McKinsey estimating that wealthy individuals may have as much > as $32tn (£21tn) stashed in overseas havens. > > In France, Jean-Jacques Augier, President François Hollande's campaign > co-treasurer and close friend, has been forced to publicly identify his > Chinese business partner. It emerges as Hollande is mired in financial > scandal because his former budget minister concealed a Swiss bank account > for 20 years and repeatedly lied about it. > > In Mongolia, the country's former finance minister and deputy speaker of > its parliament says he may have to resign from politics as a result of this > investigation. > > But the two can now be named for the first time because of their use of > companies in offshore havens, particularly in the British Virgin Islands, > where owners' identities normally remain secret. > > The names have been unearthed in a novel project by the Washington-based > International Consortium of Investigative Journalists [ICIJ], in > collaboration with the Guardian and other international media, who are > jointly publishing their research results this week. > > The naming project may be extremely damaging for confidence among the > world's wealthiest people, no longer certain that the size of their > fortunes remains hidden from governments and from their neighbours. > > BVI's clients include Scot Young, a millionaire associate of deceased > oligarch Boris Berezovsky. Dundee-born Young is in jail for contempt of > court for concealing assets from his ex-wife. > > Young's lawyer, to whom he signed over power of attorney, appears to > control interests in a BVI company that owns a potentially lucrative Moscow > development with a value estimated at $100m. > > Another is jailed fraudster Achilleas Kallakis. He used fake BVI companies > to obtain a record-breaking £750m in property loans from reckless British > and Irish banks. > > As well as Britons hiding wealth offshore, an extraordinary array of > government officials and rich families across the world are identified, > from Canada, the US, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, China, Thailand and > former communist states. > > The data seen by the Guardian shows that their secret companies are based > mainly in the British Virgin Islands. > > Sample offshore owners named in the leaked files include: > > . Jean-Jacques Augier, François Hollande's 2012 election campaign > co-treasurer, launched a Caymans-based distributor in China with a 25% > partner in a BVI company. Augier says his partner was Xi Shu, a Chinese > businessman. > > . Mongolia's former finance minister. Bayartsogt Sangajav set up "Legend > Plus Capital Ltd" with a Swiss bank account, while he served as finance > minister of the impoverished state from 2008 to 2012. He says it was "a > mistake" not to declare it, and says "I probably should consider resigning > from my position". > > . The president of Azerbaijan and his family. A local construction > magnate, Hassan Gozal, controls entities set up in the names of President > Ilham Aliyev's two daughters. > > . The wife of Russia's deputy prime minister. Olga Shuvalova's husband, > businessman and politician Igor Shuvalov, has denied allegations of > wrongdoing about her offshore interests. > > .A senator's husband in Canada. Lawyer Tony Merchant deposited more than > US$800,000 into an offshore trust. > > He paid fees in cash and ordered written communication to be "kept to a > minimum". > > . A dictator's child in the Philippines: Maria Imelda Marcos Manotoc, a > provincial governor, is the eldest daughter of former President Ferdinand > Marcos, notorious for corruption. > > . Spain's wealthiest art collector, Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, a > former beauty queen and widow of a Thyssen steel billionaire, who uses > offshore entities to buy pictures. > > . US: Offshore clients include Denise Rich, ex-wife of notorious oil > trader Marc Rich, who was controversially pardoned by President Clinton on > tax evasion charges. She put $144m into the Dry Trust, set up in the Cook > Islands. > > It is estimated that more than $20tn acquired by wealthy individuals could > lie in offshore accounts. The UK-controlled BVI has been the most > successful among the mushrooming secrecy havens that cater for them. > > The Caribbean micro-state has incorporated more than a million such > offshore entities since it began marketing itself worldwide in the 1980s. > Owners' true identities are never revealed. > > Even the island's official financial regulators normally have no idea who > is behind them. > > The British Foreign Office depends on the BVI's company licensing revenue > to subsidise this residual outpost of empire, while lawyers and accountants > in the City of London benefit from a lucrative trade as intermediaries. > > They claim the tax-free offshore companies provide legitimate privacy. > Neil Smith, the financial secretary of the autonomous local administration > in the BVI's capital Tortola, told the Guardian it was very inaccurate to > claim the island "harbours the ethically challenged". > > He said: "Our legislation provides a more hostile environment for > illegality than most jurisdictions". > > Smith added that in "rare instances .where the BVI was implicated in > illegal activity by association or otherwise, we responded swiftly and > decisively". > > The Guardian and ICIJ's Offshore Secrets series last year exposed how UK > property empires have been built up by, among others, Russian oligarchs, > fraudsters and tax avoiders, using BVI companies behind a screen of sham > directors. > > Such so-called "nominees", Britons giving far-flung addresses on Nevis in > the Caribbean, Dubai or the Seychelles, are simply renting out their names > for the real owners to hide behind. > > The whistleblowing group WikiLeaks caused a storm of controversy in 2010 > when it was able to download almost two gigabytes of leaked US military and > diplomatic files. > > The new BVI data, by contrast, contains more than 200 gigabytes, covering > more than a decade of financial information about the global transactions > of BVI private incorporation agencies. It also includes data on their > offshoots in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Cook Islands in the Pacific. > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: > http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email [email protected] > > MARCHING ON TOGETHER > > _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] MARCHING ON TOGETHER
