JOURNALISTS' INVESTIGATIONS NET THOUSANDS OF OFF SHORE ACCOUNTS

 

 photo: Spiegelonline

Saying that off shore accounts exist and that rich people or potentates take full advantage of them is nothing new.  But what is new is the discovery by a group of journalists who have undertaken and intensive investigation that has unearthed a huge number of off-shore accounts in these tax havens.

From small dictators to oligarchs to moneyed people, they all flock to tax havens, possibly in places where the sun shines and the weather is warm.  

The investigation which is being published this week by Spiegel, details exactly how tax evasion works.  

Anonymous informants have provided information to the tune of 2.5 million documents that brought to light details never before seen about off shore accounts.

The investigation spans to more than 170 countries.  The list of people that has been leaked also numbers more than a hundred thousand and it is populated by just about all the usual suspects: politicians, celebrities, oligarchs, shady dealers, financiers and all sort of people from an underworld few people have ever dwelled in.

One of the most famous accounts uncovered is that of noted German playboy and heir, Gunther Sachs, who at one time was married to Brigitte Bardot.  

One of the things that has also been uncovered by the report is how far reaching the labyrinthine structure of offshore accounts and bogus companies truly is.  

A 2012 study, separate from this investigations, put the number of funds circulating in these secret locales at around 21 to 32 trillion dollars. 

This new report however, could put an end to the practice, or at least will be instrumental in eliminating the system once and for all.  

The secretive system in fact, is more than just tax dodging.  It enables criminal activities too. And many of the largest banks in the world are involved. UBS, Clariden, Deutsche bank to name a few.  

There is so much documentation, with a time span of 30 years, that the mass of documents obtained is 160 times larger than the Wikileaks publication on the State Dpt matter.  

On the list, aside from potentates and moneyed people, are also some 4,000 American citizens, among whom is Denise Rich, whose husband was pardoned by President Clinton.  She is alleged to have hidden more than 144 million dollars in the Cook Islands.  She also gave up her American citizenship in 2011 ahead of tax changes passed by the new administration.

Source: Spiegelonline 4.4.13