Panama Papers: biggest leak in history published by German newspaper

[bendejo]

You know there will be a few lefty types in the lists that will be made hypocrites of, like Hugo Chavez and the Kirschners.

And if the Castros show up they'd be declared traitors and the populace will hang them by their nuts in the town square.

Well, probably not, but it makes for a good image.

[MrTee]

As Wikileaks, and Eric Snowden, found out you cannot trust the Guardian for a full story..

Interesting that very little is being said of those in the US & UK in this "leak"
Its Putin, Pakistan, Argies, Porcine-fancier Cameron's good ol Buddy of Call me Dave fame : "Lard Ashcroft"..

Craig Murray throws some interesting light on the subject

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/corporate-media-gatekeepers-protect-western-1-from-panama-leak/

"Do not expect a genuine expose of western capitalism.The dirty secrets of western corporations remain unpublished."

[Naam]

for the record: offshore corporations and offshore accounts are not necessarily used to evade taxes, launder money or covering up illegal activities. in many cases they are a simple and inexpensive substitute for a will / estate planning to avoid a lengthy and costly court probate.

That's a bit like saying that a gun is useful in controlling vermin (4-legged) and for sport

One wonders just what proportion of the total number of offshore accounts are operating for these "well-intentioned" reasons.

personally i wonder why anybody should wonder about anything that is not his/her business. but of course... mileages do vary.

[TheCruncher]

I'm sure you guys already noticed who jumped in quickly with the " move on , nothing to see here" posts.

Yup, it are the 25000 Baht monthly electricity bill and the Elite with the exotic sports car members.

Is that a coincidence?

[craigt3365]

As Wikileaks, and Eric Snowden, found out you cannot trust the Guardian for a full story..

Interesting that very little is being said of those in the US & UK in this "leak"

Its Putin, Pakistan, Argies, Porcine-fancier Cameron's good ol Buddy of Call me Dave fame : "Lard Ashcroft"..

Craig Murray throws some interesting light on the subject

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/corporate-media-gatekeepers-protect-western-1-from-panama-leak/

"Do not expect a genuine expose of western capitalism.The dirty secrets of western corporations remain unpublished."

It's all over the Western news. Details are just now coming out. Just wait. But one of the biggest ones was up to 1 Billion from the Russian bank.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/04/panama-papers-leak-spells-danger-for-offshore-tax-havens.html

Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Saudi Arabia's King Salman, U.A.E President Sheikh Khalifa and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko are among those named in the documents as having set up shell companies, according to SZ.

Relatives and associates of other leaders, including Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping, Syria's Bashar Assad and Britain's David Cameron, were also identified by the team of reporters that examined the documents.

Other prominent Asian officials named in the reports included Anuraj Kerjiwal, the former head of Indian political party Lok Sattam, as well as Cambodia's Minister of Justice.

The US has pretty strong laws against this. They've been going after off shore money havens for many, many years. Not so easy to do this type of stuff in the US any more. Luckily.

[Naam]

These types of stories are a gift of God for the press to sell their papers to a populace eager to spit their venom at the rich.

It will end up in a flop.

Most of the offshore accounts and financial services are totally legal.

Remember Luxleaks... Nobody speaks about it anymore.

Legal perhaps, especially if tax law is riddled with loopholes, or back doors, however I would question the morality of not making a fair contribution to a society from which these individuals profit.

please define "fair contribution" and state a reason why you think that "these individuals" did not contribute to their relevant societies.

[Dap]

Now THIS is going to be interesting.

because a huge number of Thaivisa members are about to be exposed?

[MrTee]

As Wikileaks, and Eric Snowden, found out you cannot trust the Guardian for a full story..

Interesting that very little is being said of those in the US & UK in this "leak"

Its Putin, Pakistan, Argies, Porcine-fancier Cameron's good ol Buddy of Call me Dave fame : "Lard Ashcroft"..

Craig Murray throws some interesting light on the subject

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/corporate-media-gatekeepers-protect-western-1-from-panama-leak/

"Do not expect a genuine expose of western capitalism.The dirty secrets of western corporations remain unpublished."

It's all over the Western news. Details are just now coming out. Just wait. But one of the biggest ones was up to 1 Billion from the Russian bank.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/04/panama-papers-leak-spells-danger-for-offshore-tax-havens.html

Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Saudi Arabia's King Salman, U.A.E President Sheikh Khalifa and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko are among those named in the documents as having set up shell companies, according to SZ.

Relatives and associates of other leaders, including Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping, Syria's Bashar Assad and Britain's David Cameron, were also identified by the team of reporters that examined the documents.

Other prominent Asian officials named in the reports included Anuraj Kerjiwal, the former head of Indian political party Lok Sattam, as well as Cambodia's Minister of Justice.

The US has pretty strong laws against this. They've been going after off shore money havens for many, many years. Not so easy to do this type of stuff in the US any more. Luckily.

um, I guess you missed my point, yes it IS all over the news..

But who are the actors being exposed? Pakistan, Russian, Argies, China, Lord Ashcroft, ....

"The leak is being managed by the grandly but laughably named “International Consortium of Investigative Journalists”, which is funded and organised entirely by the USA’s Center for Public Integrity. Their funders include

Ford Foundation

Carnegie Endowment

Rockefeller Family Fund

W K Kellogg Foundation

Open Society Foundation (Soros)

Amongst others.. "

Do you really think you are getting the whole picture?

[Dap]

So as this leak is even bigger than anything Wikileaks have done, i assume certain members will be as equally vitriolic about the editor of Sueddeutsche Zeitung as they were with Assange when he leaked info.

The press release mentions FIFA, If Sepp Blatter's name is in there it could prove more than slightly amusing.

I don't know if "bigger" would be as appropriate as simply "different".

[Naam]

I'm sure you guys already noticed who jumped in quickly with the " move on , nothing to see here" posts.

Yup, it are the 25000 Baht monthly electricity bill and the Elite with the exotic sports car members.

Is that a coincidence?

that's for sure not a coincidence because people with 20k (not 25) electricity bills owning vintage cars are highly likely to own assets which makes a thorough estate planning one of their priorities.

[Dap]

These types of stories are a gift of God for the press to sell their papers to a populace eager to spit their venom at the rich.

It will end up in a flop.

Most of the offshore accounts and financial services are totally legal.

Remember Luxleaks... Nobody speaks about it anymore.

We "venom spitters" can only hope it develops strong enough wings to embarrass and maybe

take down a few rotten and corrupt individuals who figured the paltry funds of the poor were

their domain to do with as they pleased

[MrTee]

So as this leak is even bigger than anything Wikileaks have done, i assume certain members will be as equally vitriolic about the editor of Sueddeutsche Zeitung as they were with Assange when he leaked info.

The press release mentions FIFA, If Sepp Blatter's name is in there it could prove more than slightly amusing.

I don't know if "bigger" would be as appropriate as simply "different".

In terms of actual bytes of Data, bigger by a magnitude,

2.6 terabytes of documents released related to Mossack Fonseca

The total size of the leaked documents dwarfs that of the Wikileaks

Cablegate 2010 (1.7 GB)

Offshore Leaks 2013 (260 GB),

Lux Leaks 2014 (4 GB),

and Swiss Leaks 2015 (3.3 GB).

The data primarily comprises e-mails, PDF files, photos, and excerpts of an internal Mossack Fonseca database. It covers a period spanning from the 1970s to the spring of 2016.

The Panama Papers leak provide data on some 214,000 companies. There is a folder for each shell firm that contains e-mails, contracts, transcripts, and scanned documents.

The leak comprises 4,804,618 emails, 3,047,306 database format files, 2,154,264 PDFs, 1,117,026 images, 320,166 text files, and 2,242 files in other formats.

In terms of the number of organisations implicated..

In terms of the time period.

In terms of the Impact..

Yes Bigger is is appropriate.

You do understand that terabytes are bigger than megabytes, by 1,000 fold?

Look here -> http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/articles/56febff0a1bb8d3c3495adf4/

Edited April 4, 2016 by MrTee

[Dap]

As Wikileaks, and Eric Snowden, found out you cannot trust the Guardian for a full story..

Interesting that very little is being said of those in the US & UK in this "leak"

Its Putin, Pakistan, Argies, Porcine-fancier Cameron's good ol Buddy of Call me Dave fame : "Lard Ashcroft"..

Craig Murray throws some interesting light on the subject

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/corporate-media-gatekeepers-protect-western-1-from-panama-leak/

"Do not expect a genuine expose of western capitalism.The dirty secrets of western corporations remain unpublished."

Thanks for the article MrTee and all I can say is it's a cryin' shame, but I just ain't surprised.

[gerry1011]

I'm sure you guys already noticed who jumped in quickly with the " move on , nothing to see here" posts.

Yup, it are the 25000 Baht monthly electricity bill and the Elite with the exotic sports car members.

Is that a coincidence?

Of course not

[craigt3365]

um, I guess you missed my point, yes it IS all over the news..

But who are the actors being exposed? Pakistan, Russian, Argies, China, Lord Ashcroft, ....

"The leak is being managed by the grandly but laughably named “International Consortium of Investigative Journalists”, which is funded and organised entirely by the USA’s Center for Public Integrity. Their funders include

Ford Foundation

Carnegie Endowment

Rockefeller Family Fund

W K Kellogg Foundation

Open Society Foundation (Soros)

Amongst others.. "

Do you really think you are getting the whole picture?

Considering this is breaking news, I can guarantee none of us know the whole picture.

No conspiracy theories, please.

[Dap]

So as this leak is even bigger than anything Wikileaks have done, i assume certain members will be as equally vitriolic about the editor of Sueddeutsche Zeitung as they were with Assange when he leaked info.

The press release mentions FIFA, If Sepp Blatter's name is in there it could prove more than slightly amusing.

I don't know if "bigger" would be as appropriate as simply "different".

In terms of actual bytes of Data, bigger by a magnitude,

2.6 terabytes of documents released related to Mossack Fonseca

The total size of the leaked documents dwarfs that of the Wikileaks

Cablegate 2010 (1.7 GB)

Offshore Leaks 2013 (260 GB),

Lux Leaks 2014 (4 GB),

and Swiss Leaks 2015 (3.3 GB).

The data primarily comprises e-mails, PDF files, photos, and excerpts of an internal Mossack Fonseca database. It covers a period spanning from the 1970s to the spring of 2016.

The Panama Papers leak provide data on some 214,000 companies. There is a folder for each shell firm that contains e-mails, contracts, transcripts, and scanned documents.

The leak comprises 4,804,618 emails, 3,047,306 database format files, 2,154,264 PDFs, 1,117,026 images, 320,166 text files, and 2,242 files in other formats.

In terms of the number of organisations implicated..

In terms of the time period.

In terms of the Impact..

Yes Bigger is is appropriate.

You do understand that terabytes are bigger than megabytes, by 1,000 fold?

Look here -> http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/articles/56febff0a1bb8d3c3495adf4/

Mea Culpa Squire, I stand corrected

[jpinx]

for the record: offshore corporations and offshore accounts are not necessarily used to evade taxes, launder money or covering up illegal activities. in many cases they are a simple and inexpensive substitute for a will / estate planning to avoid a lengthy and costly court probate.

That's a bit like saying that a gun is useful in controlling vermin (4-legged) and for sport

One wonders just what proportion of the total number of offshore accounts are operating for these "well-intentioned" reasons.

personally i wonder why anybody should wonder about anything that is not his/her business. but of course... mileages do vary.

That attitude is exactly what the criminals depend on....

[MrTee]

um, I guess you missed my point, yes it IS all over the news..

But who are the actors being exposed? Pakistan, Russian, Argies, China, Lord Ashcroft, ....

"The leak is being managed by the grandly but laughably named “International Consortium of Investigative Journalists”, which is funded and organised entirely by the USA’s Center for Public Integrity. Their funders include

Ford Foundation

Carnegie Endowment

Rockefeller Family Fund

W K Kellogg Foundation

Open Society Foundation (Soros)

Amongst others.. "

Do you really think you are getting the whole picture?

Considering this is breaking news, I can guarantee none of us know the whole picture.

No conspiracy theories, please.

They have been analysing the data for over a year.. If they were after the high hanging fruit they would have been first in line.

No conspiracy needed, thank you.

[craigt3365]

Interesting stats on off shore banking. Pretty amazing. Maybe we need simplified tax laws? LOL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offshore_bank

Offshore banking constitutes a sizable portion of the international financial system. Experts believe that as much as half the world's capital flows through offshore centers. Tax havens have 1.2% of the world's population and hold 26% of the world's wealth, including 31% of the net profits of United States multinationals. An estimated £13-20 trillion is hoarded away in offshore accounts.^[11]

Some $3 trillion is in deposits in tax haven banks and the rest is in securities held by international business companies (IBCs) and trusts. Among offshore banks, Swiss banks hold an estimated 35% of the world's private and institutional funds (or 3 trillion Swiss francs), and the Cayman Islands (1.9 trillion US dollars in deposits) are the fifth largest banking centre globally in terms of deposits.^[12] However, recent data by the Swiss National Bank show that the assets held by foreign persons in Swiss bank accounts declined by 28.1% between January 2008 and November 2009.^[13]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2012/07/23/super-rich-hide-21-trillion-offshore-study-says/#fa5cc3b73d32

A new report finds that around the world the extremely wealthy have accumulated at least $21 trillion in secretive offshore accounts. That’s a sum equal to the gross domestic products of the United States and Japan added together. The number may sound unbelievable, but the study was conducted by James Henry, former chief economist at the consultancy McKinsey, an expert on tax havens and offshoring. It was commissioned by Tax Justice Network, a British activist group.

Crazy, eh?

The report’s analysis, based on data from many sources including the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund, indicates that enough money has left some developing countries since the 1970s to pay off all their debts to the rest of the world. “The problem here is that the assets of these countries are held by a small number of wealthy individuals while the debts are shouldered by the ordinary people of these countries through their governments,” the report says.Money has especially flowed out of oil producing states. Some $700 billion has left Russia since the 1990s: $305 billion has flowed out of Saudi Arabia since the 1970s, and about the same amount from Nigeria.

[craigt3365]

https://news.vice.com/article/the-panama-papers-massive-leak-reveals-the-global-elites-secret-cash-havens

"Generally speaking, owning an offshore company is not illegal in itself. In fact, establishing an offshore company can be seen as a logical step for a broad range of business transactions," SZ explained. "However, a look through the Panama Papers very quickly reveals that concealing the identities of the true company owners was the primary aim in the vast majority of cases."

.........

The ICIJ and SZ have teamed up with reporters from more than 100 news organizations around the globe to sift through the leaked documents. The Panama Papers have been public for less than 24 hours, but the unprecedented leak is already causing repercussions.

[chilli42]

One thing you won't see is anyone from Thailand on that list!

[ThaiKneeTim]

These types of stories are a gift of God for the press to sell their papers to a populace eager to spit their venom at the rich.

It will end up in a flop.

Most of the offshore accounts and financial services are totally legal.

Remember Luxleaks... Nobody speaks about it anymore.

Legal perhaps, especially if tax law is riddled with loopholes, or back doors, however I would question the morality of not making a fair contribution to a society from which these individuals profit.

please define "fair contribution" and state a reason why you think that "these individuals" did not contribute to their relevant societies.

The tax rate for the country where the money was earned.

By evading their share of taxes they are placing a greater burden on those who pay their taxes.

The infrastructure of any country has to be paid for, systems of taxation are there to pay for it. In evading paying your allotted share your are cheating your fellow citizens.

We have the utter hypocrisy of the Daily Fail whinging about benefits claimants whilst being registered in the Bahamas to evade tax.

Recently, after being shamed into paying up, Google negotiated 3% corporate tax rate. Is that fair?

[ThaiKneeTim]

These types of stories are a gift of God for the press to sell their papers to a populace eager to spit their venom at the rich.

It will end up in a flop.

Most of the offshore accounts and financial services are totally legal.

Remember Luxleaks... Nobody speaks about it anymore.

Legal perhaps, especially if tax law is riddled with loopholes, or back doors, however I would question the morality of not making a fair contribution to a society from which these individuals profit.

please define "fair contribution" and state a reason why you think that "these individuals" did not contribute to their relevant societies.

The tax rate for the country where the money was earned.

By evading their share of taxes they are placing a greater burden on those who pay their taxes.

The infrastructure of any country has to be paid for, systems of taxation are there to pay for it. In evading paying your allotted share your are cheating your fellow citizens.

We have the utter hypocrisy of the Daily Fail whinging about benefits claimants whilst being registered in the Bahamas to evade tax.

Recently, after being shamed into paying up, Google negotiated 3% corporate tax rate. Is that fair?

[Berkshire]

These types of stories are a gift of God for the press to sell their papers to a populace eager to spit their venom at the rich.

It will end up in a flop.

Most of the offshore accounts and financial services are totally legal.

Remember Luxleaks... Nobody speaks about it anymore.

Legal perhaps, especially if tax law is riddled with loopholes, or back doors, however I would question the morality of not making a fair contribution to a society from which these individuals profit.

please define "fair contribution" and state a reason why you think that "these individuals" did not contribute to their relevant societies.

Mr. Naam, you're clearly a knowledgeable financial guy, well respected on this forum. Which is why I'm at a loss to understand why you're defending these crooks. Obviously, the authorities are not going to go after everyone who has an off-shore account. But there are quite a few folks who have off-shore accounts for nefarious reasons. If it was legit, there wouldn't be a need to "conceal" it. That's pretty much the thrust of the OP. It's not only taxes that they're avoiding, but it would seem that a good number are politicians who have siphoned large amounts of money from their nations' coffers. Trillions. I hope they nail these crooks, but I doubt many of these countries have the stomach to do it. Putin will just deny it all. Ditto Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. But maybe the Chinese will make a go of it. Anyways, I look forward to seeing all the names that are revealed. It will be long and distinguished.

[DM07]

They are already screaming bloody murder and start calling the leak "a criminal act"!

Remember Snowden?

Kill the messenger!

Move on, nothing to see here!

[Steely Dan]

More fallout, this time passport details, guess who has a Jordanian passport?

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2016/04/another-major-palestinian-official-with.html

[JohnDodd]

As Wikileaks, and Eric Snowden, found out you cannot trust the Guardian for a full story..

Interesting that very little is being said of those in the US & UK in this "leak"

Its Putin, Pakistan, Argies, Porcine-fancier Cameron's good ol Buddy of Call me Dave fame : "Lard Ashcroft"..

Craig Murray throws some interesting light on the subject

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/04/corporate-media-gatekeepers-protect-western-1-from-panama-leak/

"Do not expect a genuine expose of western capitalism.The dirty secrets of western corporations remain unpublished."

It's all over the Western news. Details are just now coming out. Just wait. But one of the biggest ones was up to 1 Billion from the Russian bank.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/04/panama-papers-leak-spells-danger-for-offshore-tax-havens.html

Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Saudi Arabia's King Salman, U.A.E President Sheikh Khalifa and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko are among those named in the documents as having set up shell companies, according to SZ.

Relatives and associates of other leaders, including Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping, Syria's Bashar Assad and Britain's David Cameron, were also identified by the team of reporters that examined the documents.

Other prominent Asian officials named in the reports included Anuraj Kerjiwal, the former head of Indian political party Lok Sattam, as well as Cambodia's Minister of Justice.

The US has pretty strong laws against this. They've been going after off shore money havens for many, many years. Not so easy to do this type of stuff in the US any more. Luckily.

um, I guess you missed my point, yes it IS all over the news..

But who are the actors being exposed? Pakistan, Russian, Argies, China, Lord Ashcroft, ....

"The leak is being managed by the grandly but laughably named “International Consortium of Investigative Journalists”, which is funded and organised entirely by the USA’s Center for Public Integrity. Their funders include

Ford Foundation

Carnegie Endowment

Rockefeller Family Fund

W K Kellogg Foundation

Open Society Foundation (Soros)

Amongst others.. "

Do you really think you are getting the whole picture?

"The international con. of investigative journalists" aka C.I.A. did not need to do much investigating to come up with this list. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung is a long time Langley hangout, and have been "managing" news that is detrimental to the neo-con/mossad/mi6/nazi cabal for years. Didn't see any Zionist's on the list.

[Grouse]

Massively disappointed

I thought this was going to be about a leak in the Panama Canal! Massive catastrophe I thought. But no, off shore accounts. What's wrong with that?

[Naam]

These types of stories are a gift of God for the press to sell their papers to a populace eager to spit their venom at the rich.

It will end up in a flop.

Most of the offshore accounts and financial services are totally legal.

Remember Luxleaks... Nobody speaks about it anymore.

Legal perhaps, especially if tax law is riddled with loopholes, or back doors, however I would question the morality of not making a fair contribution to a society from which these individuals profit.

please define "fair contribution" and state a reason why you think that "these individuals" did not contribute to their relevant societies.

Mr. Naam, you're clearly a knowledgeable financial guy, well respected on this forum. Which is why I'm at a loss to understand why you're defending these crooks. Obviously, the authorities are not going to go after everyone who has an off-shore account. But there are quite a few folks who have off-shore accounts for nefarious reasons. If it was legit, there wouldn't be a need to "conceal" it. That's pretty much the thrust of the OP. It's not only taxes that they're avoiding, but it would seem that a good number are politicians who have siphoned large amounts of money from their nations' coffers. Trillions. I hope they nail these crooks, but I doubt many of these countries have the stomach to do it. Putin will just deny it all. Ditto Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. But maybe the Chinese will make a go of it. Anyways, I look forward to seeing all the names that are revealed. It will be long and distinguished.

please quote a single remark of mine which "defends the crooks"

[Naam]

please define "fair contribution" and state a reason why you think that "these individuals" did not contribute to their relevant societies.

The tax rate for the country where the money was earned.

By evading their share of taxes they are placing a greater burden on those who pay their taxes.

The infrastructure of any country has to be paid for, systems of taxation are there to pay for it. In evading paying your allotted share your are cheating your fellow citizens.

We have the utter hypocrisy of the Daily Fail whinging about benefits claimants whilst being registered in the Bahamas to evade tax.

Recently, after being shamed into paying up, Google negotiated 3% corporate tax rate. Is that fair?

please advise where i should file tax returns

-in all of the 14 countries where i presently invest and earn,

-in my tax residence Thailand,

-or my home country Germany in order not to cheat my fellow citizens.