The global law firm Mossack Fonseca creates untraceable shell companies for Mafia members, drug dealers, elites from sports and culture, and a host of corrupt politicians. You can come up with a couple legitimate reasons
for creating a shell company: protecting trade secrets from rivals, for
example. But most of Mossack Fonseca’s business involves people wanting
to conceal their wealth: “Ninety-five percent of our work,” one memo reads,
“coincidentally consists in selling vehicles to avoid taxes.” 214,000
of those vehicles, secured for 14,000 clients, are shown in the leaked
documents.
While massive, the leak exposes only a smallfor creating a shell company: protecting trade secrets from rivals, for
example. But most of Mossack Fonseca’s business involves people wanting
to conceal their wealth: “Ninety-five percent of our work,” one memo reads,
“coincidentally consists in selling vehicles to avoid taxes.” 214,000
of those vehicles, secured for 14,000 clients, are shown in the leaked
documents.
corner of the tax avoidance industry. Mossack Fonseca is just one of
many firms in just one of dozens of international tax havens providing
their services to the global elite. Back in 2012, British activists at
the Tax Justice Network estimated between $21-$32 trillion sitting in offshore tax havens, of which the Panama Papers reveals only a piece. ....
“Anonymous shell companies have been used to rip off
Medicare,” said Gascoigne. “They’ve been used to evade U.S. sanctions.
Arms dealers like Viktor Bout, the so-called Merchant of Death, used
U.S. shell companies to launder money.” Indeed, Mossack Fonseca has
affiliated offices in Wyoming, Nevada, and Florida. America is up to its
eyeballs in this style of corruption.
Medicare,” said Gascoigne. “They’ve been used to evade U.S. sanctions.
Arms dealers like Viktor Bout, the so-called Merchant of Death, used
U.S. shell companies to launder money.” Indeed, Mossack Fonseca has
affiliated offices in Wyoming, Nevada, and Florida. America is up to its
eyeballs in this style of corruption.
It’s a fixable situation. The U.S. could sign on to the OECD standards tomorrow. In addition, the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act
would require data collection on the beneficial ownership of shell
companies and limited liability corporations. But opposition from the
states benefiting from foreign tax havens, as well as the National
Association of Secretaries of State, has stalled progress. Secretaries
of State typically have the authority to register corporations, and they
prosper from registration fees. Delaware and its companion states that
offer corporate secrecy convinced the Secretaries of State organization
to oppose the bill.
would require data collection on the beneficial ownership of shell
companies and limited liability corporations. But opposition from the
states benefiting from foreign tax havens, as well as the National
Association of Secretaries of State, has stalled progress. Secretaries
of State typically have the authority to register corporations, and they
prosper from registration fees. Delaware and its companion states that
offer corporate secrecy convinced the Secretaries of State organization
to oppose the bill.
Legal is not necessarily ethical....
Read more at:
This is much worse than the Panama Papers: How America became a world leader in tax avoidance - Salon.com
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