Massive Data Leak Reveals How the Ultra Rich Hide Their Wealth

bshell writes "According to the CBC, there was a massive leak of 'files containing information on over 120,000 offshore entities — including shell corporations and legal structures known as trusts — involving people in over 170 countries. The leak amounts to 260 gigabytes of data, or 162 times larger than the U.S. State Department cables published by WikiLeaks in 2010...In many cases, the leaked documents expose insider details of how agents would incorporate companies in Caribbean and South Pacific micro-states on behalf of wealthy clients, then assign front people called "nominees" to serve, on paper, as directors and shareholders for the corporations — disguising the companies' true owners.' Makes a good read and there are some good interactive components. Perhaps Slashdot readers can figure out how the source of the leak, the D.C.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists got their hands on this data."

Comments

Re:It is as if there is no law

[Anonymous Coward]

Fear not. Moore's Law holds the promise that, with time, advanced tech will enable we members of the lower classes to fulfill our age old dream of eating these people.

Re:Translation ...

[PoolOfThought]

I use TurboTax each year planning to take every deduction it can find for me to take. I'm certainly not a wealthy bastard, but i don't want to pay any more than I have to. If an accountant would "pay for itself" (they'd save me as much as they would charge) then I'd hire one to do my taxes. I would have employed someone for a day and gotten PAID to do so by the saving on my taxes. Beyond that if there was some reasonably affordable and legal way for me to save more money in an untaxed account you better believe I'd try. Is there anyone who wouldn't (and who actually does pay taxes)?

People who work generally prefer to keep their earned money. People who took risks generally prefer to be rewarded when those risks pay off. They'd rather get to spend it on (or give it to) things of their choosing rather than have as much as possible taken from them to be handed out to someone else (government or otherwise).

What hard to understand?