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Panama Papers: Data Leak Exposes Massive Official Corruption (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The hidden wealth of some of the world's most prominent leaders, politicians and celebrities has been revealed by an unprecedented leak of millions of documents that show the myriad ways in which the rich can exploit secretive offshore tax regimes. The Guardian, working with global partners, will set out details from the first tranche of what are being called "the Panama Papers". Journalists from more than 80 countries have been reviewing 11.5m files leaked from the database of Mossack Fonseca, the world's fourth biggest offshore law firm.
Twelve national leaders are among 143 politicians, their families and close associates from around the world known to have been using offshore tax havens. Among national leaders with offshore wealth are Vladimir Putin, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister; Ayad Allawi, ex-interim prime minister and former vice-president of Iraq; Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine; Alaa Mubarak, son of Egypt's former president; and the prime minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davio Gunnlaugsson. The leak is one of the biggest ever - larger than the US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks in 2010, and the secret intelligence documents given to journalists by Edward Snowden in 2013. More here. Search the Offshore Leaks Database here.
Twelve national leaders are among 143 politicians, their families and close associates from around the world known to have been using offshore tax havens. Among national leaders with offshore wealth are Vladimir Putin, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister; Ayad Allawi, ex-interim prime minister and former vice-president of Iraq; Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine; Alaa Mubarak, son of Egypt's former president; and the prime minister of Iceland, Sigmundur Davio Gunnlaugsson. The leak is one of the biggest ever - larger than the US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks in 2010, and the secret intelligence documents given to journalists by Edward Snowden in 2013. More here. Search the Offshore Leaks Database here.
But I am not surprised. Time to do some 1789?
Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
It's Sigmundur Davið - that's an eth, not an o. And yes, people were already furious with the way he's been running our government, now it's boiling over. Hopefully we'll be getting rid of him soon enough....
If I ever become wealthy and mad, I'll leave Companion Cubes on desert islands for shipwreck survivors.
Remember citizens, 'conspiracy theorists' are just nutjob losers who want to blame the reptilians or whatever for the fact that their lives suck and their tinfoil hats are too tight. The world is, in fact, basically decent and as-described. Carry on.
Looking around, it doesn't look like there are any people listed from the US.
https://panamapapers.icij.org/the_power_players/
Concert cellist Sergei Roldugin has known Vladimir Putin since they were teenagers and is godfather to the president's daughter Maria. On paper, Mr Roldugin has personally made hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from suspicious deals. But documents from Mr Roldugin's companies state that: "The company is a corporate screen established principally to protect the identity and confidentiality of the ultimate beneficial owner of the company."
Tomorrow's papers: Sergei Roldugin was found in his Moscow apartment this afternoon, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the back of the head.
When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
these papers implicate lots of western politicians directly, esp from uk. to quote "Six members of the House of Lords, three former Conservative MPs and dozens of donors to UK political parties", and david cameron family .
in contrast, putin's implication is indirect at best, with vague indefinite connections,"The Russian president’s best friend – a cellist called Sergei Roldugin - is at the centre of a scheme in which money from Russian state banks is hidden offshore. Some of it ends up in a ski resort where in 2013 Putin’s daughter Katerina got married."
best friend not described as that before? and location of a wedding reception?
but this summary only mentions non western leaders(if we ignore iceland), as of now. curious! /. afraid of ?
who is
Though there is nothing unlawful about using offshore companies, the files raise fundamental questions about the ethics of such tax havens
So the leaks don't expose much of anything. This does raise the obvious question of where did that money come from in the first place, but that's old news.
Hmmm... Weird. Also, Canadians, British, Germans, etc. Something is not right.
Nobody is starving just because people with money are using legal tax shelters.
so as little dirt as possible falls on the U.S. Corruption in global sports organizations, corruption in global oil business, and now this as well, and very little of it falls on the U.S. Very suspicious.
I believe all of these have come to light and under investigation on intentions by the U.S, to wash their hands a bit after the NSA fall-out, and to make the whole world look bad and corrupt, while trying to look like shining white knights themselves.
always stand against the people.
The man who once ran Putin's campaign to take over all independent media in Russia was found bludgeoned to death in a Washington, D.C. hotel room. He would have been privy to all kinds of insider information, including money Putin has stolen from the Russian people. Take note of the NY Times article where, before an investigation had even begun, the Russia state media was already lying about what happened to Lesin: he had a heart attack.
But this wasn't the first Russian who had inside knowledge of Putin's thefts, and who met a similar fate. Considering the billions Putin has squirreled away overseas, it's understandable people such as Lesin would need to be liquidated, especially, if the reports are true, they are giving inside information to the U.S. or others.
This other article from the Guardian appears to be more in depth, detailing how Putin and his oligarchs have amassed personal fortunes worth anywhere from hundreds of millions of dollars to billions of dollars, all stolen via the endemic corruption of Russian business. Bank Rossiya is essentially Putin's personal bank from which he doles out billions to those who please him. To those who fall out of favor, they have to watch their backs or face the same fate as Lesin.
I'm sure there will be denials about all the facts, but since there is no word for truth in Russian, it's understandable. After all, how can a report about someone's death being from a heart attack come out when the investigation hadn't even begun if you don't want the truth to be known?
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
How is this legal? And by that I mean the acquisition and distribution of legal documents. No matter there contents these are legal documents and they are usually protected in most countries so I wonder if any of the papers will be under fire for revealing any details in them.
Each has secrets that can destroy the other.
Have you seen any Americans on the list? No? No surprise either.
Please note, I don't care for anybody enriching themselves, but this abundant who's who has a glaring abundance of abstentees, too. And then there's the thing with CIA running various banks. No, this isn't to exonerate, but you do have to ask why this gets published. This is far too much data, far too little exposition for the claimed data, and the onslaught of identikit websites in various languages far too organised and cutely timed. This thing smells in multiple layers, and that is something we need to be mindful of. Yes, there will be fall-out and it is probably going to be well-deserved. But leaving it at that is simply not enough. Who's playing what manipulation game here?
so I hardly see this as news. At worst It's moderately annoying for the people involved. Also the leakers are probably going to die soon (poor bastards).
Remember all those reforms that happened after Snowden's leaks? No? That's because there weren't any. So long as social issues exist to divide the working class into easily manageable groups you're not gonna see squat. Let me know when you figure out how to get people to stop caring about Abortion, Gays and guns long enough to care about economics..
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Anyone have an actual link to the papers, or a complete list?
at least post the torrent hash for the rest of us,
you insensitive clod!
CAP === 'crotch'
That's equals bargain power. Big time!
If it's American documents released, there would've been 50 comments in the first 5 minutes begging for military trials and how these leaks are damaging to the country, how we need to protect our military and their assets. People were crying out for the DoJ to arrest, prosecute, stow away in Guantanamo and even execute the leakers. Now that it's primarily about other countries, I don't see any of that outcry. I don't see any media, mobs or prosecutors demanding for these leakers to go through anything like what Assange, Swartz or Snowden are going through.
I hope they find a Hillary/Obama/Sanders threesome somewhere in there.
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Beware,
This 'event' was 'sponsored' by a Soros funded entity AND there are currently no USA names on the list AND the biggest fingers are pointing at people the USA doesn't like.
Sounds like a setup.
46137
Has the leak been made publicly available? Or is The Guardian keeping it and only choosing to release the data it wants to?
Is not the Clinton's money, it's a charity organisation and their books are open for inspection..
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Obligatory Family Guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqQRi9zpS0o
The system is broken
I see the list of names are all good friends with the US...
State sponsored??? Who else would be interested...
I wonder what they want to deflect from.
Some journalists are going to publish only part of it, to damage only those that they have interest in hurting. Wikileaks publishes everything, and that's what we need, so that every citizen can go through it and show what's inside.
People who have access to it, please, leak it all.
(I was checking the journalists in ICIJ from my country, they are not from very different media outlets. I can see a lot staying hidden and I imagine it will be the same for other countries)
President Putin is, supposedly, a "selfless servant of the people", while President Poroshenko was (and remains) the multi-millionaire owner of a very successful company, who financed his own election and pays for his own travels even when on the official business. His wealth was very well-known to voters...
I'm not sure about the other people on the list, but listing these two as equally suspect of wrongdoing was decidedly bad journalism...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Not so surprisingly, Slashdot is about the only regular site I go to that I've found allowing comments on this leak. Most news sites & others I frequent have them all disabled. Funny that. Journalistic bravery, or self-preservation? :)
Even less surprisingly, top Russian communist leader corrupt...news at 11.
In any case, rather than follow the money, just keep en eye out for Mossack Fonseca's execs who are reported suddenly 'missing', or have 'accidents' in the near future. The shitstorm over this hasn't even begun yet. Popcorn time.
David Cameron and George Osbourne are removing welfare that WORKING people need in order to work and be independent
What is wrong with this is not that they are removing it but that working people need welfare in order to work and be independent in the first place. Paying welfare to people who are in work just allows companies to pay lower wages increasing the profits for the fat cats at the top.
A guy who once left [grapevine.is] in the middle of a parliamentary session while answering questions because he had a craving for chocolate cake?
Leaving seems to be a thing with him: he apparently walked out of an interview when they asked him about his off shore accounts. Perhaps there was some more cake on offer.
It would be fun if letters of marque could be used for people who engage in tax doges. Find the cheat and get a large share, not the relatively small share that the IRS alleges they will give you with a ton of strings attached. Another notion is what a cool book or movie it would be for someone to take over a small tax haven and transfer the assets before the law shows up. You could have fun with that plot line. The sequels could involve various extortion angles while the thieves are on the run. It would be one of the times that people root for the pirates.
You made a reference to the first macaroni machine brought to the US by Thomas Jefferson on his return from Europe in ... 1789.
Well done Sir.
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Non-ct wait for evidence. CT people simply throw their claim without evidence backing it. That a broken clock is correct twice a day does not mean we should start using it to measure time.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
The fights are only the facade. You are as likely to find a clinton/trump/cruz threesome.
Even less surprisingly, top Russian communist leader corrupt...news at 11.
Nyet tovarich,
He is now top Russian capitalist leader corrupt.
All hail glorious march to bright capitalist future.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
"congress had an overall approval rating of 13%. Yet, 95% of the incumbents retained their seat." Only they don't call it cheating they call it gerrymandering. A nasty little way to make sure the districts are sliced in a way that popular voting does not count, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering "how to steal an election") you probably know that but I wanted to remind all our US friend how they get fucked in the ass by their politician.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
http://www.theguardian.com/wor...
An idea: The right panel of Slashdot shouldn't change when someone logs in.
My guess is that (for Americans, at least) they compare everything through the glasses of their (our) own revolution, which by revolutionary standards was quite peaceful following the conclusion of the actual revolutionary hostilities. There were sagas and some finding-of-way but most of it was solved (comparatively, not entirely) peacefully with the notable exceptions of external affairs-- esp. British royalty and their possessions. The mass power struggles that resulted in the revolutions in France, Spain, Russia, (Germany / Prussia?,) and many of the freed areas in South & Central America and those that are still ongoing in Africa (post Race for Africa) and Arab Spring are, unfortunately, the more likely norm overall.
Most general education in the US follows English history until the American revolution and then follows events here. This could also explain Americans lack of awareness with European history starting about the 19th centaury. STEM focus / All Children Left behind is going to make that ignorance much worse for the upcoming workforce (people 20 and below).
Beware, down that path lie page-widening trolls.
You might be eaten by Zalgo.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
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Notice that the champions of Marxism are on the list hiding personal fortunes? {cough!} China {cough!}
The elites around the world who call for wealth redistribution and elimination of "income inequality" are generally the people who do the most to hide their own personal money. People like Soros, Gates, Buffet etc do it with many layers of corporations, offshore subsidiaries, shell corps, and so on which are generally legal (because the lawmakers they buy MAKE this stuff legal). Leaders of corrupt and evil governments are more-likely to use corrupt and evil shell companies in 3rd world countries (since more-proper companies would be more likely to cooperate with less evil governments) and thus Chinese President Xi and others are in the Panama papers.
Rich people who actually MAKE legitimate stuff often have multiple levels of business to protect against lawyers and navigate tax loopholes .... but those who do not pretend to support wealth redistribution generally do not need these Panama-style shields. Trump, for example, never pretends to be "not rich" and is heavily invested in his real estate empire (possibly so much so that he may lack sufficient liquidity to make it through November) so he's not likely to be a Panama client. On the other side of the political aisle, Bloomberg is also unlikely on the list because while he talks the wealth redistribution game he's probably not in the arms trade or the drug trade and he does not pretend to be poor.
Pass the popcorn! This should be good, though only the tip of the iceberg.
May there be copycats at the other firms that do this type of business (But make sure you have good encryption and opsec. A lot of these people play very rough.)
Organized crime syndicates and Pyramid schemes operating for past ~2000 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominant_minority
Casteism
Panama Papers – IT Security and Pakistan While Politicians around the world and specially in Pakistan are busy “point scoring” against each other on basis of revelations in Mossack Fonseca’s Leaks or popularly known as “Panama Papers”, IT Security and data protection experts have just witnessed one of the worst nightmares of data breach that can affect any company around the world. The staggering, “Panama Papers” data has been attributed to the breach of an e-mail server last year. So much so that Bloomberg says co-founder of Law firm Ramon Fonseca told Panama’s Channel 2 the leaked documents are authentic and were “obtained illegally by hackers”. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which is coordinating the drip-feed release of information from the leak, says there’s 11.5 million documents and 2.6 TB of data, this is the largest data leak of the past several years – bigger than either WikiLeaks in 2010 or the NSA files in 2013. It also seems that the method of extracting data, and potentially therefore the person who leaked it, is different too. While the 2010 and 2013 US military and intelligence leaks were carried out by insiders (Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden respectively), Mossack Fonseca is blaming this leak on an attack on its email servers, according to Spanish news site El Español. The website quoted a statement from the company saying it had opened an investigation after discovering that “unfortunately” it had suffered “an attack on its email server” and that it is taking “all necessary measures to prevent this from happening again”. These include reinforcing its security systems and bringing in specialist consultants to determine exactly what information the “unauthorised persons” have accessed, well for many “ too little too late.” So far, the ICIJ says, 140 politicians and public officials have been revealed as having offshore holdings, more than 214,000 organisations have been identified, along with many billions’ worth of transactions. Reports of corporate data breach continue to pass through news headlines with such frequency that they barely merit a time slot in the evening news. However in 2006, as many as 9,300,000 Americans were victims of identity theft. According to the Better Business Bureau, each victim lost on average more than $6,300 and over 40 hours on the phone with creditors and credit bureaus working to clear their names. Businesses suffer greatly as well, losing a collective $50 million each year as a results of data breach. Pakistan is slowly migrating into the realms of IT and new IT based systems are popping up all over the country that promise to provide the general public with simple services of verifying their mobile sims to more complex systems for land records and taxation records. These systems hold and store Tera bytes of data which includes ID card numbers, name, addresses and other private information of millions of Pakistanis. Now is the need that our IT companies both private and Govt not only focus on developing new systems but also have set standards to ensure data security and privacy. IT race between KP IT board and Punjab IT board (both Govt Organisations) is leading to IT system development on massive scale however to out shine and outdo each other no attention is paid to IT security and data protection. There is no information to what security standards these IT Systems adhere too and then off course there are no external security audits to check system security and data integrity before they are allowed to go “On Line”. This latest data breach in Mossack Fonseca makes it clear that data breaches are a pervasive problem for most organizations in the world today. Yet, despite negative repercussions in terms of cost outlays and reputation diminishment, many companies do not take appropriate steps to prevent data breach, or to prepare for and mitigate the risks whe