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There Will Be A Huge New 'Panama Papers' Data Dump (businessinsider.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said in an email that on May 9 it would "publish what will likely be the largest-ever release of information about secret offshore companies and the people behind them," based on data from the Panama Papers investigation. "The searchable database will include information about more than 200,000 companies, trusts, foundations, and funds incorporated in 21 tax havens, from Hong Kong to Nevada in the United States." The ICIJ said in the email, "The impact of Panama Papers has been epic." The investigation has caused Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson to resign following revelations about his personal finances. It has caused Putin to point fingers at the West, accusing the U.S. of trying to weaken Russia. It has even created drama in the UK with calls for Prime Minister David Cameron to resign after his connections to offshore companies became evident. In addition, the ICIJ said, "[The Panama Papers investigation] sparked a new sense of urgency among lawmakers and regulators to close loopholes and make information about the owners of shell companies public."
The sad truth is those "punished" for tax avoidance so far in the UK (the PM), Canada (a number of families using UK offshore tax havens), and Africa have mostly ...
Not ... Gone to jail.
Or suffered any real penalty other than paying, without excess interest owing, the taxes they avoided.
What we need here, other than a few quick drone strikes until they all pay up, are RICO triple damage confiscations, including trust funds for kids and houses and yachts, and JAIL TIME.
Which has not happened so far.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Which leads smart people to believe that this is a false flag operation from the CIA. That's how they be.
I predict that future tax havens won't store client information online.
The "true, beneficial ownership" information will all be stored on a non-connected computer network or maybe even in paper ledgers.
Good luck getting at that without walking in and physically stealing it (or bribing/coercing a bank employee to make you a copy).
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
You might want to try and find someone a little more credible than Alex Jones (9/11 truther, gold bug, serial martial law predictor, etc) if you want me to take a theory at all seriously.
The reason the Panama Papers are failing to make the impact they should is because nobody trusts the media anymore.
We are expected to believe that the same class which protects the interests of the wealthy and which prosletyes their neoliberal ideology has somehow enough concern for us lower castes, or for abstract concepts like "justice" or "fairness", that they will report on this impartially. Excuse me, but even if this massive group of PR-powdered international journalism extraordinaies is in fact legitimate and not just the twitter stunt they appear to be, even if they are legit, why should I believe the media this time around?
Journalists have cried wolf, stayed silent, and betrayed the public trust too many times to be taken seriously now. The media has morphed from a fourth estate, into the new first estate. So when I see a campaign like this, I see only the new international priesthood, condemning some sin. I await their indulgences to be paid.