Once again the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the same
group that released the now infamous “Panama
Papers,” has now released a cache of leaked
documents provides names of politicians and others linked to more than 175,000
Bahamian companies registered between 1990 and 2016!
For
years, Neelie Kroes traveled Europe as one of the continent’s senior officials,
warning big corporations that they couldn’t “run away” from the European
Union’s rules. The Dutch politician sympathized with average citizens who
worried they’d been left to pay the bills “as infringers cream off the extra
profits.”
What
Kroes never told audiences and didn’t tell European Commission officials in
mandatory disclosures was that she had been listed as a director of an offshore
company in the Bahamas, the Caribbean tax haven whose secrecy and tax
structures have attracted multinational companies and criminals alike. Kroes
was listed as director
of a Bahamian company from 2000 to 2009, according to documents reviewed by
the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Details
of Kroes’ link to the offshore company are among the numerous revelations found in a new
leak of documents, received by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and
shared with ICIJ, that disclose details behind companies incorporated in the
Bahamas. The cache of 1.3 million files from the island nation’s corporate
registry provides names of directors and some owners of more than 175,000
Bahamian companies, trusts and foundations registered between 1990 and early
2016.
Today
ICIJ, Süddeutsche Zeitung and other media partners are making this information available to the public. This
creates, for the first time, a free, online and publicly-searchable database of
offshore companies set up in the Bahamas.
This
information has been combined with data from the Panama Papers and other leaked
offshore documents to add additional heft to one of the largest public databases of offshore
entities in history.
The
new leaked documents include the names of 539 registered agents, corporate
middlemen who serve as intermediaries between Bahamian authorities and
customers who wish to create an offshore company. Among them is Mossack
Fonseca, the law firm whose leaked files formed the basis of the Panama
Papers. The firm set up 15,915 entities in the Bahamas, making it Mossack
Fonseca’s third busiest jurisdiction. At one point, Bahamian companies were
among Mossack Fonseca’s best-sellers.
Beyond
Mossack Fonseca and the Panama Papers, the leaked Bahamian files reveal details
of the offshore activities of prime ministers, cabinet ministers, princes and
convicted felons. It is generally not illegal to own or direct an offshore
company, and there are legitimate business reasons in many cases for setting up
an offshore structure. But transparency experts say it’s important that public
officials disclose their connections to offshore entities.
The
political and government figures named in the leaked documents include
Colombia’s minister of mines and energy between 1999 and 2001, Carlos Caballero
Argáez. He was listed as president and secretary of a Bahamian company, Pavc
Properties Inc., between 1997 and 2008. Caballero Argáez also appeared as
director of Norway
Inc., a company registered in the Bahamas between 1990 and 2015.
All U.S. Taxpayers with
"Unreported Income"
From Offshore Accounts
Need To Come Clean NOW before
Their Illegal Activity is Identified!
Want to Know which OVDP Program
is Right for You?
is Right for You?
Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini& Associates, P.A.
for a FREE Tax Consultation
at: www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com or
Toll Free at 888-8TaxAid (888) 882-9243
CRA will seek court orders to identify Bahamian company owners
ReplyDeleteThe Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is expected to seek further court orders for the release of client information recently leaked from the official Bahamian company register, according to a Toronto tax litigation lawyer. The leak to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists suggests that RBC, CIBC and Scotiabank have registered nearly 2,000 offshore companies and private foundations in the jurisdiction between 1990 and May 2016.
Advocate Daily
• The CRA has told the 2,671 Canadian residents under review as a result of the Mossack Fonseca data leak that they are not eligible for the offshore voluntary disclosure program. But taxpayers who have yet to be notified in writing that the CRA has started any enforcement action can still apply under the program. The CRA has launched 85 detailed audits of persons named in the Mossack Fonseca files, and has executed search warrants in some of them.
Globe and Mail