Sunday, April 7, 2013

Offshore Tax Havens Exposed

I'm hoping Carl Levin unleashes hell on these people before he retires.  I'm sure he already had wind of this leak when he announced he wouldn't be running for reelection. 
The records reviewed by The Post and ICIJ expose how havens in the South Pacific and Caribbean in some cases have become sanctuaries for individuals seeking to conceal their activities from investigators and investors.Among the 4,000 U.S. individuals listed in the records, at least 30 are American citizens accused in lawsuits or criminal cases of fraud, money laundering or other serious financial misconduct.They include billionaire hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, who was convicted in 2011 in one of the biggest insider trading scandals in U.S. history, and Paul A. Bilzerian, one of the most famed corporate raiders of the 1980s, who was convicted of securities fraud.An attorney for TrustNet, which helped create the companies and trusts for the clients, declined to comment, referring questions to senior TrustNet officials who did not respond to requests to discuss their firm.Fraud experts say offshore bank accounts and companies are vital to the operation of complex financial crimes.Allen Stanford, who ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, used a bank he controlled in Antigua. Bernard Madoff, who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history, used a series of offshore "feeder funds" to fuel the growth of his multibillion-dollar house of cards.
Let's see some public shaming.  Let's see some clawbacks, where taxes and judgements have been evaded.  Let's see some jail time where crimes have been committed.

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