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posted by takyon on Monday November 06 2017, @01:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the trouble-in-paradise dept.

Paradise papers - leaked document trove show Trump officials, Queen Elizabeth's offshore tax dodges

While you were doing whatever you were doing last Sunday, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists - the same that brought you the Panama papers less than two years ago revealed itself to be in the possession of a 13.4 million leaked documents on tax dodgers.

A trove of 13.4 million records exposes ties between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump's billionaire commerce secretary, the secret dealings of the chief fundraiser for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the offshore interests of the queen of England and more than 120 politicians around the world.

The leaked documents, dubbed the Paradise Papers, show how deeply the offshore financial system is entangled with the overlapping worlds of political players, private wealth and corporate giants, including Apple, Nike, Uber and other global companies that avoid taxes through increasingly imaginative bookkeeping maneuvers.

One offshore web leads to Trump's commerce secretary, private equity tycoon Wilbur Ross, who has a stake in a shipping company that has received more than $68 million in revenue since 2014 from a Russian energy company co-owned by the son-in-law of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In all, the offshore ties of more than a dozen Trump advisers, Cabinet members and major donors appear in the leaked data.

The new files come from two offshore services firms as well as from 19 corporate registries maintained by governments in jurisdictions that serve as waystations in the global shadow economy. The leaks were obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and a network of more than 380 journalists in 67 countries.

[...] The most detailed revelations emerge in decades of corporate records from the white-shoe offshore law firm Appleby and corporate services provider Estera, two businesses that operated together under the Appleby name until Estera became independent in 2016.

At least 31,000 of the individual and corporate clients included in Appleby's records are U.S. citizens or have U.S. addresses, more than from any other country. Appleby also counted clients from the United Kingdom, China and Canada among its biggest sources of business.

Keep your eyes peeled for more articles as they are published by various news outlets:


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

 
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  • (Score: 5, Touché) by takyon on Monday November 06 2017, @02:05PM (16 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday November 06 2017, @02:05PM (#593031) Journal

    IT'S NOT A SURPRISE, SO PAY NO ATTENTION
    IT'S NOT A SURPRISE, SO PAY NO ATTENTION
    IT'S NOT A SURPRISE, SO PAY NO ATTENTION

    I hope this conveyed a fraction of the nuisance your COOKIE CUTTER COMMENT does.

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  • (Score: -1, Redundant) by ewk on Monday November 06 2017, @02:14PM (15 children)

    by ewk (5923) on Monday November 06 2017, @02:14PM (#593035)

    So, oh Great and All Knowing One, please do tell me how I should react.

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    I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by takyon on Monday November 06 2017, @02:20PM (13 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Monday November 06 2017, @02:20PM (#593042) Journal

      Wanton violence against the state, do drugs, drink alcohol, or stay silent. Or attempt to parse and analyze the story and share more information. All fine options.

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      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by ewk on Monday November 06 2017, @02:40PM (12 children)

        by ewk (5923) on Monday November 06 2017, @02:40PM (#593051)

        There is really no pleasing people...

        Fwiiw I did parse and analyze the story (probably not good enough to your liking, since my summary seems to have riled you a tad).

        Apparently conveying my non-surprise at this article was, in your opinion, not the right response to the article.

        However, you really fail in providing in alternative options.
        The 'stay silent' option seems counter productive, if one wants to engage people ('SoylentNews is people' and that sort of thing).
        The remainder of your solutions seem equally useless regarding this forum, them being illegal, unhealthy or illogical.

        So, it seems we have to agree that we disagree.
        No shame in that though.

        --
        I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
        • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Monday November 06 2017, @02:53PM (11 children)

          by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday November 06 2017, @02:53PM (#593062) Journal

          One useful thing we can all do is not repeat self-defeating memes. "They all do it, so there's nothing we can do," is one example.

          We can also modify our own behavior to align with our beliefs. If we feel that something needs to be done about anthrogenic climate change, then we can stop buying things we don't need (because those things have a carbon footprint) and can find other ways to get around than by an internal combustion engine car. If we feel that nobody practices good manners anymore, then we can practice them and lead by example.

          As evidence that dynamic can make a real difference, I offer the transition from film cameras to digital. People stopped buying film cameras and the film companies went belly up almost overnight. Now, that's not a case of a moral position that needed to be taken, but rather that voting with your feet and your dollars does work. As a better, nearer case, consider the NFL whose anthem protests look like they're driving them right out of business because their core fans are switching them off. A related case is that of cable TV and cord-cutting, whose subscribers are fleeing the locked-in programming schedules and overwhelming amount of advertisements for streaming and P2P alternatives.

          It doesn't work for every area of our lives all the time, because there are situations we can't change in the short run, but in the long run how we live is something we have much more control of than we give ourselves credit for.

          --
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          • (Score: 1, Informative) by ewk on Monday November 06 2017, @03:14PM (1 child)

            by ewk (5923) on Monday November 06 2017, @03:14PM (#593078)

            You seem to make the same mistake as takyon regarding my thought about/summary of the article.

            Nowhere do I condone this tax-evasion.

            --
            I don't always react, but when I do, I do it on SoylentNews
            • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday November 07 2017, @05:10AM

              by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday November 07 2017, @05:10AM (#593487) Journal

              No it was clear you didn't condone it, nor was I insinuating that. It's the expression of futility that we can endeavor to avoid. I'm a fellow sufferer on this score, so I'm saying it to myself as much as anyone else.

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              Washington DC delenda est.
          • (Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Monday November 06 2017, @05:17PM (1 child)

            by Osamabobama (5842) on Monday November 06 2017, @05:17PM (#593169)

            ...consider the NFL whose anthem protests look like they're driving them right out of business...

            I'd like to on the record as one who stopped watching the NFL to show lack of support for the TBI problem. (Although I wouldn't call myself a 'core fan')

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          • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday November 06 2017, @09:33PM (1 child)

            by Freeman (732) on Monday November 06 2017, @09:33PM (#593319) Journal

            I believe you meant "Anthropogenic" Climate Change. I'm not so sure we've "caused" global warming, but I'm definitely in favor of going with "clean" energy / fuel sources. There's too much stake in pleasing the people who pay for the research for me to feel terribly comfortable with a lot of "Science" that gets done. The production of Solar / Wind generators do have some impact on the environment, but there's no doubt in my mind it's a lot easier on the environment than Coal plants. I like nature, I like scenic views, and I like to breath fresh air. A bit off-topic, but oh well.

            --
            Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
            • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday November 07 2017, @05:05AM

              by Phoenix666 (552) on Tuesday November 07 2017, @05:05AM (#593483) Journal

              I did mean anthropogenic, and realized my error a split second after hitting "submit". Sigh.

              --
              Washington DC delenda est.
          • (Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday November 06 2017, @11:01PM (4 children)

            by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Monday November 06 2017, @11:01PM (#593345) Homepage Journal

            The letters to the Columbian commonly sound like "Water fluoridation is a communist plot to corrupt our precious bodily fluids".

            Oregon, Washington and the Feds _might_ finance a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River. One of the existing spans is 100 years old. That bridge is a chokepoint whenever there is a bridge lift to allow the passage of a tall boat. The new bridge will be higher, and not a drawbridge.

            Oregon is willing to cough up its share provided the Trimet MAX light rail is extended to go across the bridge. Presently it stops at the river.

            Washington flatly refuses to permit light rail into Vancouver. For the life of me I cannot figure out why. Could it really be that my fellow Washington State residents want me to have a two hour commute? Because I have to take two busses to get across the river to the MAX station.

            I expect Vancouver's C-TRAN bus routes contribute to the problem. They really don't serve any cities other than Vancouver, but the entire state would be financing Washington's share of the bridge and light rail. The people who live in Ridgefield and Battle Ground prefer to be stuck in Portland's all-day rush "hour" as I whiz past them while listening to music and read Soylent News on my iPhone.

            --
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            • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday November 07 2017, @06:47AM (3 children)

              by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 07 2017, @06:47AM (#593530) Journal

              Oregon is willing to cough up its share provided the Trimet MAX light rail is extended to go across the bridge. Presently it stops at the river.

              Sounds like cost is the big factor. The present line according to Wikipedia is $3 billion for 60 miles of line and only handles a little over 100k passengers per day. Typical US publicly funded mass transit money sink.

              • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday November 07 2017, @07:54PM (2 children)

                by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday November 07 2017, @07:54PM (#593786) Homepage Journal

                The trains are packed during rush hour.

                --
                Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
                • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday November 07 2017, @08:24PM (1 child)

                  by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 07 2017, @08:24PM (#593802) Journal

                  It takes cars off the road

                  There are very few actions without some sort of benefit. Or some sort of cost. Optimizing for benefit without regard for the cost is a classic failure mode of public goods.

                  Here, why would Vancouver, Washington decide that somewhat less cars on the road is more important than the costs of buying into the Portland mass transit system?

                  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday November 07 2017, @09:18PM

                    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Tuesday November 07 2017, @09:18PM (#593818) Homepage Journal

                    That bus goes very slow in both directions, if I ride it during the rush hours. The rush hour - singular "hour" - is all day long. The only time the bus moves quickly is when I ride it late at night.

                    Were the train to extend across the river my commute would only be an hour and fifteen minutes, and I'd have one less wait at a bus stop. Presently my commute is two hours and I wait four times.

                    Waiting at a stop can be miserable because the Pacific Northwest rains all winter long.

                    --
                    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by https on Tuesday November 07 2017, @01:04AM

      by https (5248) on Tuesday November 07 2017, @01:04AM (#593378) Journal

      Any way you like, as long as you take some action. Doing nothing, saying nothing, forgetting about it... just encourages them to continue. It sends a powerful message when you don't react.

      THIS IS NOT NORMAL. So don't act like it.

      --
      Offended and laughing about it.