Saturday, April 06, 2013

Creative Cooks: Secret Structures, Hidden Crimes - lawyers & accountants rule

It doesn't matter who the front man for your corporation is, as long as it's not you
-Jason Sharman quoted it in a context of exAC and other straw men of Panama or other tax havens

Haven sent: It all began when Australian journalist Gerard Ryle received a mysterious package in the post Mysterious mail == Irish-born director Gerard Ryle His great-grandfather, Maurice P Ryle, was the editor of the Kerry People

The story of Portcullis TrustNet and its birthplace — the Cook Islands — is in many ways the story of the offshore system itself. One of those who helped oversee the introduction of the legislation was Mike Mitchell, a New Zealand lawyer who served as the Cook Islands' solicitor general in the early 1980s.   Five years later, in keeping with an apparent pattern of tax-haven officials moving freely between government and industry, Mitchell decided to go into the offshore business himself. He left his post as solicitor general in 1986 and established an offshore services firm in 1987. The firm, initially called Pacific Trustee Company Limited and then International Trust Corporation Limited, was named TrustNet in the early 1990s and, eventually, Portcullis TrustNet Lawyers and accountants help rich manage their money [ Maiden Report]; [ Google Links; This is like something out of Cold River: On November 14, 2006, a man going by the name Paul William Hampel was arrested at a Canadian airport on charges of being a Russian spy. Litany of intrigue: Wickenby of Six Steps; US Offshore accounts used in law-breaking] - {Video - Tax Havens 101: The high cost of going offshore, Video - 1% caught hiding trillions; Interactive Map}

Dealing with tax avoidance: why Australians do it better than the Brits The Budget also contained a change to legislation which will allow HMRC to demand payment details from card payment processors. They will have to provide information about credit, debit, and charge card sales made by retailers. This will include the retailer's name, address, VAT number if available, and bank account details HMRC expands use of data mining for tax avoidance;The identification of beneficial owners in the fight against money laundering ~ Who really lives at One Hyde Park, called the world’s most expensive residential building? Its mostly absentee owners, hiding behind offshore corporations based in tax havens, provide a portrait of the new global super-wealthy A Tale of Two Londons