Friday, July 08, 2016

The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money

The tragedy of the five police officers killed by sniper (Micah Xavier Johnson) in Dallas will likely not stop there. It never does any more. Instead layers and layers of resentment and retaliation likely will play out.
 ....FIFTH OFFICER DEADDALLAS MORNING NEWS REPORTS Philosophers on Shootings - 5 And 6 and 7 July



“I will not stand by and admire the problem,” Jordan told a hastily reconvened tax inquiry last month. In this age of regulators, Jordan is not just on to it. He’s disappearing around the corner.


Chris Jordan’s resolve crackles down the telephone from a car somewhere near Newcastle. Close to 80 of the 800 Australian names in the Panama Papers appear in the Australian Crime Commission’s database for serious and organised crime, he reveals for the first time.
“And let me tell you, they’re not there for not paying parking fines, these are serious criminals,” he said.
ATO head Chris Jordan's journey from pariah to unlikely hero - Article discussing the Tax Commissioner's leadership of the ATO and response to international tax avoidance


During Fiscal Year 2014, more than 4,100 full-time, permanent employees separated from the IRS, including 186 who separated during a pending disciplinary case (including criminal misconduct). It is important for the IRS to recover security items, such as Government identification, to prevent former employees from unauthorized entry to IRS facilities and workspaces, accessing IRS computers and taxpayer information, or potentially misrepresenting themselves to taxpayers. ...

About 15 months ago, Bastian Obermayer, a reporter at the Suddeutsche Zeitung, was at home in the Munich flat he shares with his young family when he got a message on his laptop. It was late. His wife and kids were ill and he'd spent the day dispensing tea and sympathy. The message consisted of 12 words: "Hello. This is John Doe. Interested in data? I'm happy to share."
Trawling through leaked data dumps is the new face of investigative journalism and Obermayer is something of a specialist. "Hello," he tapped back. "We're very interested, of course."

As the tranches of documents grew in number and size, Obermayer realised he needed a new computer. Soon, they realised there was no way they could study all the data by themselves. More to the point, local experts would be better placed to search most of it, since the point of shell companies is that they hide their real owners. To get to a fat cat you need to know who's in his entourage. So the Obermayer/iers flew to Washington and, with the help of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, outsourced much of the grunt work to nearly 400 other journalists. All signed non-disclosure agreements in which they promised not to scoop each other, but the agreements weren't legally enforceable. In the end, it came down to trust. Amazingly, no one betrayed it. 
The German duo who broke the Panama Papers — the biggest data leak in history — reveal how it all began

*Velvet digital revolution manifesto and Panama Papers

Review by ABC Phillip Adams LNL

Good Read: The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money

It All Started With Czech Communist Hiding Funds ...

Amazon: The Panama Papers: Breaking the Story of How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money

The Panama Papers couldn't have happened ten years ago when the Wickenby Operation Started ...


Steven Soderbergh to Produce Movie on Panama Papers Leak

Google on Adoptation of Panama Papers


*Kay Bell, IRS can now share tax data to help find missing kids