Yet incredibly – as global money laundering authorities are increasingly annoyed about Australia’s failure and dithering on compliance – real estate agents, lawyers and accountants still remain free from money laundering laws which were supposed to be introduced 12 years ago.
Barack Obama once described it as “either this is the largest building in the world or the largest tax scam in the world”. That was in 2009. The building was Ugland House in George Town on the Caribbean island of Gran Cayman.
Ugland House was then home to 18,857 corporations. And Ugland House is soon to be home to another one, along with the profits of 43 Australian hospitals, unless Treasurer Josh Frydenberg blocks the deal on grounds of national interest.
No sooner had the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney been built at a cost of $2 billion to taxpayers, its operator Healthscope opted to sell it, along with another 42 Australian hospitals also subsidised by taxpayers, to a shadowy group which has a large presence in tax havens.
We say shadowy because neither the directors of Healthscope nor their slick takeover suitors from Brookfield have agreed to respond to questions about who and what will control these essential Australian assets after the Brookfield takeover.
2019’s Most Sinful States in America WalletHub
'Beyond arrogance': Warren Buffett takes veiled swipe at Trump in annual letter
His annual letter to investors is always eagerly anticipated, and Warren Buffett's 2019 edition did not disappoint.
Liberals take inspiration from Labor in new ad targeting Michael Daley
The NSW Liberals will use the same tactics used against them when they were trying to win government in 2007.
Sydney judge urged to delay stadium demolition weeks before election
Lawyers for the NSW government argued there was no evidence that structural demolition scheduled for the next two weeks was "irreversible"
'Absolutely innocent': Ian Macdonald walks from jail after conviction thrown out
A gaunt Mr Macdonald walked through the gates of Long Bay jail at about 3pm on Monday afternoon, telling waiting media that he was grateful for the support from family and friends.
Privacy and security risks with genetic tests like 23andMe, Ancestry
- “It may be getting easier to link your private and anonymized DNA data to your identity.
- That means the genetic data you share with a testing company — which may include sensitive health information like your risk of cancer — could one day be matched with your name by an unintended party.
- While some at-home DNA tests like 23andMe have privacy protocols to protect against this, they’re not a guarantee, experts say. Other companies have fewer safeguards.
- One key issue is the ability for users to upload their private DNA data to publicly-accessible genetic databases like the one used in the Golden State Killer case…”
Facebook Continued To Identify Users Who Are Interested in Nazis — and Then Used the Info To Let Advertisers Target Them, Investigation Finds Los Angeles Times