TOKYO Privacy has a price. For the super wealthy, it can also have a big payoff.
Here a look at how offshore accounts are used, both legally and illegally, in the wake of an investigation by an international coalition of media outlets that shows how the rich and powerful use banks, law firms, trusts and offshore shell companies to hide their assets.
They are bank accounts or trusts established in a foreign country that take advantage of local banking and corporate laws to help hide the true identity of the owner of the money or other assets in the accounts.
Often, the person establishes a so called shell company, which lacks any real operations and exists mainly on paper. wholesale nfl jerseys http://www.cheapnfljerseysonlined.top states, companies can be created without identifying an owner.
The company with no person linked to it is listed as the official owner of the trust or account.
While shell companies and offshore accounts aren illegal by themselves, they can be used to help avoid taxes, facilitate money laundering and conceal corruption.
WHERE ARE OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS HELD?
Those looking to hide assets establish accounts in countries like Panama, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, where the banking laws are designed to vigorously protect account owners identities. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service have found millions of dollars in taxable income hidden in secret accounts in the Caribbean.
There also are havens like the Isle of Man off Britain, Macau off China and the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Some European countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg and Monaco have also served as havens for those trying to avoid taxes, though many nations have tightened banking laws to combat tax cheating. attorney general and undersecretary for enforcement at the Treasury Department. The likelihood is strong that the entity has commercial or legitimate purpose, said Gurule, who teaches law at Notre Dame. The Caymans, for example, a well deserved reputation for being a money laundering and tax evasion haven. law enforcement to investigate and prosecute cases, Gurule said.
Still, wealthy people who live in countries with unstable political situations, high levels of corruption, or high levels of criminal activity such as kidnapping or extortion could use offshore accounts and the secrecy they provide for protection, and not necessarily to avoid taxes.
ILLICIT USES OF OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS
The anonymity afforded by shell companies and offshore accounts allows them to be used by terrorists and other international criminals to hide and move money.
They an ideal vehicle for people want to keep their transactions secret to escape law enforcement or civil liability, said Jack Blum, a Washington attorney who an expert on financial crime and international tax evasion.
On Monday Angel Gurria, the secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is working with the G 20 to restrict the use of shell companies, called on Panama to its house in order and implement transparency standards. It was a leak of 11.5 million documents from a Panamanian law firm that specializes in creating shell companies that led to revelations of widespread use of these companies and accounts to avoid taxes.
