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What the Hell Are the "Panama Papers" Anyway?I saw references to this last week but I was getting into the story late and didn't know the basics. Since it's a slow news day, seems like a good time to catch up. I'm explaining this to myself while I'm pretending to explain this to you. Basic plot: The Panama Papers are a massive leak of documents which illuminate a illicit system by which politicians, criminals, and criminal politicians stash away huge amounts of money secretly. If I have this right -- and I'm not sure I do -- there are several big objections to this secret-money network. The first is that it's being used for tax avoidance -- fine, whatever, no big deal. The other thing it's being used for is to hide money that maybe wasn't obtained all that legally. That's one thing as regards a criminal -- we expect his money to be ill-gotten -- but it's potentially more alarming when it comes to a politician. What are the Panama Papers? That's all I can quote from the article, but there are four other big points to take away from it. The revelation of vast wealth hidden by politicians and powerful figures across the globe set off criminal investigations on at least two continents on Tuesday, forced leaders from Europe to Asia to beat back calls for their removal and claimed its first political casualty -- pressuring the prime minister of Iceland to step down.... UK PM David Cameron has called for reforms to insure greater transparency of who owns money and where. Cameron, it should be noted, is himself embroiled in the scandal -- apparently he benefited from tax shelter set up in Panama by his late father. Cameron's father was "named" in the Panama Papers, but I'm not sure that means that his father used the law firm implicated here in setting up all these tax shelters, or if it means he was simply "named," as in: "Hey, here's a name." David Cameron has finally admitted he benefited from a Panama-based offshore trust set up by his late father. Cameron went after his critics, accusing them of participating in the same sort of money-hiding. The U.K. Prime Minister, under fire for being slow to come clean about the scale of his offshore financial holdings, returned to the offense in Parliament, saying that most of the people baiting him were just as happy to use offshore tax havens when it suited them.... Well, to the extent Cameron's involved, I'm guessing it's just on the level of a legal but politically unpopular tax shelter. Cameron's always been wealthy, as far as I know. On the other hand, there's Vladimir Putin. President Putin has denied "any element of corruption" over the Panama Papers leaks, saying his opponents are trying to destabilise Russia. One of the "associates" of Putin who has some holdings via the Mossack Fonesca network is a cellist, who is the godfather to one of his children. This cellist has, it is alleged, personally controls $100 million in the system. He denies the money came from Putin or by any illicit means. So how did he get the money? It's all very simple: People donated it to him. To induce him into selling them cellos for their children. No, seriously: The Russian cellist linked by the Panama Papers to a money trail of billions has spoken out for the first time since the story broke. Of course. That's how we bloggers amass $100 million, too. Some speculate that Putin himself leaked the Panama Papers, but it sure seems like he tarred himself pretty good with his leak. At least it seems that way to me. Who knows the crooked trails of a KGB agent's thinking. China is, of course, implicated as well. The papers point also to China, suggesting that family members of eight current or former senior Communist Party leaders have offshore companies set up by the document aggregator, Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. The brother-in-law of Chinese President Xi Jinping is among those named. To the extent China even bothers refuting the allegations, they claim, along with Putin, that foreign agents are merely plotting to undermine them. So: a global scandal about shady deals and big money. My only question is: When does Hillary Clinton make her appearance? Well... funny I should mention that. Almost lost among the many revelations is the fact that Russia's biggest bank uses The Podesta Group as its lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Though hardly a household name, this firm is well known inside the Beltway, not least because its CEO is Tony Podesta, one of the best-connected Democratic machers in the country. He founded the firm in 1998 with his brother John, formerly chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, then counselor to President Barack Obama, Mr. Podesta is the very definition of a Democratic insider. Outsiders engage the Podestas and their well-connected lobbying firm to improve their image and get access to Democratic bigwigs.... Read John Schindler's article for the questions he'd like answered here. Crucially, though the Podesta brothers claim Sherbank is a private institution, it's actually state-owned -- and therefore Vladimir Putin's own bank. | Recent Comments
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