30 Kasım 2012 Cuma
Justice Department Launches Investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department’s Use of Force
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The Justice Department announced today that it has opened a civil investigation into use of force by the city of Albuquerque Police Department (APD). The investigation will focus on allegations that APD officers engage in use of excessive force, including use of unreasonable deadly force, in their encounters with civilians. Through the investigation the department will seek to determine whether APD engages in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force in violation of the Constitution and federal law. The investigation will include a comprehensive review of the police department’s policies, training and systems of accountability. The investigation will also examine the police department’s engagement with the community and external oversight of officer-involved shootings and other force incidents. Prior to the announcement, department officials met with Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry and APD Chief Ray Schultz, who pledged their full cooperation with the investigation. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 prohibits state and local governments from engaging in a pattern or practice of misconduct by law enforcement officers that deprives individuals of federally-protected rights. The department has conducted similar investigations into use of force by law enforcement agencies, both large and small, across the country. Attorneys and staff from the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will conduct the investigation, assisted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. Individuals who may have relevant information are encouraged to contact the department via email at community.albuquerque@usdoj.gov or by calling the department’s toll free number at 885-544-5134 which is available in both English and Spanish.
Marshal’s New Tip Capabilities Net 23 Year Fugitive
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Detroit,MI – The Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team (DFAT) has made its first arrestusing the new TIP411 system that it rolled out a few weeks ago. Shannon GeneRing, 46 years old, of Monroe, Michigan, was arrested by the Marshals led DFATearlier today. The arrest came as a direct result of a tip received via the newtexting tip service recently. Ring was wanted in Monroe County from 1989 forFailure to Appear for a Probation Violation with the underlying charge being Manufactureand Deliver a Controlled Substance (Marijuana). Ring was arrested in the 400block of Antoinette in the City of Detroit without incident. He had only beenback in Michigan from California for a day when DFAT received the text tip. Hewas transported to Monroe County Jail and will appear in court within the nextfew days.
Underthe new texting tip system the Task Force is now able to receive anonymous tipsfrom the public via text message. Tipsters are now able to send a tip to theTask Force by texting keyword “DFAT” and your tip to 847411 (tip411).Thetechnology is available from a company called Citizen Observer whichspecializes in providing this service to law enforcement agencies. Theirservice guarantees that the tipster and the tipster’s phone number remainanonymous to the law enforcement agency unless the tipster chooses to identifythemselves.
TheU.S. Marshal led Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team has brought together someof the best federal, state, and local fugitive hunters in the Eastern Districtof Michigan. Coupled with this new technology, DFAT fugitive hunters will beeven more formidable.
U.S.Marshal Robert M Grubbs stated, “This new tool provides the public with yetanother method of delivering valuable information to our Task Force to utilizewhen pursuing these wanted fugitives. We are optimistic that this will lead tomany more arrests as our tip phone line has thus far.”
Detroit,MI – The Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team (DFAT) has made its first arrestusing the new TIP411 system that it rolled out a few weeks ago. Shannon GeneRing, 46 years old, of Monroe, Michigan, was arrested by the Marshals led DFATearlier today. The arrest came as a direct result of a tip received via the newtexting tip service recently. Ring was wanted in Monroe County from 1989 forFailure to Appear for a Probation Violation with the underlying charge being Manufactureand Deliver a Controlled Substance (Marijuana). Ring was arrested in the 400block of Antoinette in the City of Detroit without incident. He had only beenback in Michigan from California for a day when DFAT received the text tip. Hewas transported to Monroe County Jail and will appear in court within the nextfew days.
Underthe new texting tip system the Task Force is now able to receive anonymous tipsfrom the public via text message. Tipsters are now able to send a tip to theTask Force by texting keyword “DFAT” and your tip to 847411 (tip411).Thetechnology is available from a company called Citizen Observer whichspecializes in providing this service to law enforcement agencies. Theirservice guarantees that the tipster and the tipster’s phone number remainanonymous to the law enforcement agency unless the tipster chooses to identifythemselves.
TheU.S. Marshal led Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team has brought together someof the best federal, state, and local fugitive hunters in the Eastern Districtof Michigan. Coupled with this new technology, DFAT fugitive hunters will beeven more formidable.
U.S.Marshal Robert M Grubbs stated, “This new tool provides the public with yetanother method of delivering valuable information to our Task Force to utilizewhen pursuing these wanted fugitives. We are optimistic that this will lead tomany more arrests as our tip phone line has thus far.”
Former Puerto Rico Police Officers Charged with Extorting a Commonwealth Defendant for $50,000
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WASHINGTON – Two former police officers with the Police of Puerto Rico were charged with allegedly attempting to extort a commonwealth defendant and soliciting bribe payments of $50,000, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today.
Abimael Arroyo-Cruz, 30, of Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, and Josue Becerril-Ramos, 36, of Carolina, Puerto Rico, were both charged in an indictment returned yesterday in the District of Puerto Rico with one count of conspiracy, one count of federal programs bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and one count of attempted extortion.
According to the indictment, Arroyo and Becerril arrested eight individuals for possession of unregistered firearms and marijuana on Aug. 2, 2012. The officers then allegedly solicited from one defendant a bribe payment of $50,000 to have his case dismissed. Beginning on Sept. 11, 2012, both officers allegedly spoke with the commonwealth defendant multiple times over the telephone, discussing payment details and strategies for dismissing the commonwealth defendant’s case.
The indictment alleges that Arroyo and Becerril collected approximately $35,000, of the $50,000 demanded, from the commonwealth defendant in two different payment installments. Unbeknownst to the officers, however, the individuals who dropped off the payments were cooperating with federal law enforcement.
In exchange for the bribes, the indictment alleges, Arroyo and Becerril devised a plan whereby the officers would misidentify a co-defendant in court, leading to dismissal of the commonwealth defendant’s case. According to the indictment, when asked under oath at the preliminary hearing to identify the commonwealth defendant, Arroyo instead identified a co-defendant. The indictment alleges that Arroyo confirmed to the commonwealth defendant following the hearing that he deliberately misidentified the co-defendant as part of the plan to have the commonwealth defendant’s case dismissed.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Henwood of the District of Puerto Rico and Trial Attorneys Menaka Kalaskar and Marquest J. Meeks of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. The case was investigated by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Abimael Arroyo-Cruz, 30, of Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, and Josue Becerril-Ramos, 36, of Carolina, Puerto Rico, were both charged in an indictment returned yesterday in the District of Puerto Rico with one count of conspiracy, one count of federal programs bribery, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and one count of attempted extortion.
According to the indictment, Arroyo and Becerril arrested eight individuals for possession of unregistered firearms and marijuana on Aug. 2, 2012. The officers then allegedly solicited from one defendant a bribe payment of $50,000 to have his case dismissed. Beginning on Sept. 11, 2012, both officers allegedly spoke with the commonwealth defendant multiple times over the telephone, discussing payment details and strategies for dismissing the commonwealth defendant’s case.
The indictment alleges that Arroyo and Becerril collected approximately $35,000, of the $50,000 demanded, from the commonwealth defendant in two different payment installments. Unbeknownst to the officers, however, the individuals who dropped off the payments were cooperating with federal law enforcement.
In exchange for the bribes, the indictment alleges, Arroyo and Becerril devised a plan whereby the officers would misidentify a co-defendant in court, leading to dismissal of the commonwealth defendant’s case. According to the indictment, when asked under oath at the preliminary hearing to identify the commonwealth defendant, Arroyo instead identified a co-defendant. The indictment alleges that Arroyo confirmed to the commonwealth defendant following the hearing that he deliberately misidentified the co-defendant as part of the plan to have the commonwealth defendant’s case dismissed.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Henwood of the District of Puerto Rico and Trial Attorneys Menaka Kalaskar and Marquest J. Meeks of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section. The case was investigated by the FBI’s San Juan Field Office.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Beyond the Badge: Life After the Police Department
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Back in the early 1990’s when I was a member of the now-defunct, New York City Housing Police Department, I sat with a group of NYPD officers in a routine Borough Based Training class. These are bi-annual meetings where officers are taught new laws and are brought up to date on departmental policy. In one particular session, a sergeant asked the cops in the room if they had any plans for employment after retiring.
Some of the officers stated that prior to joining the force they were carpenters, plumbers, electricians, or licensed in another skilled trade. However, they were in the minority. Most of the men and women in the room couldn’t see that far into the future to consider what life would be like without a gun on their hip and a shield pinned to their uniform. A general uneasiness filled the classroom. Some fidgeted with the papers on their desk and others sank back in their chairs.
The sergeant’s demeanor became serious. He placed his hands behind his back and pursed his lips. “The good news is that when you retire, there will be plenty of jobs waiting for all of you,” he said. “Employers love hiring ex-cops. But, the skills you bring to the table are hard to qualify in the civilian world. You can drive a truck, work as a guard, and become a bartender or a bus driver, but unless you have another skill like the electricians or carpenters in this room, you better get an education.” The sergeant nodded his head, satisfied that he got through to all of us and began talking about the subject matter at hand.
Police officers don’t want to talk about life after “the job.” Once a cop, always a cop, that’s what we’re told. Television shows, movies, and even books portray officers as die-hard civil servants who live police work as opposed to merely performing their duties. Being a cop denotes a certain attitude, an innate suspicion, a dispassionate appearance, and a jaded view of society as seen from its underside. Police are the community’s protectors, yet they’re the first in line to receive complaints for enforcing the very rules society puts in place. A thick skin is necessary to deal with seeing the human tragedy witnessed on a routine basis and for handling the trauma of losing fellow officers in the line of duty. Cops insulate themselves from others outside their vocation to guard against criticism and to commiserate with their colleagues.
When retirement finally comes, it takes a while to shed the habits of a law enforcement officer. The retiree has no authority. Even in the field of private security, the luster of fighting crime has dimmed. Others call you by your first name and the word “officer” no longer applies to you. Any employment you find does not have the same level of excitement and boredom becomes commonplace. A sense of dissatisfaction dulls the accomplishments at a civilian job, except where earning a paycheck is concerned. There are those who will congratulate you on your years of service, and others who will ask you for a good cop story from your experiences on patrol; but, as the years pass, your connection to police work and the honor of wearing the uniform fades. In spite of joining police fraternities and hanging around with your retired cop buddies, no one calls you in the middle of the night to investigate a suspicious noise.
Working as a bartender, a security guard, a truck driver, or any of the professions the sergeant mentioned in his cautionary monologue long ago in the classroom where I sat and listened with alarm, are fine jobs to have. Financially, a retiree should be able to raise a family with the wages earned while working such a job in conjunction with a police pension, but, looking back, I think the sergeant was projecting his own fears on room full of officers before him. Perhaps the message he wanted to get across is that there is no other job in the world like being a police officer.
Wearing a police shield, carrying a gun, donning the uniform, driving a sector car, and being a hero to those who call nine-one-one in an emergency are all positive, tangible aspects of a fine and noble profession. Losing the privilege of being called “officer,” and the respect one is extended while serving is difficult for most. Becoming a civilian after decades of wielding authority is an adjustment that takes a lot of getting used to. An education for another professional position where one is able to earn a lucrative salary or achieve success on a level an ordinary cop cannot aspire to without that education is a lofty goal; yet, after separating from the department, no matter what a retiree decides to do for a living, the title “retired police officer” is an honor well deserved.
About the Author:
Michael J. Kannengieser is a retired New York City police officer who lives on Long Island with his wife and two children. Michael worked as the Managing Editor for Fiction at The View from Here magazine, a U.K. based literary publication. Currently, he is employed at a performing arts college as an Instructional Technology Administrator. He has been published at The View from Here, and in Newsday, a Long Island newspaper. Michael speaks as a guest lecturer on campus.
Click Here to buy Michael J. Kannengieser's new novel, "The Daddy Rock," at Amazon
Back in the early 1990’s when I was a member of the now-defunct, New York City Housing Police Department, I sat with a group of NYPD officers in a routine Borough Based Training class. These are bi-annual meetings where officers are taught new laws and are brought up to date on departmental policy. In one particular session, a sergeant asked the cops in the room if they had any plans for employment after retiring.
Some of the officers stated that prior to joining the force they were carpenters, plumbers, electricians, or licensed in another skilled trade. However, they were in the minority. Most of the men and women in the room couldn’t see that far into the future to consider what life would be like without a gun on their hip and a shield pinned to their uniform. A general uneasiness filled the classroom. Some fidgeted with the papers on their desk and others sank back in their chairs.
The sergeant’s demeanor became serious. He placed his hands behind his back and pursed his lips. “The good news is that when you retire, there will be plenty of jobs waiting for all of you,” he said. “Employers love hiring ex-cops. But, the skills you bring to the table are hard to qualify in the civilian world. You can drive a truck, work as a guard, and become a bartender or a bus driver, but unless you have another skill like the electricians or carpenters in this room, you better get an education.” The sergeant nodded his head, satisfied that he got through to all of us and began talking about the subject matter at hand.
Police officers don’t want to talk about life after “the job.” Once a cop, always a cop, that’s what we’re told. Television shows, movies, and even books portray officers as die-hard civil servants who live police work as opposed to merely performing their duties. Being a cop denotes a certain attitude, an innate suspicion, a dispassionate appearance, and a jaded view of society as seen from its underside. Police are the community’s protectors, yet they’re the first in line to receive complaints for enforcing the very rules society puts in place. A thick skin is necessary to deal with seeing the human tragedy witnessed on a routine basis and for handling the trauma of losing fellow officers in the line of duty. Cops insulate themselves from others outside their vocation to guard against criticism and to commiserate with their colleagues.
When retirement finally comes, it takes a while to shed the habits of a law enforcement officer. The retiree has no authority. Even in the field of private security, the luster of fighting crime has dimmed. Others call you by your first name and the word “officer” no longer applies to you. Any employment you find does not have the same level of excitement and boredom becomes commonplace. A sense of dissatisfaction dulls the accomplishments at a civilian job, except where earning a paycheck is concerned. There are those who will congratulate you on your years of service, and others who will ask you for a good cop story from your experiences on patrol; but, as the years pass, your connection to police work and the honor of wearing the uniform fades. In spite of joining police fraternities and hanging around with your retired cop buddies, no one calls you in the middle of the night to investigate a suspicious noise.
Working as a bartender, a security guard, a truck driver, or any of the professions the sergeant mentioned in his cautionary monologue long ago in the classroom where I sat and listened with alarm, are fine jobs to have. Financially, a retiree should be able to raise a family with the wages earned while working such a job in conjunction with a police pension, but, looking back, I think the sergeant was projecting his own fears on room full of officers before him. Perhaps the message he wanted to get across is that there is no other job in the world like being a police officer.
Wearing a police shield, carrying a gun, donning the uniform, driving a sector car, and being a hero to those who call nine-one-one in an emergency are all positive, tangible aspects of a fine and noble profession. Losing the privilege of being called “officer,” and the respect one is extended while serving is difficult for most. Becoming a civilian after decades of wielding authority is an adjustment that takes a lot of getting used to. An education for another professional position where one is able to earn a lucrative salary or achieve success on a level an ordinary cop cannot aspire to without that education is a lofty goal; yet, after separating from the department, no matter what a retiree decides to do for a living, the title “retired police officer” is an honor well deserved.
About the Author:
Michael J. Kannengieser is a retired New York City police officer who lives on Long Island with his wife and two children. Michael worked as the Managing Editor for Fiction at The View from Here magazine, a U.K. based literary publication. Currently, he is employed at a performing arts college as an Instructional Technology Administrator. He has been published at The View from Here, and in Newsday, a Long Island newspaper. Michael speaks as a guest lecturer on campus.
Click Here to buy Michael J. Kannengieser's new novel, "The Daddy Rock," at Amazon
Member of Latin Kings Street Gang and Two Associates Sentenced in Indiana for Racketeering Conspiracy and Related Crimes
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WASHINGTON – A member of the Latin Kings street gang and two associates were sentenced to prison this week in Hammond, Ind., federal court for racketeering conspiracy and other crimes in support of the gang, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David Capp of the Northern District of Indiana.
David Lira, aka “Flaco,” 39, of Chicago, was sentenced today to 180 months in prison after pleading guilty on July 13, 2012, to racketeering conspiracy. Gang associates Bianca Fernandez, 23, and Serina Arambula, 23, both of Chicago, were sentenced on Nov. 26, 2012, to 36 months and 21 months in prison, respectively. U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano imposed the sentences. Fernandez pleaded guilty on Aug. 8, 2012, to conspiring to murder in aid of racketeering. Arambula pleaded guilty on August 7, 2012, to withholding information on a murder. According to the third superseding indictment filed in this case, the Latin Kings is a nationwide gang that originated in Chicago and has branched out throughout the United States. The Latin Kings is a well organized street gang that has specific leadership and is composed of regions that include multiple chapters. The third superseding indictment charges that the Latin Kings were responsible for more than 20 murders. Also according to the third superseding indictment, the Latin Kings enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members, prospects and associates through murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, assault and threats against those who violate the rules or pose a threat to the Latin Kings. Members are required to follow the orders of higher-ranking members, including taking on assignments often referred to as “missions.” During his guilty plea proceeding, Lira admitted to being a Latin Kings member at an early age. He also acknowledged he was aware that the Latin Kings, specifically some of his co-defendants, distributed more than 150 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 kilograms of marijuana over the course of the racketeering conspiracy. Lira also acknowledged that on Feb. 24, 2007, Jose Zambrano, a regional enforcer for the gang, and other Latin Kings members dropped two firearms off at Lira’s residence in Lansing, Ill. The next evening, Zambrano and the others returned to retrieve the weapons from Lira before riding to the Soprano’s Bar in Griffith, Ind., where they gunned down and killed two rival gang members. Fernandez admitted in court that on Nov. 26, 2006, at the direction of a Latin Kings member, she accompanied two members of the rival Latin Dragons gang to Jackson Park, Ill., near La Rabida Children’s Hospital on the south side of Chicago. Fernandez also admitted she made arrangements for Latin Kings gang members to meet them at the location, where those gang members shot the Latin Dragons gang members, killing one. Fernandez admitted that when interviewed by Chicago police, she concealed the true nature of the murder. During her guilty plea proceeding, Arambula admitted to accompanying Fernandez and the Latin Dragon members to Jackson Park, and admitted to providing false information to Chicago police regarding the identity of the shooters. Twenty-three Latin Kings members and associates have been indicted in this case. Twenty have pleaded guilty; one was found guilty following a jury trial, one awaits trial, and one remains a fugitive. This case was investigated by the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI); the National Gang Intelligence Center; the Chicago Police Department; the Houston Police Department; the Griffith Police Department; the Highland, Ind., Police Department; the Hammond, Ind., Police Department; and the East Chicago Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Joseph A. Cooley of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and David J. Nozick of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana. Andrew Porter of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois provided significant assistance. The third superseding indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants who have not been convicted are innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
David Lira, aka “Flaco,” 39, of Chicago, was sentenced today to 180 months in prison after pleading guilty on July 13, 2012, to racketeering conspiracy. Gang associates Bianca Fernandez, 23, and Serina Arambula, 23, both of Chicago, were sentenced on Nov. 26, 2012, to 36 months and 21 months in prison, respectively. U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano imposed the sentences. Fernandez pleaded guilty on Aug. 8, 2012, to conspiring to murder in aid of racketeering. Arambula pleaded guilty on August 7, 2012, to withholding information on a murder. According to the third superseding indictment filed in this case, the Latin Kings is a nationwide gang that originated in Chicago and has branched out throughout the United States. The Latin Kings is a well organized street gang that has specific leadership and is composed of regions that include multiple chapters. The third superseding indictment charges that the Latin Kings were responsible for more than 20 murders. Also according to the third superseding indictment, the Latin Kings enforces its rules and promotes discipline among its members, prospects and associates through murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, assault and threats against those who violate the rules or pose a threat to the Latin Kings. Members are required to follow the orders of higher-ranking members, including taking on assignments often referred to as “missions.” During his guilty plea proceeding, Lira admitted to being a Latin Kings member at an early age. He also acknowledged he was aware that the Latin Kings, specifically some of his co-defendants, distributed more than 150 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 kilograms of marijuana over the course of the racketeering conspiracy. Lira also acknowledged that on Feb. 24, 2007, Jose Zambrano, a regional enforcer for the gang, and other Latin Kings members dropped two firearms off at Lira’s residence in Lansing, Ill. The next evening, Zambrano and the others returned to retrieve the weapons from Lira before riding to the Soprano’s Bar in Griffith, Ind., where they gunned down and killed two rival gang members. Fernandez admitted in court that on Nov. 26, 2006, at the direction of a Latin Kings member, she accompanied two members of the rival Latin Dragons gang to Jackson Park, Ill., near La Rabida Children’s Hospital on the south side of Chicago. Fernandez also admitted she made arrangements for Latin Kings gang members to meet them at the location, where those gang members shot the Latin Dragons gang members, killing one. Fernandez admitted that when interviewed by Chicago police, she concealed the true nature of the murder. During her guilty plea proceeding, Arambula admitted to accompanying Fernandez and the Latin Dragon members to Jackson Park, and admitted to providing false information to Chicago police regarding the identity of the shooters. Twenty-three Latin Kings members and associates have been indicted in this case. Twenty have pleaded guilty; one was found guilty following a jury trial, one awaits trial, and one remains a fugitive. This case was investigated by the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI); the National Gang Intelligence Center; the Chicago Police Department; the Houston Police Department; the Griffith Police Department; the Highland, Ind., Police Department; the Hammond, Ind., Police Department; and the East Chicago Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Joseph A. Cooley of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and David J. Nozick of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana. Andrew Porter of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois provided significant assistance. The third superseding indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants who have not been convicted are innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
29 Kasım 2012 Perşembe
Offshore secrets: new ICIJ/Guardian investigation
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The UK's Guardian newspaper has, together with the BBC's Panorama and the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ,) put together a large-scale investigation of the offshore industry and its secrets. Read the opening article, and follow the associated links at the Guardian and also the ICIJ website, which promises to have even more. None of what in this excellent investigation will surprise readers of Treasure Islands, but it is extremely important to have such an in-depth investigation bolstering our case.
The investigation begins:
The investigation begins:
The existence of an extraordinary global network of sham company directors, most of them British, can be revealed.BBC Panorama tonight will show an undercover investigator asking James Turner, of Turner Little in York, to help him hide money stashed in a Swiss bank, and he offers nominee directors in Belize and says:
"They won't even know that they were a director, they just get paid."That bit in bold is extraordinary, and it seems it's not uncommon either: another company representative explained "that many of its nominees are not even aware of how their names are being used." The investigation finds 21,500 companies through just nominee directors. They find the British Virgin Islands (BVI) particularly troubling - something that TJN has been shouting about for a long time: while Cayman is the first Caribbean jurisdiction most people think of in the context of tax havens, the BVI has not got nearly enough attention. This needs to change, dramatically. The UK appears to have some plans to clean up, but as we've noted, while this appears to be significant we don't have a lot of confidence in its potential for real change.
"This Caribbean territory, which is ultimately controlled by the UK, has sold more than a million anonymously-owned offshore entities since launching itself in 1984 as a tax haven."We are also delighted to read that a worldwide research effort has been launched this year by the ICIJ. It aims to identify, country by country, thousands of the true owners.
"We are applying specialist software to crunch through literally hundreds of thousands of offshore entities to look for patterns. We are marrying our findings with old-fashioned shoe leather and interviews from key insiders who can provide further context on this little known and loosely regulated world."An official from one of the companies approached, in Hertfordshire in the UK, said:
"if we were approached by the Indian tax authorities and they say we believe you are acting for this client and he is doing money laundering, we would give the information. If they said we were acting for this client and they are doing tax evasion, we wouldn't give a monkey's."And the subsequent conversation made matters somewhat worse. Another official is described:
"(he) offers his customers "anonymity of the ultimate owners". He tells them: "The prime advantage … is to place the 'management and control' issue firmly outside a high tax jurisdiction." This allows the owners to claim the company is being run from an overseas tax haven, rather than from where they live."Now read on. This is what the Fourth Estate is for. Gradually, bit by bit, fragments of Britain's "second empire" are being dragged out into the light of day. Why has Britain not reformed this swamp?
"The UK government refuses to step in and make reforms. One reason was candidly spelled out by Michael Foot, a former Bank of England official and Financial Services Authority managing director. He reported to the then Labour chancellor, Alistair Darling, in a Treasury paper published in 2009, saying that to abolish the BVI's secrecy regime "would be likely to result in a loss of business".It really is as sordid as that. There are of course many other aspects of this we'd like to see covered, for instance:
- they don't talk very much about layering - where nominee directors and shareholders are other shell companies, or trusts. This is an essential component of any "sophisticated" scheme.
- The investigation seems to focus more on nominees being independent service providers or small firms: they (perhaps for reasons of libel management) don't really talk about where nominee directors and shareholders are provided by and within banks & trust companies, wealth management arms of some well-known names. That would make a very interesting area to explore (see more on that in our intermediaries project.)
- BBC's Panorama shows staff admitting nominee directors are often a sham (with associated video)
- Sham directors: the woman running 1,200 companies from a Caribbean rock (with associated video). A focus on Nevis. "If Britain is crying about its tax dollars, that is not really a problem for us," a Nevis official says. And, of course, Britain is just one of many, many countries suffering.
- The 'Sark Lark' Britons scattered around the world.
- British Virgin Islands, land of sand, sea and secrecy. The world's biggest provider of offshore entities, yet the UK refuses to step in and force it to reform. We have for some time been strongly encouraging journalists to put a spotlight on the BVI. We are delighted to see this scrutiny. "The paperchase can often be costly and almost endless, giving suspects time to empty their accounts and cover their tracks."
- The offshore trick: how BVI 'nominee director' system works. A handy graphic, showing three letters that the nominees send to their clients, included an undated resignation letter, allowing the nominee to duck liability at the drop of a hat; a general power of attorney handing back all control to the client, and the use of couriers to send information. We will post this on our 'mechanics of secrecy' web page.
- Vince Cable promises to investigate offshore sham director industry.
- Post-Soviet Billionaires Invade UK ... Via British Virgin Islands
Why Britain is still the world's money laundering centre
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From Rowan Bosworth-Davies, a voice of authority on financial crime, commenting on the excellent offshore investigations by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, together with the Guardian and the BBC:
See our earlier blog on the issue, here.
All in all, it was a very grubby tale of greed and as blatant a piece of criminal law-breaking as you could expect. In one scene, a corporate services provider proposed that he would invite a local bank officer to come to a meeting in his offices to meet the purported launderer, and complete the banking formalities. Easier than going to the bank, was how he put it.And then some colourful but apt further commentary:
What made it all so acutely depressing was that there was no evidence that HMRC had ever prosecuted any of the corporate services providers under their supervision, for any breaches of the Money laundering Regulations, or indeed for straight-forward money laundering itself.
The real problem in all of this is that the Money Laundering Regulations have never been properly policed, and never effectively enforced. That is where the answer to money laundering interdiction lies, in the enforcement of the Regs, but why will no-one, absolutely fucking no-one, step up and take the lead on this?Bosworth-Davies, a former detective with many years' experience fighting financial crimes, notes that the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA)
"have consistently refused to accept their Parliamentary responsibilities to enforce the Money Laundering law within the financial sector. HMRC cover another sector, and other agencies have input, but absolutely nothing gets done, and eventually the industry realises that there is no point bothering with a compliance regime because no-one enforces it.For anyone who has even just dipped into Treasure Islands, they will see how true this is. This is the business model.
I have been forced to come to the conclusion that Government does not really want the AML [Anti Money Laundering] laws to be enforced - they cannot do so, because they spend such little time and effort insisting on enforcement. . . . in practice, just keeping their noses out of the issue, for fear that too much regulation and compliance with international laws might mean putting off some of the slew of dirty money that is constantly flowing around the world looking for a safe haven, from coming to the UK."
"we might as well fill our coffers with the profits from the drug trade and other people's tax evasion, and as long as we pay lip-service to the FATF guidelines, and make sure that we don't get put on some nasty blacklist (which we won't because we make sure we are well-represented at FATF meetings), and as long as we keep pointing the finger of non-compliance at Iran or Pakistan or wherever, we will get away with it."So very unpleasantly true. And there is much more in there, well worth reading.
See our earlier blog on the issue, here.
Unpicking the illogic in Switzerland's "White Money" strategy
To contact us Click HERE
Switzerland, now recognising that its poisonous "Rubik" spoiler strategy to protect financial secrecy is dying, has rapidly swiveled its position, and its politicians and bankers are now pushing hard for what is being calling a "White Money" (Weissgeld) strategy to try and persuade other countries to go easy on the secrecy that it provides. The clear and regular message now is 'don't worry about our secrecy: we're going to take care of this ourselves.' Trust us.
Now who could argue against a "White Money" strategy for Swiss banks? Not us, certainly. Unless, of course, that label is merely a fig leaf: a dose of reassuring Alpine spin layered over a world of business as usual.
So which is it? Alpine spin, or real change?
Start with this headline from a Swiss online newspaper, which reflects the thrust of a number of articles currently out there. Tax evaders become pariahs for Credit Suisse. The mighty Swiss bank is going to be turning away tax evaders from its doors, apparently:
But one can go a lot further than this.
Consider how, exactly, the Swiss banks are supposed to refuse tax evaders (who haven't made their assets 'ownerless' as above.) Look at this, from Suddeutsche Zeitung (translated here):
Take a European tax evader with assets in a Swiss bank. Under the European Savings Tax Directive, they have two options: either they submit to the 'declaration' option whereby information about their income will be transmitted automatically to the home country's tax evader, or they choose the 'withholding tax' option, where tax is withheld but their identity is kept secret from their home tax authorities.
Consider each option in turn. First, if the client opts for 'declaration' under the current system, then the 'self declaration' described by Credit Suisse is quite pointless. They are already declaring.
As for the 'withholding' option, consider this. What client is going to want to declare their income to their home tax authorities (and hence be taxed) - then get the Swiss bank to withhold taxes on it? What ever would the point of that be? If you choose the information exchange option, you don't get the taxes withheld. So you would certainly not do this for tax reasons, and you would not do it for non-tax confidentiality reasons either: the client has already declared that they have broken confidentiality by self-declaring.
To conclude: if you see Switzerland subsequently handing over any money to Germany from this withholding tax option, you will know that the white money strategy is a hoax.
So what ever could the point of this white money strategy be?
Not a whitewash, surely!
If Switzerland were serious about having 'white money' in its banks, the solution would be very simple indeed: sign up for full automatic information exchange under the EU Savings Tax Directive.
And why not renounce banking secrecy while they are at it? Then we can start talking about white money.
Now who could argue against a "White Money" strategy for Swiss banks? Not us, certainly. Unless, of course, that label is merely a fig leaf: a dose of reassuring Alpine spin layered over a world of business as usual.
So which is it? Alpine spin, or real change?
Start with this headline from a Swiss online newspaper, which reflects the thrust of a number of articles currently out there. Tax evaders become pariahs for Credit Suisse. The mighty Swiss bank is going to be turning away tax evaders from its doors, apparently:
Credit Suisse does not intend to allow tax evaders to remain on as clients, he stressed. If potential clients refuse to report their assets to the tax authorities in their countries, "the bank will clearly tell them that it does not want their business," Rohner said, adding that the bank would also ask existing clients to leave if they did not declare their assets.It sounds good, but consider the first problem. What happens when the "client" is, say, a Liechtenstein foundation or a (more Anglo-Saxon-style) discretionary trust? Under Swiss rules, there is literally no beneficial owner at all for these structures. Germans who stash money in these things -- which are bread and butter structures for the tax evasion industry -- place themselves firmly outside the scope of legislation that is supposed to relate to Germans. These assets are not, from the Swiss banks' perspective, "German." They are, to be precise, legally "ownerless", even if ultimately some Germans have the power to enjoy the income. (For a further explanation of the slippery nature of these structures, see Section 3.1 here). So if this money has no owner, who is going to declare it to their tax authority? Nobody: ownerless money doesn't have a home tax authority. That is, of course, the whole point.
But one can go a lot further than this.
Consider how, exactly, the Swiss banks are supposed to refuse tax evaders (who haven't made their assets 'ownerless' as above.) Look at this, from Suddeutsche Zeitung (translated here):
"Not all banks go so far. Especially smaller private banks are balking at a self-declaration, and they are supported by the Swiss Bankers Association. According to the trade association, this system [self declaration] does not exist anywhere else in the world. It also offers no guarantee against new black money. If someone is prepared to deceive their own tax offices, then it will not be hard for them to lie to the bank. The banks have to take the information provided by their customers at face value: they cannot, may not and should not check the declarations."That bit in bold is key. And this brings us to the following wonderful piece of logic.
Take a European tax evader with assets in a Swiss bank. Under the European Savings Tax Directive, they have two options: either they submit to the 'declaration' option whereby information about their income will be transmitted automatically to the home country's tax evader, or they choose the 'withholding tax' option, where tax is withheld but their identity is kept secret from their home tax authorities.
Consider each option in turn. First, if the client opts for 'declaration' under the current system, then the 'self declaration' described by Credit Suisse is quite pointless. They are already declaring.
As for the 'withholding' option, consider this. What client is going to want to declare their income to their home tax authorities (and hence be taxed) - then get the Swiss bank to withhold taxes on it? What ever would the point of that be? If you choose the information exchange option, you don't get the taxes withheld. So you would certainly not do this for tax reasons, and you would not do it for non-tax confidentiality reasons either: the client has already declared that they have broken confidentiality by self-declaring.
To conclude: if you see Switzerland subsequently handing over any money to Germany from this withholding tax option, you will know that the white money strategy is a hoax.
So what ever could the point of this white money strategy be?
Not a whitewash, surely!
If Switzerland were serious about having 'white money' in its banks, the solution would be very simple indeed: sign up for full automatic information exchange under the EU Savings Tax Directive.
And why not renounce banking secrecy while they are at it? Then we can start talking about white money.
Two-thirds of millionaires left Britain to avoid 50p tax rate.
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Or at least that's the headline in the UK's Telegraph newspaper. The Telegraph is often a very good newspaper, and this story is clearly going to get a lot of attention.
But this time, it has completely misunderstood the data.
Read this comprehensive demolition of the Telegraph story by TJN's Senior Adviser, aptly entitled The Telegraph’s claim that all the rich have run away because of 50p tax is completely bogus.
Did it not occur to this journalist that if most of Britain's rich people had left the country overnight, someone might have noticed?
But this time, it has completely misunderstood the data.
Read this comprehensive demolition of the Telegraph story by TJN's Senior Adviser, aptly entitled The Telegraph’s claim that all the rich have run away because of 50p tax is completely bogus.
Did it not occur to this journalist that if most of Britain's rich people had left the country overnight, someone might have noticed?
Links Nov 29
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UK May Plan FATCA-Style Regime For Dependencies Tax-News
Nov 29 - "Britain’s overseas territories, including the Crown Dependencies, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, are expected to meet UK Government officials imminently to discuss the possibility of their exchanging more information with the UK, in the wake of a report that the UK is seeking to impose its own version of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act on them."
Shipwreck in tax dispute - now sustainable solutions are in demand TJN Germany Blog
Nov 24 - Bringing you the press release of our colleagues from Alliance Sud and the Berne Declaration on the collapse of the Swiss/German tax deal.
Monti Cool On Italo-Swiss Tax Agreement Tax-News
Nov 29 - "Following recent indications by both governments that the tax treaty currently being negotiated between Italy and Switzerland could be ready by the end of this year, the Italian Premier Mario Monti and the Undersecretary for the Economy Vieri Ceriani have underlined that the talks still have some way to go ... any suggestion that Italian depositors in Switzerland should remain anonymous could be a sticking point."
Prosecutors raid German UniCredit unit in tax probe Reuters
Nov 29 - "State prosecutors raided the Munich offices of UniCredit SpA's [Italian banking group] German unit HVB as part of a tax evasion probe relating to share deals several years ago."
Italian tax probe says Google failed to declare £240m income Telegraph
Nov 28 - "Google's Italian arm has failed to declare income of €240m and pay VAT of €96m, according to a probe by Italian tax authorities, which the technology giant strongly denies."
See also:
Google Joins Apple in Drawing French Tax Collectors’ Ire Bloomberg
Nov 27 - "In what may be Europe’s first such effort, President Francois Hollande’s government says it will look into changing laws next year that will block the ability of online companies to pay levies on French earnings in European countries with lower tax rates.”
Buffett Says U.S. Businesses Haven’t Been Hurt by Taxes Bloomberg
Nov 28 - Warren Buffett said "Corporate taxes have not been a problem for corporate America ... The biggest beneficiary of reductions in tax rates in the last 30 or 40 years has been corporations, and the biggest increase has been in the payroll tax."
Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze - Nominee Directors Linked to Intelligence, Military ICIJ
Nov 28 - "A number of so-called nominee directors of companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) have connections to military or intelligence activities, an investigation has revealed."
Offshore secrets: government refuses to act on disclosures Guardian
Nov 28 - "UK Land Registry allows buyers to conceal identities by recording anonymous offshore entity as the purchaser."
Tax and the offshore industry: when bad money drives out good Guardian
Nov - "The stories that have been turned up in the course of the Guardian's investigation this week into Britain's offshore tax-avoidance industry have been jaw-dropping sometimes, but they underline one point: tax avoidance may well be an issue that nearly all developed countries are now trying to tackle – but Britain is at the extremes of the business of financial chicanery."
Inside Job - How crooks set up the largest bank in Afghanistan & then robbed it for almost $1 billion Global Witness
Nov 18 - ”Which banks accepted corrupt money from Kabul Bank shareholders or politically exposed persons? What measures did they take to assure themselves that the funds were not the proceeds of corruption? The answers to these questions are necessary to understand why so much corrupt money was able to flood the international financial system, to facilitate the recovery of stolen assets, and to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
South Sudan’s new laws offer a blueprint for a transparent oil sector Global Witness
Nov 29 - "Building a transparent and accountable oil sector in South Sudan will require serious political engagement from the government, major capacity building, and consistent implementation of the blueprint set out in the new legislation."
Nov 29 - "Britain’s overseas territories, including the Crown Dependencies, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands, are expected to meet UK Government officials imminently to discuss the possibility of their exchanging more information with the UK, in the wake of a report that the UK is seeking to impose its own version of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act on them."
Shipwreck in tax dispute - now sustainable solutions are in demand TJN Germany Blog
Nov 24 - Bringing you the press release of our colleagues from Alliance Sud and the Berne Declaration on the collapse of the Swiss/German tax deal.
Monti Cool On Italo-Swiss Tax Agreement Tax-News
Nov 29 - "Following recent indications by both governments that the tax treaty currently being negotiated between Italy and Switzerland could be ready by the end of this year, the Italian Premier Mario Monti and the Undersecretary for the Economy Vieri Ceriani have underlined that the talks still have some way to go ... any suggestion that Italian depositors in Switzerland should remain anonymous could be a sticking point."
Prosecutors raid German UniCredit unit in tax probe Reuters
Nov 29 - "State prosecutors raided the Munich offices of UniCredit SpA's [Italian banking group] German unit HVB as part of a tax evasion probe relating to share deals several years ago."
Italian tax probe says Google failed to declare £240m income Telegraph
Nov 28 - "Google's Italian arm has failed to declare income of €240m and pay VAT of €96m, according to a probe by Italian tax authorities, which the technology giant strongly denies."
See also:
Google Joins Apple in Drawing French Tax Collectors’ Ire Bloomberg
Nov 27 - "In what may be Europe’s first such effort, President Francois Hollande’s government says it will look into changing laws next year that will block the ability of online companies to pay levies on French earnings in European countries with lower tax rates.”
Buffett Says U.S. Businesses Haven’t Been Hurt by Taxes Bloomberg
Nov 28 - Warren Buffett said "Corporate taxes have not been a problem for corporate America ... The biggest beneficiary of reductions in tax rates in the last 30 or 40 years has been corporations, and the biggest increase has been in the payroll tax."
Secrecy for Sale: Inside the Global Offshore Money Maze - Nominee Directors Linked to Intelligence, Military ICIJ
Nov 28 - "A number of so-called nominee directors of companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) have connections to military or intelligence activities, an investigation has revealed."
Offshore secrets: government refuses to act on disclosures Guardian
Nov 28 - "UK Land Registry allows buyers to conceal identities by recording anonymous offshore entity as the purchaser."
Tax and the offshore industry: when bad money drives out good Guardian
Nov - "The stories that have been turned up in the course of the Guardian's investigation this week into Britain's offshore tax-avoidance industry have been jaw-dropping sometimes, but they underline one point: tax avoidance may well be an issue that nearly all developed countries are now trying to tackle – but Britain is at the extremes of the business of financial chicanery."
Inside Job - How crooks set up the largest bank in Afghanistan & then robbed it for almost $1 billion Global Witness
Nov 18 - ”Which banks accepted corrupt money from Kabul Bank shareholders or politically exposed persons? What measures did they take to assure themselves that the funds were not the proceeds of corruption? The answers to these questions are necessary to understand why so much corrupt money was able to flood the international financial system, to facilitate the recovery of stolen assets, and to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
South Sudan’s new laws offer a blueprint for a transparent oil sector Global Witness
Nov 29 - "Building a transparent and accountable oil sector in South Sudan will require serious political engagement from the government, major capacity building, and consistent implementation of the blueprint set out in the new legislation."
28 Kasım 2012 Çarşamba
Links Nov 27
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The Real Story Of How A Hedge Fund Detained A Vessel In Ghana And Even Went For Argentina's 'Air Force One' Forbes
Oct 5 - More on a big story linked previously. "The country has vowed to fight those remaining bondholders. They accused NML of using the Cayman Islands to avoid legal and tax issues (“a [tax haven] that has been denounced by the G20 and the UN”)."
If we want to make poverty history we've got to tackle corruption first Guardian
Nov 26 - Op-ed by Global Witness. "Why do governments ignore offshoring? It's the biggest obstacle to alleviating poverty."
Where is Africa's share of the spoils? The Independent
Nov 26 - Dr Vince Cable, UK's Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, outlines the need for transparency in the extractives industries.
Pictet joins list of banks investigated by US swissinfo
Nov 26 - "Pictet & Cie has confirmed that it is under investigation by the United States justice department as part of a probe into Swiss banks allegedly aiding wealthy US clients avoid tax." Pictet is Switzerland’s largest unlisted private bank, with an international presence including offices in several secrecy jurisdictions.
Swiss banks terminate accounts of German clients WirtschaftsWoche (In German)
Nov 26 - Following the collapse of the Swiss/German tax treaty, Swiss banks are reported to be telling their German clients to come clean on their taxes or close their accounts.
Liechtenstein Eyes New Tax On Top Earners Tax-News
Nov 27 - Liechtenstein, amongst other tax havens, is now feeling the pinch and trying to pull in greater revenues from it's own taxpayers.
A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy NY Times
Nov 25 - Warren Buffet renews his call for the wealthy to pay their fair share of tax, and notes that "it’s sickening that a Cayman Islands mail drop can be central to tax maneuvering by wealthy individuals and corporations."
A Failed Experiment NY Times
Nov 21 - On a decline of public services accompanied by the rise of private workarounds for the wealthy.
A Pension Deficit Disorder: The Massive CEO Retirement Funds and Underfunded Worker Pensions at Firms Pushing Social Security Cuts IPS
Nov 27 - Report from The Institute for Policy Studies looks at the enormous executive retirement plan and underfunded worker retirement plans of the Fix the Debt companies who are calling for a territorial tax system funded by cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Hat tip: Scott Klinger. See also: 'Fix The Debt' CEOs Underfund Employee Retirement, Demand Cuts For Elderly Huffington Post and the last report from IPS on the 'Fix the Debt' Campaign The CEO Campaign to ‘Fix’ the Debt: A Trojan Horse for Massive Corporate Tax Breaks (linked previously).
Kabul Bank 'diverted £540 million to group of 12 in massive fraud' The Telegraph
Nov 27 - "Afghanistan's biggest private bank was a massive fraud scheme from its founding, with £540 million ($861 million) diverted to a clique of beneficiaries including the president's brother, a British-funded audit has found."
Oct 5 - More on a big story linked previously. "The country has vowed to fight those remaining bondholders. They accused NML of using the Cayman Islands to avoid legal and tax issues (“a [tax haven] that has been denounced by the G20 and the UN”)."
If we want to make poverty history we've got to tackle corruption first Guardian
Nov 26 - Op-ed by Global Witness. "Why do governments ignore offshoring? It's the biggest obstacle to alleviating poverty."
Where is Africa's share of the spoils? The Independent
Nov 26 - Dr Vince Cable, UK's Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, outlines the need for transparency in the extractives industries.
Pictet joins list of banks investigated by US swissinfo
Nov 26 - "Pictet & Cie has confirmed that it is under investigation by the United States justice department as part of a probe into Swiss banks allegedly aiding wealthy US clients avoid tax." Pictet is Switzerland’s largest unlisted private bank, with an international presence including offices in several secrecy jurisdictions.
Swiss banks terminate accounts of German clients WirtschaftsWoche (In German)
Nov 26 - Following the collapse of the Swiss/German tax treaty, Swiss banks are reported to be telling their German clients to come clean on their taxes or close their accounts.
Liechtenstein Eyes New Tax On Top Earners Tax-News
Nov 27 - Liechtenstein, amongst other tax havens, is now feeling the pinch and trying to pull in greater revenues from it's own taxpayers.
A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy NY Times
Nov 25 - Warren Buffet renews his call for the wealthy to pay their fair share of tax, and notes that "it’s sickening that a Cayman Islands mail drop can be central to tax maneuvering by wealthy individuals and corporations."
A Failed Experiment NY Times
Nov 21 - On a decline of public services accompanied by the rise of private workarounds for the wealthy.
A Pension Deficit Disorder: The Massive CEO Retirement Funds and Underfunded Worker Pensions at Firms Pushing Social Security Cuts IPS
Nov 27 - Report from The Institute for Policy Studies looks at the enormous executive retirement plan and underfunded worker retirement plans of the Fix the Debt companies who are calling for a territorial tax system funded by cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Hat tip: Scott Klinger. See also: 'Fix The Debt' CEOs Underfund Employee Retirement, Demand Cuts For Elderly Huffington Post and the last report from IPS on the 'Fix the Debt' Campaign The CEO Campaign to ‘Fix’ the Debt: A Trojan Horse for Massive Corporate Tax Breaks (linked previously).
Kabul Bank 'diverted £540 million to group of 12 in massive fraud' The Telegraph
Nov 27 - "Afghanistan's biggest private bank was a massive fraud scheme from its founding, with £540 million ($861 million) diverted to a clique of beneficiaries including the president's brother, a British-funded audit has found."
Why Britain is still the world's money laundering centre
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From Rowan Bosworth-Davies, a voice of authority on financial crime, commenting on the excellent offshore investigations by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, together with the Guardian and the BBC:
See our earlier blog on the issue, here.
All in all, it was a very grubby tale of greed and as blatant a piece of criminal law-breaking as you could expect. In one scene, a corporate services provider proposed that he would invite a local bank officer to come to a meeting in his offices to meet the purported launderer, and complete the banking formalities. Easier than going to the bank, was how he put it.And then some colourful but apt further commentary:
What made it all so acutely depressing was that there was no evidence that HMRC had ever prosecuted any of the corporate services providers under their supervision, for any breaches of the Money laundering Regulations, or indeed for straight-forward money laundering itself.
The real problem in all of this is that the Money Laundering Regulations have never been properly policed, and never effectively enforced. That is where the answer to money laundering interdiction lies, in the enforcement of the Regs, but why will no-one, absolutely fucking no-one, step up and take the lead on this?Bosworth-Davies, a former detective with many years' experience fighting financial crimes, notes that the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA)
"have consistently refused to accept their Parliamentary responsibilities to enforce the Money Laundering law within the financial sector. HMRC cover another sector, and other agencies have input, but absolutely nothing gets done, and eventually the industry realises that there is no point bothering with a compliance regime because no-one enforces it.For anyone who has even just dipped into Treasure Islands, they will see how true this is. This is the business model.
I have been forced to come to the conclusion that Government does not really want the AML [Anti Money Laundering] laws to be enforced - they cannot do so, because they spend such little time and effort insisting on enforcement. . . . in practice, just keeping their noses out of the issue, for fear that too much regulation and compliance with international laws might mean putting off some of the slew of dirty money that is constantly flowing around the world looking for a safe haven, from coming to the UK."
"we might as well fill our coffers with the profits from the drug trade and other people's tax evasion, and as long as we pay lip-service to the FATF guidelines, and make sure that we don't get put on some nasty blacklist (which we won't because we make sure we are well-represented at FATF meetings), and as long as we keep pointing the finger of non-compliance at Iran or Pakistan or wherever, we will get away with it."So very unpleasantly true. And there is much more in there, well worth reading.
See our earlier blog on the issue, here.
Unpicking the illogic in Switzerland's "White Money" strategy
To contact us Click HERE
Who could argue against a "white money" strategy for Swiss banks? Not us, certainly. Unless, of course, that label is a fig leaf: a dose of reassuring Alpine spin layered over a world of business as usual.
So which is it?
Well, start with this headline from a Swiss online newspaper, which reflects the thrust of a number of articles currently out there. Tax evaders become pariahs for Credit Suisse. The mighty Swiss bank is going to be turning away tax evaders from its doors, apparently:
But it gets better. How, exactly, would this refusal of tax evaders happen? Take a look at this, from Suddeutsche Zeitung (translated here):
Take a European tax evader with assets in a Swiss bank. Under the European Savings Tax Directive, they have two options: either they submit to the 'declaration' option whereby information about their income will be transmitted automatically to the home country's tax evader, or they choose the 'withholding tax' option, where tax is withheld but their identity is kept secret from their home tax authorities.
Now consider each of these options in turn. First, if the client opts for 'declaration' under the current system, then the 'self declaration' described by Credit Suisse is quite pointless. They are already declaring.
As for the 'withholding' option, consider this. What client is going to want to declare their income to their home tax authorities - then get the Swiss bank to withhold taxes on it? What ever would the point of that be? Certainly not for tax reasons, and not for non-tax confidentiality reasons either: they have already declared that they have broken confidentiality by self-declaring. If you see Switzerland subsequently handing over any money to Germany from this withholding tax option, you will know that the white money strategy is a hoax.
So what ever could the point of this white money strategy be?
Not a whitewash, surely!
So which is it?
Well, start with this headline from a Swiss online newspaper, which reflects the thrust of a number of articles currently out there. Tax evaders become pariahs for Credit Suisse. The mighty Swiss bank is going to be turning away tax evaders from its doors, apparently:
Credit Suisse does not intend to allow tax evaders to remain on as clients, he stressed. If potential clients refuse to report their assets to the tax authorities in their countries, "the bank will clearly tell them that it does not want their business," Rohner said, adding that the bank would also ask existing clients to leave if they did not declare their assets.OK, now here is the first problem. What happens when the "client" is, say, a Liechtenstein foundation or a more Anglo-Saxon-style discretionary trust? Under Swiss rules, there is literally no beneficial owner at all for these structures. Germans who stash money in these things -- which are bread and butter to the tax evasion industry -- are firmly outside the scope: these assets are not, from the Swiss banks' perspective, "German." They are, to be precise, legally "ownerless", even if ultimately some Germans have the power to enjoy the income. (For the slippery nature of these structures, see Section 3.1 here). So if this money has no owner, who is going to declare the money to their tax authority? Nobody. Ownerless money doesn't have a home tax authority.
But it gets better. How, exactly, would this refusal of tax evaders happen? Take a look at this, from Suddeutsche Zeitung (translated here):
"Not all banks go so far. Especially smaller private banks are balking at a self-declaration, and they are supported by the Swiss Bankers Association. According to the trade association, this system [self declaration] does not exist anywhere else in the world. It also offers no guarantee against new black money. If someone is prepared to deceive their own tax offices, then it will not be hard for them to lie to the bank. The banks have to take the information provided by their customers at face value: they cannot, may not and should not check the declarations."That bit in bold is key. And now look at this wonderful piece of logic.
Take a European tax evader with assets in a Swiss bank. Under the European Savings Tax Directive, they have two options: either they submit to the 'declaration' option whereby information about their income will be transmitted automatically to the home country's tax evader, or they choose the 'withholding tax' option, where tax is withheld but their identity is kept secret from their home tax authorities.
Now consider each of these options in turn. First, if the client opts for 'declaration' under the current system, then the 'self declaration' described by Credit Suisse is quite pointless. They are already declaring.
As for the 'withholding' option, consider this. What client is going to want to declare their income to their home tax authorities - then get the Swiss bank to withhold taxes on it? What ever would the point of that be? Certainly not for tax reasons, and not for non-tax confidentiality reasons either: they have already declared that they have broken confidentiality by self-declaring. If you see Switzerland subsequently handing over any money to Germany from this withholding tax option, you will know that the white money strategy is a hoax.
So what ever could the point of this white money strategy be?
Not a whitewash, surely!
John Kay in the FT supports unitary taxation
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Following Prof. Sol Picciotto's and Nicholas Shaxson's comment piece in the Financial Times, the newspaper's regular columnist John Kay has followed it up with some commentary of his own.
Among other things, he takes to task the notion that tax competition is good:
Among other things, he takes to task the notion that tax competition is good:
There is an argument that low rates of corporation tax are one enticement a business friendly government can use to attract economic activity from other jurisdictions, and that such tax competition is beneficial. I am not sure this argument is very strong – the outcome is a beggar-my-neighbour process in which the winning country’s gain is necessarily smaller than its rival’s loss.He then looks at the case of U.S. states which successfully implement what he calls 'profit apportionment' - a much nicer and more instructive term than the tax profession's term 'formulary apportionment - noting how lobbying by British multinationals in particular helped constrain the use of unitary taxation.
"Instead of attempting to estimate what fraction of a company’s total profit was earned in California and what amount in Wyoming, apportionment states taxed corporations on a share of their aggregate US profits corresponding to the share of their total US activity that took place in the state."And his brief conclusion:
"Well conceived apportionment is the best – perhaps only – answer to the problem presented by multiple company tax jurisdictions."Quite so.
Links Nov 28
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The UK's approach has attracted many post-Soviet billionaires, including some on the run Guardian
Nov 27 - Continuing the Offshore Secrets series (blogged here), noting that use of BVI entities to disguise Russian movement of funds into Britain appears to be widespread. See also, highlighting the New Zealand connection: At Least Half of the 21,500 Companies Revealed by the Guardian/ICIJ Offshore Investigation Have Connections With Rogue Agent GT Group naked capitalism
Treasury to crack down on UK’s offshore tax havens BVI news
Nov 26 - Interesting to read, in the British Virgin Islands press, this story on "Radical plans to force the UK’s tax havens to reveal the names behind hidden companies, account holders and trusts have been drawn up by the Treasury."
See also:
UK clampdown on ‘tax havens’? Isle of Man Today
Nov 28 - "Another dark cloud is looming on the horizon for the island’s finance sector with the UK poised to introduce more regulation aimed at clamping down on tax avoidance."
Indebted Caribbean tax havens look to tax foreign investors The Christian Science Monitor
Nov 26 - Industry analysts say new fees and taxes could bring in needed money to a region where some debts are near that of Greece. But could they scare off investors?
Tax avoidance: time for a FairTax logo to reward the good guys Guardian
Nov 27 - "HM Revenue & Customs will never name and shame tax avoiders so what about a FairTrade-style labelling system to reward those who can pay and will pay."
CEO Council Demands Cuts To Poor, Elderly While Reaping Billions In Government Contracts, Tax Breaks Huffington Post
Nov 25 - More on a story linked previously. "The companies represented by executives working with the Campaign To Fix The Debt have received trillions in federal war contracts, subsidies and bailouts, as well as specialized tax breaks and loopholes that virtually eliminate the companies' tax bills."
We have the power to change the rules Al Jazeera
Nov 28 - On how "Tax havens are are allowing a "tiny global elite" to "extract trillions of dollars" from rich and poor countries alike." And expressing beautifully: "Frederick Douglass, a leader of the 19th century abolitionist movement which brought an end to slavery, once said, 'Power concedes nothing without a demand". If we want to change rules that have been written by the few and for the few, we must look outside existing power structures to the power of the many. We know from history that when people demand their rights, they can move mountains and change whole systems.' Right now, there is a special moment of opportunity."
Nov 27 - Continuing the Offshore Secrets series (blogged here), noting that use of BVI entities to disguise Russian movement of funds into Britain appears to be widespread. See also, highlighting the New Zealand connection: At Least Half of the 21,500 Companies Revealed by the Guardian/ICIJ Offshore Investigation Have Connections With Rogue Agent GT Group naked capitalism
Treasury to crack down on UK’s offshore tax havens BVI news
Nov 26 - Interesting to read, in the British Virgin Islands press, this story on "Radical plans to force the UK’s tax havens to reveal the names behind hidden companies, account holders and trusts have been drawn up by the Treasury."
See also:
UK clampdown on ‘tax havens’? Isle of Man Today
Nov 28 - "Another dark cloud is looming on the horizon for the island’s finance sector with the UK poised to introduce more regulation aimed at clamping down on tax avoidance."
Indebted Caribbean tax havens look to tax foreign investors The Christian Science Monitor
Nov 26 - Industry analysts say new fees and taxes could bring in needed money to a region where some debts are near that of Greece. But could they scare off investors?
Tax avoidance: time for a FairTax logo to reward the good guys Guardian
Nov 27 - "HM Revenue & Customs will never name and shame tax avoiders so what about a FairTrade-style labelling system to reward those who can pay and will pay."
CEO Council Demands Cuts To Poor, Elderly While Reaping Billions In Government Contracts, Tax Breaks Huffington Post
Nov 25 - More on a story linked previously. "The companies represented by executives working with the Campaign To Fix The Debt have received trillions in federal war contracts, subsidies and bailouts, as well as specialized tax breaks and loopholes that virtually eliminate the companies' tax bills."
We have the power to change the rules Al Jazeera
Nov 28 - On how "Tax havens are are allowing a "tiny global elite" to "extract trillions of dollars" from rich and poor countries alike." And expressing beautifully: "Frederick Douglass, a leader of the 19th century abolitionist movement which brought an end to slavery, once said, 'Power concedes nothing without a demand". If we want to change rules that have been written by the few and for the few, we must look outside existing power structures to the power of the many. We know from history that when people demand their rights, they can move mountains and change whole systems.' Right now, there is a special moment of opportunity."
27 Kasım 2012 Salı
Former Chicago Massage Parlor Operator Sentenced to Life in Prison for Human Trafficking of Four Women
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Alex Campbell, 45, of Glenview, Ill., a former northwest suburban massage parlor owner was sentenced today to life in federal prison for various crimes including sex-trafficking, forced labor, harboring illegal aliens, confiscating passports to further forced labor and extortion involving four foreign women whom he mentally and physically abused while forcing them to work for him, the Justice Department announced today. The defendant, who operated the Day and Night Spa on Northwest Highway in Mt. Prospect, Ill., used violence and threats of violence to force three women from the Ukraine and one from Belarus to work for him without pay and, at times, little to no subsistence between July 2008 and January 2010. Campbell, also known as “Dave” and “Daddy” and who called himself “Cowboy,” was also ordered to pay approximately $124,000 restitution by U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman. There is no parole in the federal prison system. Campbell was convicted at trial in January of this year of three counts each of forced labor, harboring illegal aliens for financial gain and confiscating passports and other immigration documents to force the victims to work and one count each of sex trafficking by force, and extortion. He faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life on the sex-trafficking count alone, and the judge also imposed maximum prison terms ranging from five to 20 years on each of the remaining counts, to run concurrent with the life sentence. “Alex Campbell abused women by violently coercing them into labor and commercial sex. By working together with law enforcement and community groups, those women were able to testify about that abuse,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Today’s sentence is a victory not only for the Department and the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force, but also for those women who so bravely came forward and told the truth about their exploitation.” “If you treat human beings as property, to be branded, beaten, raped, and sold, the law will punish you to the greatest extent possible,” said Gary S. Shapiro, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “This sentence ensures Alex Campbell’s incapacitation, which will prevent him from victimizing other women.” “The sentence handed down today sends a clear message to those who think they can callously prey upon vulnerable women to turn a profit,” said Gary J. Hartwig, Special Agent-in-Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago. “HSI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who engage in human trafficking are held accountable for their actions.” Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart, whose sheriff’s police initiated the investigation, said, “I am extremely proud of the effort and resolution of all the agencies involved with the successful investigation, conviction and now sentencing of such a violent individual.” All four victims testified as government witnesses at trial, as well as co-defendant, Danielle John, 25, who pleaded guilty before trial to two counts of harboring illegal aliens for financial gain. She was sentenced previously to three years’ probation. In addition to the trial victims, the government presented evidence that investigators learned of approximately 20 women that Campbell victimized. The trial showed that Campbell recruited and groomed foreign women without legal status in the United States to become part of his “Family,” which he claimed was an international organization that would provide them with support. He offered them jobs in his massage parlor, a place to live, assistance with immigration, and lured each of them to enter into a romantic relationship with him. After gaining their trust, he forced the victims to get tattooed with his moniker, which he said made them his property and allowed him to stop paying them. At the same time, he acquired the women’s passports and visas. The women were forced to work long hours every day and do as Campbell instructed them, and they were beaten and punished if they disobeyed him. Trial testimony established that Campbell confiscated passports and identity documents from three of the victims, as well as harbored and transported them to ensure their continued labor. Campbell forced one victim to engage in commercial sex acts with customers at various other massage parlors, but not at the Day and Night Spa, which testimony showed he operated “cleanly” to avoid problems with law enforcement. He extorted another victim to pay him more than $25,000 to leave the “Family” by threatening to send a sexually-explicit video recording to her parents in Belarus. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office assisted in the investigation, which was coordinated by the Cook County Human Trafficking Task Force. The task force, together with the Salvation Army Family and Community Services STOP-IT Initiative Against Human Trafficking, operate a toll-free hotline, (877) 606-3158, which victims of trafficking or those with information about human trafficking can call for assistance. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diane MacArthur and Steven Grimes and Special Litigation Counsel John Richmond of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.
Quote of the day - UK's HMRC and the Swiss cheese
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The UK's tax authorities, HMRC, need to be feeling deep, deep shame for their willingness effectively to hand over its taxing and law-creating powers to the very multinationals that it is supposed to be taxing.
Now here is another reason why HMRC needs to be ridiculed. A press release that's just come out, saying:
Britain will get next to nothing from its useless Swiss tax deal. Look at this list of killer loopholes, and more.
Another source of deep shame for HMRC, which will most likely soon be standing out on a limb if Germany rejects its own useless Swiss deal, as seems likely.
The UK's tax authorities, HMRC, need to be feeling deep, deep shame for their willingness effectively to hand over its taxing and law-creating powers to the very multinationals that it is supposed to be taxing. Now here is another reason why HMRC needs to be ridiculed. A press release that's just come out, saying:
"UK residents with Swiss bank accounts are to be warned that new landmark taxation arrangements are scheduled to come into force on 1 January next year. The new tax agreement between the UK and Switzerland means that account holders must either provide full details to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) or pay over a proportion of the money in their account and a future withholding tax.That quote of the day is complete, unadulterated nonsense. Physically burying your head in the sand may not be an option - that is true. Burying your financial affairs in a discretionary trust or insurance wrapper, though, is absolutely an option. As our recent blog explains, the deals: "have been designed to kill moves to greater transparency in Europe." That is the express purpose of the Swiss deals, and Swiss bankers have even explicitly admitted it. And HMRC designed the Swiss agreement that way.
Exchequer Secretary David Gauke said:“The days when hiding money in Switzerland in order to evade tax are over. Burying your head in the sand is no longer an option."
Britain will get next to nothing from its useless Swiss tax deal. Look at this list of killer loopholes, and more.
Another source of deep shame for HMRC, which will most likely soon be standing out on a limb if Germany rejects its own useless Swiss deal, as seems likely.
Africa's Capital Losses: What Can Be Done?
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ACAS Bulletin 87 – Africa’s Capital Losses: What Can Be Done?
Africa’s capital losses from illicit financial flows far outweigh inflows from aid or direct foreign investment. But what can be done? Guest edited by Léonce Ndikumana and James Boyce, the latest bulletin from the Association of Concerned African Scholars tackles the issue head on, with contributions from a wide variety of leading scholars.
| Fall 2012 Edited by William Minter and Timothy Scarnecchia Special Bulletin Editors: Léonce Ndikumana and James Boyce Table of Contents Introduction | pdf William Minter and Timothy Scarnecchia Rich Presidents of Poor Nations: Capital Flight from Resource-Rich Countries in Africa | pdf Léonce Ndikumana and James K. Boyce Macroeconomic Impact of Capital Flows in Sub-Saharan African Countries, 1980-2008 | pdf John Weeks Illicit Financial Flows: A Constraint on Poverty Reduction in Africa | pdf Janvier D. Nkurunziza The Paradox of Capital Flight from a Capital-Starved Continent | pdf Elizabeth Asiedu, John Nana Francois, and Akwasi Nti-Addae Stolen Asset Recovery: The Need for a Global Effort | pdf Hippolyte Fofack Debt Audits and the Repudiation of Odious Debts | pdf James K. Boyce and Léonce Ndikumana The Benefits of Country-by-Country Reporting | pdf Richard Murphy Africa’s Lost Tax Revenue | pdf John Christensen Tax Havens: An Emerging Challenge to Africa’s Development Financing | pdf Nicholas Shaxson Plundering a Continent | pdf Raymond Baker Information Resources on Capital Losses and Related Issues | pdf William Minter Download the entire Bulletin in PDF here: pdf |
Links Nov 26
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Spain: Technology giants, tax dwarves El País
Nov 23 - Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Ebay and Amazon generated billions of Euros in sales but paid only 25 million Euros to the Treasury in the past three years.
Cayman networks in China Cayman News Service
Nov 23 - On Cayman's representation at a China Offshore Summit. "Besides private-sector firms such as law firms and company formation specialists, jurisdictions in attendance included Cook Islands, Samoa, the Bahamas, Cyprus, and the British Virgin Islands."
“The concept of a withholding tax has failed” swissinfo
Nov 24 - "Most Swiss newspapers have given the last rites to the withholding tax model, following the “no” from the German upper house of parliament to a tax treaty aimed at legalising undeclared assets held by Germans in Swiss banks ... 'The time has come for Plan B,' reckoned Le Temps in Geneva, adding that this officially didn’t exist."
If you thought tax evasion was insignificant think again – managing it represents 6 – 7% of the Swiss economy Tax Research UK
Nov 25 - Commenting on the Austria and UK governments continuing to support the Rubik agreements.
Swiss probe $139M SNC-Lavalin laundering case CBC
Nov 25 - The case involves a network of Swiss bank accounts and BVI companies with lone directors. "SNC-Lavalin knowingly allowed and condoned the use of millions of dollars to fund lobbyists in the Middle East to get lucrative contracts with major leaders of some countries, particularly in Libya," the suit claims.
Kodi Katika Afrika ATAF
Link to the newsletter Kodi Katika Afrika (meaning 'Tax in Africa' in Swahili), which we have linked before. Latest issue is Nov 20.
Africa Lost 1.6 Trillion in Capital Flight and Odious Debt Over Forty Years The Real News
Nov 26 - Featuring new research from new research from one of the authors of Africa's Odious Debts, Léonce Ndikumana.
U.S.: Early Dividend for Wal-Mart Is Latest Move in Tax Tactics NY Times
Nov 19 - "The Walton family, which founded Wal-Mart, could save as much as $180 million in federal income taxes after the huge retailer announced Monday that it would pay out its quarterly dividend on Dec. 27 instead of Jan. 2, as was scheduled."
Inequality is Killing Capitalism Project Syndicate
Nov 21 - Although not a new analysis, this is a good account.
Quote of the day: the City of London’s Good Chaps Treasure Islands
Nov 26 - From Rowan Bosworth-Davies, on the UK’s Financial Services Authority: "They think that by staffing themselves with former civil servants and Bank of England careerists, all of them suffering from the ‘Good Chaps’ syndrome to the core, that they think they can somehow regulate a market full of some of the most evil crooks and wide boys under the sun."
Nov 23 - Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Ebay and Amazon generated billions of Euros in sales but paid only 25 million Euros to the Treasury in the past three years.
Cayman networks in China Cayman News Service
Nov 23 - On Cayman's representation at a China Offshore Summit. "Besides private-sector firms such as law firms and company formation specialists, jurisdictions in attendance included Cook Islands, Samoa, the Bahamas, Cyprus, and the British Virgin Islands."
“The concept of a withholding tax has failed” swissinfo
Nov 24 - "Most Swiss newspapers have given the last rites to the withholding tax model, following the “no” from the German upper house of parliament to a tax treaty aimed at legalising undeclared assets held by Germans in Swiss banks ... 'The time has come for Plan B,' reckoned Le Temps in Geneva, adding that this officially didn’t exist."
If you thought tax evasion was insignificant think again – managing it represents 6 – 7% of the Swiss economy Tax Research UK
Nov 25 - Commenting on the Austria and UK governments continuing to support the Rubik agreements.
Swiss probe $139M SNC-Lavalin laundering case CBC
Nov 25 - The case involves a network of Swiss bank accounts and BVI companies with lone directors. "SNC-Lavalin knowingly allowed and condoned the use of millions of dollars to fund lobbyists in the Middle East to get lucrative contracts with major leaders of some countries, particularly in Libya," the suit claims.
Kodi Katika Afrika ATAF
Link to the newsletter Kodi Katika Afrika (meaning 'Tax in Africa' in Swahili), which we have linked before. Latest issue is Nov 20.
Africa Lost 1.6 Trillion in Capital Flight and Odious Debt Over Forty Years The Real News
Nov 26 - Featuring new research from new research from one of the authors of Africa's Odious Debts, Léonce Ndikumana.
U.S.: Early Dividend for Wal-Mart Is Latest Move in Tax Tactics NY Times
Nov 19 - "The Walton family, which founded Wal-Mart, could save as much as $180 million in federal income taxes after the huge retailer announced Monday that it would pay out its quarterly dividend on Dec. 27 instead of Jan. 2, as was scheduled."
Inequality is Killing Capitalism Project Syndicate
Nov 21 - Although not a new analysis, this is a good account.
Quote of the day: the City of London’s Good Chaps Treasure Islands
Nov 26 - From Rowan Bosworth-Davies, on the UK’s Financial Services Authority: "They think that by staffing themselves with former civil servants and Bank of England careerists, all of them suffering from the ‘Good Chaps’ syndrome to the core, that they think they can somehow regulate a market full of some of the most evil crooks and wide boys under the sun."
Quote of the day - regulatory competition
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The quote is:
“We often encounter pressure from some sections of the industry that ‘If you don’t do X . . . then we will go somewhere else and Hong Kong will suffer’,” he said. “We always, always take that with a very heavy pinch of salt.”Who is this Socialist firebrand? None other than Ashley Alder, lead market regulator in the tax haven of Hong Kong. Every now and then, the offshore world can surprise you.
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