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Scot Dutchy
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by Scot Dutchy » Sun Oct 03, 2021 11:50 pm
Why Brexit and many other things in the world happens.
Pandora papers: biggest ever leak of offshore data exposes financial secrets of rich and powerful
Millions of documents reveal offshore deals and assets of more than 100 billionaires, 30 world leaders and 300 public officials
The secret deals and hidden assets of some of the world’s richest and most powerful people have been revealed in the biggest trove of leaked offshore data in history.
Branded the Pandora papers, the cache includes 11.9m files from companies hired by wealthy clients to create offshore structures and trusts in tax havens such as Panama, Dubai, Monaco, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
They expose the secret offshore affairs of 35 world leaders, including current and former presidents, prime ministers and heads of state. They also shine a light on the secret finances of more than 300 other public officials such as government ministers, judges, mayors and military generals in more than 90 countries.
The files include disclosures about major donors to the Conservative party, raising difficult questions for Boris Johnson as his party meets for its annual conference.
More than 100 billionaires feature in the leaked data, as well as celebrities, rock stars and business leaders. Many use shell companies to hold luxury items such as property and yachts, as well as incognito bank accounts. There is even art ranging from looted Cambodian antiquities to paintings by Picasso and murals by Banksy.
The Pandora papers reveal the inner workings of what is a shadow financial world, providing a rare window into the hidden operations of a global offshore economy that enables some of the world’s richest people to hide their wealth and in some cases pay little or no tax.
Just unbelievable.

"Wat is het een gezellig boel hier".
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Hermit
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by Hermit » Mon Oct 04, 2021 12:49 am
I believe it, and I am not in the least surprised.
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops. - Stephen J. Gould
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Scot Dutchy
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by Scot Dutchy » Mon Oct 04, 2021 8:04 am
Major Tory donor advised on Uzbekistan deal later found to be $220m bribe
Leak shows Mohamed Amersi helped firm with what it later accepted was ‘corrupt payment’ to then Uzbek ruler’s daughter
A major Conservative party donor who funded Boris Johnson’s campaign to become prime minister advised on the structure of a deal that was later found to be a $220m (£162m) bribe for the daughter of the then president of Uzbekistan.
Documents show how Mohamed Amersi advised a Swedish multinational telecoms company on a complex transaction that it later accepted was a “corrupt payment” to the powerful first daughter of Uzbekistan’s authoritarian ruler, Islam Karimov.
Responding to the allegations, Amersi’s lawyers said any suggestion he “knowingly” facilitated corrupt payments was false and that the underlying arrangements for the deal had been put in place two years before. They added that Amersi had relied on the fact that others had done due diligence on the arrangement, that he had “no reason” to believe it might be a bribe, and that he had only worked on the project for six weeks.
A joint investigation by the Guardian and BBC Panorama, however, raises wider questions about the work Amersi did for the telecoms firm, Telia, over a six-year period as it sought to secure lucrative business across the central Asia region.
However, new disclosures about Amersi’s past business activities may alarm the Conservative party, which has received more than £750,000 from the Kenyan-born businessman and his partner since 2018. Johnson’s party is hosting its annual conference in Manchester this week.
The revelations will also reignite controversy surrounding Amersi, who alleged in July that the Conservative party was operating an “access capitalism” scheme for major Tory donors like himself. “You get access, you get invitations, you get privileged relationships, if you are part of the setup,” he said.
His comments described the approach of the party’s co-chair Ben Elliot, a friend of the prime minister who co-owns a company providing concierge services for the super-rich. After he became leader, Johnson made Elliot his fundraiser-in-chief. Elliot then raised a record £37m for the party’s 2019 general election campaign.
Amersi, 61, gave the Conservatives a £100,000 cash injection ahead of that campaign, after previously donating to the leadership campaigns of Johnson, Michael Gove and Jeremy Hunt. As a member of the party’s “Leader’s Group” of donors, he has secured frequent access to ministers.
The telecoms tycoon is seeking to influence the Conservative party’s foreign strategy with a new group he hopes will handle its relations in the Middle East. Amersi’s lawyers said all his donations were derived from work done for legitimate clients and any suggestion that they were the product of improper funds was false.
British politics is so corrupt.
"Wat is het een gezellig boel hier".
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Scot Dutchy
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by Scot Dutchy » Tue Oct 05, 2021 8:05 am
Revealed: Pandora papers unmask owners of offshore-held UK property worth £4bn
Analysis of leak identifies 600 previously anonymous owners from world leaders to monarchs and oligarchs
Heads of government, oligarchs, business tycoons, ruling families and a Middle Eastern monarch are among the anonymous owners of at least £4bn in UK property, the Pandora papers reveal.
From the leaked files – the biggest trove of leaked offshore data in history – the Guardian has been able to identify about 600 individuals who used secretive offshore companies to keep their British property acquisitions confidential. Many of the properties are in the most exclusive London postcodes: Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Belgravia.
UK property worth more than £170bn is estimated to be held overseas, much of it anonymously. By offering a rare glimpse into the true ownership of a significant tranche of that, the Pandora papers are likely to intensify pressure on the government to enact previous promises and force overseas owners to publicly register their UK holdings.
Buying property through offshore companies is legal, and some who use this route may have genuine and legitimate privacy or security concerns for doing so. But the secrecy that it confers can heighten the risk of the UK property market being misused for tax avoidance and money laundering, prompting repeated government pledges to overhaul the system.
"Wat is het een gezellig boel hier".