IRS probes Belize offshore accounts

[Disir]

Uncle Sam” has ramped up collection efforts on US taxpayers, including US citizens, Belizeans with dual nationality and green card holders who are believed to be hiding their wealth in offshore jurisdictions in Belize, which has not only been dubbed as a “tax haven” – but has also been listed as one of the major money laundering jurisdictions by the United States Government.

Miami federal judge Ursula Ungaro—who 10 years ago had presided over litigation in the telecommunications saga of Jeffrey Prosser against the Government of Belize—granted a petition this Wednesday, September 16, to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the United States government agency responsible for tax law enforcement, which will allow the IRS to issue two “John Doe” summonses to Bank of America and Citibank, both of Miami, Florida, in order to probe into offshore accounts held by thousands of Americans who may have stashed their wealth in The Jewel.

Offshore accounts in Belize should only be held by non-residents – not by persons living in Belize.

The IRS summonses are engineered to probe into financial transactions facilitated over the last 8 years (December 31, 2006 to December 31, 2014) by Belize’s largest commercial bank, the Belize Bank, and its offshore counterpart – Belize Bank International, both subsidiaries of BCB Holdings, which had their correspondent banking relations with Bank of America severed at the end of April 2015, purportedly after the US bank cited “a business model mismatch.”

The summonses also extend to a third related Belizean company, Belize Corporate Services (BCS) Limited.
IRS probes Belize offshore accounts!

How unfortunate.

 

[waltky]

Huge leak reveals elite's tax havens...

News group claims huge trove of data on offshore accounts
Apr 3,`16 -- An international coalition of media outlets on Sunday published what it said was an extensive investigation into the offshore financial dealings of the rich and famous, based on a vast trove of documents provided by an anonymous source.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalism, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, said the cache of 11.5 million records detailed the offshore holdings of a dozen current and former world leaders, as well as businessmen, criminals, celebrities and sports stars. The Associated Press wasn't immediately able to verify the allegations made in articles that were published by the more than 100 news organizations around the world involved in the investigation. However, the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which first received the data more than a year ago, said it was confident the material was genuine.

A marquee of the Arango Orillac Building lists the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama City, Sunday, April 3, 2016. German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung says it has obtained a vast trove of documents detailing the offshore financial dealings of the rich and famous. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalism says the latest trove contains includes nearly 40 years of data from the Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.​

The Munich-based daily was offered the data through an encrypted channel by an anonymous source who requested no monetary compensation and asked only for unspecified security measures, said Bastian Obermayer, a reporter for the paper. The data concerned internal documents from a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca. Founded by German-born Juergen Mossack, the firm has offices across the globe and is among the world's biggest creators of shell companies, the newspaper said. Mossack Fonseca did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment. ICIJ said the law firm's leaked internal files contain information on 214,488 offshore entities connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories. It said it would release the full list of companies and people linked to them early next month.

Obermayer said that over the course of several months Sueddeutsche Zeitung received about 2.6 terabytes of data - more than would fit on 600 DVDs. The newspaper said the amount of data it obtained is several times larger than a previous cache of offshore data published by WikiLeaks in 2013 that exposed the financial dealings of prominent individuals. "To our knowledge this is the biggest leak that journalists have ever worked on," Obermayer said. The newspaper and its partners verified the authenticity of the data by comparing it to public registers, witness testimony and court rulings, he told the AP. A previous cache of Mossack Fonseca documents obtained by German authorities was also used to verify the new material, Obermayer added.

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Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens
Sun, 03 Apr 2016 - A huge leak of confidential documents from a Panamanian law firm reveals how the rich and powerful launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax.

A huge leak of confidential documents has revealed how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth. Eleven million documents were leaked from one of the world's most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. They show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax.

The company says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years and has never been charged with criminal wrong-doing. The documents show links to 72 current or former heads of state in the data, including dictators accused of looting their own countries.

Gerard Ryle, director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), said the documents covered the day-to-day business at Mossack Fonseca over the past 40 years. "I think the leak will prove to be probably the biggest blow the offshore world has ever taken because of the extent of the documents," he said.

Panama Papers - tax havens of the rich and powerful exposed

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Panama to work "vigorously" to investigate offshore accounts
Apr 3,16 -- Panama's president says his government will cooperate "vigorously" with any judicial investigation arising from the leak of a vast trove of information on the offshore financial dealings of the world's rich and famous.

An international coalition of media outlets Sunday published investigations it said stemmed from the leak of 115 million records kept by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca on behalf of clients.

President Juan Carlos Varela said in a statement that the revelations shouldn't detract from his government's "zero tolerance" for any illicit activities in Panama's finance industry.

Ramon Fonseca, a co-founder of the law firm whose documents were leaked, told Panama's Channel 2 that the firm isn't responsible for any criminal activity carried out with offshore vehicles created for clients.

News from The Associated Press