We Can't Have Enough Money Laundering / Tax Evasion

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notaterran
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We Can't Have Enough Money Laundering / Tax Evasion

Post by notaterran » Sun, 3. Oct 21, 19:39

Here we go again, from the Panama Papers to the Pandora Papers:
Current national leaders on five continents appear as beneficial owners of offshore entities in the Pandora Papers trove. The list includes Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the presidents of four African nations, the Czech Republic’s prime minister, the president of Ukraine and the presidents of the Dominican Republic and Ecuador.
Link

For example, the UK has been plagued by dirty money for a long time:
Cracking down on money laundering has become a top priority for regulators. The Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC and National Crime Agency are currently struggling to battle a tide of dirty money flowing through the UK.
Link

Not exactly ancient history, is it? The problem is that there are too many vested interests in high places for real change to take place:
A 2019 parliamentary report said the UK system attracts people "such as money launderers, who may wish to use property to conceal illicit funds".

It said criminal investigations are often "hindered" because police cannot see who ultimately owns properties.

The government recently raised the risk of money laundering through property from "medium" to "high".
Link

And obviously, a topic about money laundering cannot be complete without mentioning Switzerland:
Switzerland’s efforts to combat dirty money constitute a “failure” that haven’t kept pace with the explosion of money-laundering in the financial hub, the country’s former top money-laundering cop told Tribune de Geneve.
Link

Again, this is not exactly ancient history.
If the demise of Swiss banking secrecy was supposed to flush dirty money out of the system, it appears to be failing. Criminal and regulatory wrist-slaps continue to pile up against banks. Even worse is the allegation that Switzerland lacks real political will to tackle money laundering.
Link

So in your opinion, what can or should governments do to prevent this? What could citizens do?
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Re: We Can't Have Enough Money Laundering / Tax Evasion

Post by Alan Phipps » Sun, 3. Oct 21, 20:09

Well if criminal/illegal activity under UK law can be proved then the route for action should be via the Crown Prosecution Services and the UK Courts. The legal firms that set the nest-egg arrangements up should also be sanctioned.

If the activities cannot be proved illegal under UK law then there is not a lot that can be done about stricty legal (even if unethical) behaviour - except perhaps to make the knowledge accessible to those keeping the participants in any form of power or sponsorship so that the terms of any ongoing contracts, agreements or understandings can be tested for breaches of ethical conduct.
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Re: We Can't Have Enough Money Laundering / Tax Evasion

Post by Chips » Mon, 4. Oct 21, 17:56

Issues of legality aside, the problem the UK police may have is obtaining the actual evidence to prove it *is* illegal, or that taxes *are* due - as they cannot from overseas locations.

However, there's a stench and a half whiffing up isn't there...
Last year Mr Fedotov was revealed to be the owner of Aquind, the company behind a £1.24bn project to build an electricity cable linking the UK to France. Aquind is currently seeking UK government approval for the project and a decision will be made in weeks. His connection to Aquind has been hidden through an exemption to UK company laws granted to people with personal security concerns. Mr Fedotov is now identified on the company's public records, alongside Alexander Temerko, the Ukraine-born public face and part owner of Aquind.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-58791274

So ignoring the possible fraud allegations against the person himself highlighted in the article, its the next few sentences that show how the world turns with regards to the company and other individual running it...
Mr Temerko is a Conservative Party activist and personal friend of Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He is a regular at Conservative Party fundraisers and has personally donated more than £700,000 to the party. Research by the BBC has established that in addition to Mr Temerko's donations to the Conservative Party, Mr Fedotov's businesses have donated another £700,000 to 34 MPs and their local parties since the Aquind project began.
So since they're chasing approval for a project they've become big donors to the party that's in power to make decisions.

It should be pointed out, all donations are declared properly and legally, so there's nothing to indicate the funds are illicit or any wrong doing. Just the fact you can be going "here's this thing I want, by the way, I'll fund you..." - while legal and allowable, stinks. There's nothing to indicate that those donations will sway the decision, but... i mean, to the outside. You can only assume it *is* meant to.

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Re: We Can't Have Enough Money Laundering / Tax Evasion

Post by Vertigo 7 » Mon, 4. Oct 21, 19:22

Chips wrote:
Mon, 4. Oct 21, 17:56
So since they're chasing approval for a project they've become big donors to the party that's in power to make decisions.

It should be pointed out, all donations are declared properly and legally, so there's nothing to indicate the funds are illicit or any wrong doing. Just the fact you can be going "here's this thing I want, by the way, I'll fund you..." - while legal and allowable, stinks. There's nothing to indicate that those donations will sway the decision, but... i mean, to the outside. You can only assume it *is* meant to.
That's how it works in the US, though a bit more overtly. And even when the party is not in power, obstruction becomes the name of the game.
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