Huge tax leak exposes Putin aides, world leaders, stars

Don Putin has to be the biggest gangster the world has ever seen. Is anyone surprised? This seems a major leak heads will roll...

The investigation yielded 11.5 million documents from around 214,000 offshore entities, the ICIJ said. The leaked documents came from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm with offices in more than 35 countries.

There's plenty of cream at the top.

What does it say about Putin's influence and power when his lowly "aid" is listed before Kings, Presidents and Prime Ministers?

Right!

This report has been vetted, edited and redacted. Strange no US prizes at the top. Better accountants I guess.

Stay tuned for more BS from the elite and their MSM lapdogs.

Because having only 1 million is not enough....

Perhaps the world needs to go back to the days we used chickens and cows to pay for stuff.

no US corporations and their paid politicians?

You have 214,000 corporate entities here and it seems from the articles about 50% are tied to Russia or Putin and the rest are soccer related. -and people actually believe that.

Worst Offender:

—In Iceland, the files allegedly show Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and his wife secretly owned an offshore firm holding millions of dollars in Icelandic bank bonds during the country’s financial crisis.

Iceland is so sick of the banking criminals and to think their leader got a sweetheart/insider/payoff deal is just sickening. Jail time for him and his family for sure. Maybe Iceland can finally, finally, finally rid themselves of the banking corruption. A leader who lied to every person in his country in the most corrupt way possible.

No surprises here

@Madverts and BB, according to the BBC, following the 2014 sanctions on Russia, it became harder for actual government aides to stash funds offshore, so they started making accounts in the name of people beyond the reach of sanctions such as the cellist who was Putin's best friend in their 20s and the godfather of one of his daughters. He must play circles around Yo Yo Ma to qualify for the millions that were put in his account(s). (Sorry for the off-putting pun.)

Russia is so globally powerful and important....

Exactly! If Russia were an American state, it would rank second in terms of economic output, between California and Texas - not too shabby! It's bigger than New York! As an independent country, its GDP puts it between India and Canada; of course, the latter, well known for its leadership of OMPEC (Organization of Maple Syrup Exporting Countries) gives it a huge built-in advantage (maple syrup is 13 times more expensive than oil by weight, after all, but it takes effort to capture and market it, something Russia is not good at; oil is easier, but alas, increasingly less valuable).

One thing Russia excels at is corruption; it is tied with Guyana and Sierra Leone in that regard.

Say it ain't so, Vlad...

The $2bn offshore trail that leads to Vladimir Putin http://gu.com/p/4t26c/sbl

Some unfortunate aides are about to have some really unfortunate "accidents".

I knew we could count on our Russian contributors for some fresh Denial. Cheers FizzBit and Bush.

Trust me, Don Putin is furious. There will be a trail of bodies on the back of this, though that's nothing new to Russia's mightiest gangster....

No Bush, Donald Trump is the word.

Putin doesn't get a look in. It looks like he isn't as smart as we thought, Western money-grubbers seem to have hidden their paper-trails a tad better wouldn't you say ?

That's it Bush "LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOOOOOU".

Heh, where did all the drinking buddies get access to such gargantuan funds? Maybe I should take up the cello and move to Putinistan?

Heh... Millions of dollars of loans to "drinking buddies" simply written off? Where did the money come from?

Good luck with propaganda spin on this one, you'll have to find your old flare not seen on these boards for many years.

@burning bush... i was thinking the same... its all about putin ... i couldnt find any jew in the whole report or another big USA person..... the jews control the money but they all so clean?

all over the world its PUTIN bashing.... nobody asked who started all the mess in middle east etc...

i tell you one thing. you keep messing with putins mind for longer you will see his response.....

lights off....

Right, Burning Bush - let's just see where the legal systems take this. If friends of Obama or the father of British Prime Minister Cameron are involved in illegalities, I trust that their country's legal systems will handle this in accordance with their law.

Oh, what's that - L'État, c'est moi? - sorry, I had forgotten that Russia still exists in the 19th century. There will be no legal repercussions for Putin and his cohorts in Russia while "law" and "Putin" remain synonymous - that is, until the revolution. And it will come.A problem for this gang is that the number of ratholes is growing increasingly few. Have you wondered who outed this info, and why?

WikiLeaks!

Wow, the firebrigade of Russia bashers has its field day! My best frenemy Madverts even made four postings! It just confirms the soundness of the observation some posters here already made: for some people Putin has became an obsession.

I have just two comments. First: why make all this brouhaha? Why all this mystery - "some aides of Putin"? Just give the exact names, exact accounts, exact figures. Give proof to the law enforcement.

And the second. @ ThePBot is right: why there is no names of US / UK / French politicians? Oh, yes, because American - British - French politicians are so-o-o-o honest! There is no corruption in US / UK!! Sure the ICIJ probe is absolutely unbiased.

Nice try. The West put pressure on Russia, it did not work. The West slapped economic sanctions, Russia does not care. Now this. Nice try.

It is rather funny that when Russia jails people (who are two degrees of separation from Putin) for tax evasion and corruption, the headlines are about how bad a guy Putin is, when folks who are two degrees of separation from Putin are linked to tax evasion and corruption, the headlines are about how bad a guy Putin is. Yet, when the UK fails to convict people (who are two degrees of separation from Cameron) the headlines are about how fair Cameron is, and when folks who are one degree separated from Cameron...the headlines are about how bad a guy Putin is.

There is no corruption in US / UK!!

Oh, there is plenty of corruption, but it's built into the system - "legalized," shall we say. There are also opposition parties for whom such obvious financial ruses would be like catnip to a cougar. Look at Hillary Clinton: She'd have the election won now if it weren't for that pesky problem of storing emails on a home server - emails that have been scrutinized probably more than any in history. Putin would be laughing: "All that and no corpses?!"

Also, Westerners have the luxury of keeping their corruption within their own hard currencies. The first thing a Russian does when accumulating surplus rubles is to convert them into something valuable - aka, not rubles.

Oh, there is plenty of corruption, but it's built into the system - "legalized," shall we say.

So, to fix the corruption in the wonderful and honourable Western way Putin should legalize it, build into the system, and the problem solved? Brilliant!!

The first thing a Russian does when accumulating surplus rubles is to convert them into something valuable - aka, not rubles.

Not exactly. If it were so, there would have been dire shortage of foreign currency in Russia, but there is nothing like that. Dollars / euros traded freely, and there is no rush among Russians to grab them, the rate has not changed much from the summer-2014.

The evidence is pretty damming. You can track the money as it leaves Russian banks, goes overseas, then is lent right back to state-owned Russian companies. You have a hundred million dollar loan sold for $1, loans that were never paid back, purchase orders filed along with cancel orders at the same time (empty fee generation), loans from Russian banks immediately lent to shell corporations, pretty much every form of money laundering there is.

All of this done in the name of a musician friend of Putin's who claims he is no businessman and lives humbly in an apartment. Poor guy. He's probably about to learn that he was one of the world's greatest financiers and didn't even know about it.

*damning

Rich elites have always lived differently from those that are governed. This is not news at all to me.......

Putin should be fine. I doubt the Russian people will care much about his friends becoming billionaires using state money.

A corrupt system is an inefficient system, so to some extent I support what Putin's cronies are doing. It limits the opportunities in Russia and hurts the economy. Last year Putin saw his economy shrink 3.7% and I fully support that. The currency is mostly useless and their list of allies is non-existant.

Sometines you have to wonder if Putin is working for the West to hurt Russia. Maybe he has been paid off?

Bush,

In that case, you might want to ask the AFP why Putin's aide is in the headline but Cameron's father is entirely omitted from the article.

On the front page of every credible British news source for two days now will do for me. The British tax man is salivating to get his hands on the dossier, after all in a democracy these people will be scrutinized, shamed, and charged. And the employees investigating get a cut of the proceeds to motivate them.

Compare that to the Russian dictatorship where Don Putin controls control the elections, the courts, the media, the armed forces....

Yeah, I'm sure Putin investigating himself will bear fruit. Heh, good luck blowing the trumpet on this one. Educated Russians won't be so foolish to lap up your falsehoods defending the Don.

@Madverts

your biggest error, is to think that Westerners are behind this leak

And then who are the US-based ICIJ and German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Iranians or North Koreans? Who funds their work? I think ICIJ guys (and many of them enjoy very close relationship with Western, hmmm, serious government organizations) would be offended that you do not consider them Westerners.

and surely a latent homosexual

Whoa, that's new! Not a long time ago you called him a homophob. What happebed, you received new instructions? But never mind, let's put mr.Putin personal life aside, at least he is interested in humans, not pigs (unlike your Cameron, that's a real pleasures-seeker!).

He starts conflicts to hide it.

Let's see... 2001 - US invades Afghanistan. 2003 - US invades Iraq. 2008 - US puppet Saakashivili starts a war in Ossetia. 2011 - US/NATO destroy Libya. 2014 US instigates a neonazi coup d'etat in Ukraine (and supports the killing of civilians in the Donetsk - Lugansk region). And after that you claim Putin starts conflicts?? Seriously?

Compare that to the Russian dictatorship where Don Putin controls control the elections, the courts, the media, the armed forces..

Any sane president of any normal country must control armed forces, it's his duty, don't you think? And Putin has no need "to control the elections", every Western polling agency admits that his popularity is above 85 percent minimum. Media? Nonsense, there are several very anti-Putin radio companies and newspapers in Russia, and they operate freely. Courts? That's new for me. Can you describe how Putin "controls the courts"?

Madverts

Compare that to the Russian dictatorship where Don Putin controls control the elections, the courts, the media, the armed forces....

Any sane president of any normal country must control armed forces, it's his duty, don't you think? And Putin has no need "to control the elections", every Western polling agency admits that his popularity is above 85 percent minimum. Media? Nonsense, there are several very anti-Putin radio companies and newspapers in Russia, and they operate freely. Courts? That's new for me. Can you describe how Putin "controls the courts"?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-03/first-panama-papers-casualty-former-iceland-premier-calls-current-prime-minister-res

Iceland will have a "snap election" and I am going to assume after that he will be arrested. Court hearing for sure.

Nonsense, there are several very anti-Putin radio companies and newspapers in Russia, and they operate freely.

Small ones. Once they become bigger, they go on the government watch-list - they can't be allowed to become big, or they would be broken up.

"A complete guide to who controls the Russian news media"

https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2013/12/brief-history-russian-media/

Small ones. Once they become bigger, they go on the government watch-list - they can't be allowed to become big

No, they are small because they are not much popular, most Russians consider them mouthpieces of Western propaganda on US payroll.

Small ones. Once they become bigger, they go on the government watch-list - they can't be allowed to become big

No, they are small because they are not much popular, most Russians consider them mouthpieces of Western propaganda on US payroll.

That's even worse. A good example of maturing democracy is acceptance of self-criticism; that the criticisms truly come from themselves, from within, instead of constantly blaming it on outsiders (yes ya can put Japan there too if ya want).

A good example of maturing democracy is acceptance of self-criticism; that the criticisms truly come from themselves

That's the point! Key word "from themselves", and there is the problem - almost all of executives of the anti-Putin radio stations and other media are frequent guests at the US embassy and US / EU-sponsored seminars, symposiums and workshops with "How to save Russia from Putin" theme, and they are happy receivers of funding from US / EU foundations and other foreign sponsors. To critisize Putin on your own is one thing (and Russians can do it freely), and to do it in the interests of another country is very different thing. How would you like a US radio station with Cuban or North Korean financial backing, broadcasting Castro's or Kim's propaganda?

That's the point! Key word "from themselves", and there is the problem - almost all of executives of the anti-Putin radio stations and other media are frequent guests at the US embassy and US / EU-sponsored seminars, symposiums and workshops with "How to save Russia from Putin" theme, and they are happy receivers of funding from US / EU foundations and other foreign sponsors.

Just because they associate with other entities doesn't necessarily mean they're not self-criticisms. Many of those are simply charged so when they become too big, even though they're funded by Russian oligarchs with rubles of their own. And confident governments shouldn't be owning Fourth Estate as well; estates should be separate.