It what most likely to be the largest leak of its type to date millions of banking records dating back as far as 1977 have been leaked from Panama which is a popular offshore banking centre.
Millions of Canadians hide wealth offshore. While many times it’s legal because of very weak laws, essentially the spirit and purpose of the offshore banking is to cheat Canadians of tax income from its wealthiest corporations.
Estimates of as much as $8B per year in lost tax revenue have been estimated.
While the heat right now seems to be focused on Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his circles clearly people of many nations including Canada are on the list.
A consortium of media outlets essentially have a monopoly on the information and the world as at their leisure for what info comes out. In Canada that outlet is the CBC who today published some weak pabulum as to why they haven’t published all Canadian names found on that list as of yet.
The documentation provided to CBC News includes the names of some 450 Canadians who have set up these offshore accounts or holdings. We have already reported details concerning one such account-holder and expect to produce more such reports in the weeks and months to come.
At the same time, we are mindful of the reality that holding an offshore account is not evidence of wrongdoing and may not be controversial. So we are not simply reproducing the raw information we have received through the consortium. Our journalists are working through that information in a careful and methodical way to confirm the information received, identify appropriate stories, and complete them with appropriate context.
The CBC of course is a public broadcaster funded by Canadian taxpayers. The information most likely was not acquired legally and there are many questions as to how this consortium is handling this information which can be very damaging. A lot of favors can be earned and payback can be administered as well.
For example under the former government the CBC’s very existence was threatened while the current one is more favorable and supportive. Could certain Liberals on the list get the soft treatment while Harper supporters get the high hard one?
Should this information simply be made public for the public and media to sift through? Who really owns it other than the firm it was leaked from?
While the ramifications and ripples from this could be massive conspiracy theorists will have a field trip on various theories such as payback against Russia for it’s role in Syria and the geopolitical games surrounding oil and its pricing.
Loading ...What do you think dear CFN viewers? You can post your comments below.
I think I need new glasses. Instead of “Panama” I saw “pajamas.”
As far as I can tell, the story is just breaking. Names and details have to be verified before the poo really hits the fan.
But will anyone tumble or fall because of this?
Yes Hugger. A lot of people will fall over this one. Some will die even. Follow the money. Look who gets hurt the most from this and you should be able to connect the dots.
Agreed. If you have money you can hide money (legally or illegally). Joe Average on the other hand continues to take it up the rumpess.
Vladmir Putin is one of the wealthiest people in the world. Corporations and very wealthy people get away with not paying taxes whereas we the poor people and the middle class people get hung out to dry. I agree to publish all the people and corporations who do not pay taxes and let everyone see what kind of garbage they all are.
Without a change in laws this will continue. People with money avoid laws, Joe Average gets screwed.
This scandal should be opened up for the public to see what is happening. So, the CBC should as a publicly owned news channel should give us all the details of the Panama Files as of the present.
Well, if you end up with articles as poorly researched and written as this one, then no.
But Jules… A year or so ago, you said you respected Putin because he is anti- gay.
Furtz I do like Putin because he is a very strong leader. Anti gay is up my alley. I don’t change my spots Furtz I say what I say and I don’t back down for anyone. Putin is a mighty strong leader and highly intelligent and yes anti gay. These qualities has nothing to do with what I like about him – open the money laundering on him and everyone.
A blanket statement that “people with money avoid laws” is like saying all black people are criminals. Simply false or malicious. A significant number of individuals on the “list” are likely legitimate and their names should not be made public. The CBC should move slowly and with caution on this matter of privacy rights. IMO
Yes Jules. Putin has a long and proud history of killing his critics. He is truly a strong and great leader. And he hates gays, which is a bonus. Long Live Putin!
David I think the real issues are whether the laws are legitimate, truly, or simply gerrymandered and lobbied for by those that they benefit. There’s a real need for reform of these laws as long as we have homeless and hungry in this country.
Excuse me….I forgot one word that can make a difference. It should have read “People with money CAN avoid laws.” I didn’t say ALL people with money avoid laws. That would be the equivalent of what David Oldham wrote “like saying all black people are criminals.”
I have also seen many Russian people a few years ago who were wealthy and were trying to hide their money in Cyprus. All of this is well documented so Jamie Gérard Dépardieux and the Russian people is all documented and you can look it all up before posting all of this.
Iceland’s PM says he won’t resign on Panama Papers scandal
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/iceland+prime+minister+faces+noconfidence+vote+scandal/11828544/story.html
My husband read in his papers from back in Lebanon that this money laundering of hiding money in Panama, etc. has many very prominant Lebanese involved in this as well and it goes world wide. Hold on to your shorts and something is going to come about this. We will gradually hear much more. Many in France as well are involved.
Guess we know where Willy Wise stashed some of his loot. After all he knows the system.
The other Cornwall fellow (that Wise claims set him up with his bank), seems to have been a good enough teacher — Wise just wasn’t a very good pupil.
Willie the wise old owl wasn’t wise enough to know better. There are always traps out there and sooner of later someone will fall into one. One criminal is in prison and another criminal(s) is out on the lam. Sooner or later something will happen to the one(s) out of prison and they get caught in the snare. When the biggest names get caught then who are the rest of the idiots.
Admin…we have homeless and hungry because our politicians are attempting to look after the world before we have adequately looked after ourselves. Too much of our tax dollars are servicing debt and it is about to get worse thanks to planned deficit spending of over 110 billion and counting coupled with rates that will rise likely within the next 12 months.
The PM of Iceland decided to resign. This is a big scandal worldwide. The world leaders have put the world in enormous debt and we the little people will be bearing the weight of debt and soon there will be no middle class (all done by design) by the world’s elite. We will be only serfs and the money will be devalued. I trust in God only.
I totally agree with you Mr. Oldham but the debt of each country is mighty serious and there is a certain family in particular who run the world’s finances (The Rothschilds) and are not good people and you can say that they own the world financially and they can easily bankrupt a nation which they have been doing for a few hundred years or more.
Mr. Oldham for a long time now at least 12 years or more I have been listening and reading what is going on in the world. There is a man in the US who wrote books on the subject of himself being “one of the jackels” of going to 3rd world countries and taking over resources etc. because their countries couldn’t pay the debts that they were forced to take.
There is a great deal that I can spill here but I won’t because I will have the “peanut gallery” yelling out “conspiracy theory” when all the time it is a fact. We are at the beginning of the NWO (just the tip of the iceberg) and things will get worse and worse as time goes on. You will see a world crash economically and starvation. Don’t laugh it is in the Bible as well.
I’m surprised the “Panama papers” weren’t exposed earlier. Unless you’re living under a rock you had to know that well-to-do individuals were hiding money in “illegal” out-of-country bank accounts. The question is will the rules be tightened up to avoid a repeat or will the people mentioned actually be punished? IMHO, nothing will change much. As the saying goes those with the gold make the rules.
I understand that the CRA has been allotted extra funds to track down the “off shore” tax scammers.
This is only a tiny portion of what was released in the Caribean accounts. Switzerland has “secret bancaire and so does Lebanon.” What we have heard is nothing compared to what is really happening. The big CEO’s of companies along with their companies pay no income tax at all. There are plenty of stones to be unturned – stay tuned folks you haven’t seen anything yet.
Hugger there is some sort of blackmailing going on among the different countries and my spidy senses are acting up more and more lately where a crash in the economy is coming and the rats are scurrying around pointing fingers at one another. I told you that a crash is coming and I don’t just say that. Something stinks to high heaven.
The Swiss and Lebanese “secret” banks aren’t really secrets. I heard about them years ago. But are the Swiss and Lebanese going to release details? I seriously doubt it. As for an economic crash I’ll believe it when I see it.
The scandalous offshore banking story isn’t new; the Mossack-Fonseca scoundrels were being exposed by “Vice” media and others last year.
The scandal is that mainstream media waited ’til now — and only to keep audience share.
Governments did the same, and once they’re found complicit, watch out for the distractions they come up with… like how do “wars and rumours of war” sound?
Hugger you will see the big crash and that I promise you it is in the Bible whether you believe it or not it is all written but it is written in parables like the way Jesus spoke back in those days. There are many people who have used the Swiss and Lebanese banking system and the drug money has been flowing into those accounts of Swiss, Lebanese and the Carribean and possibly others.
Hugger we know of a big drug dealer that used to live here in Ottawa and he made his money that way and is living in Lebanon and has big businesses of motels, etc. He left because he raped some women in his taxi but was not caught for the drugs that he did here in Canada and was a big dealer. We are happy that he is no longer here. Canada should look into all those accounts.
Go on yahoo.ca and you will see that David Cameron the PM of UK profited from the Carribean money laudering scam. All the big shots are involved in all of this and it is we the little people who are stuck in banana republic poverty for life to repay all the taxes that these no good for nothing rich people have caused.
Jules, if you dig into that bible of yours deep enough, you will learn that the Earth has been destroyed three or four times over the last thousand years, and your buddy Newton is in fact Christ returned.
I see people being prosecuted from organized democracy countries. Not so much people from dictatorships or questionable democracies. It’s good to see CRA is investigating this. Will something come from CRA’s involvement? I guess we’ll see.
Furtz it is true that the world was destroyed thousands of years ago. I will tell all of you something and that is Beirut Lebanon was under water at least 7 times and there are archaelological evidence of this that happened. I miss Pastor Newton when he isn’t posting or writing and he is a good man. This world is gone to hell because people have turned their backs on the Lord.
Furtz do you realize that you have blasphamed saying that Pastor Newton is Christ returned. Get ready for the Lord’s wrath and I am not kidding you. This world has gone to hell because of people who have turned their backs and it is going to get a great deal worse than what we see now. This is only a small preview. Get ready for WWIII, a global economic depression, starvation, global governanc
Jules….somehow I don’t see Furtz worrying about what he said about PTN. Predictions, as some put them, aren’t worth the paper they are printed on.
I’m shakin’ in my boots. Jules. LOL LOL ROLF etc.
Actually, Jules, I was joking about Newton. From what I understand, I don’t think Christ was a hateful bigot if he ever did exist.
Hugger and Furtz especially you Furtz you won’t be joking about shaking in your boots when that time comes. I would love to be a fly buzzing around when the Lord asks you how naughty you were and how your flying spaghetti monster is doing as well as your bon fires and all. The Lord may throw you directly into your bon fire.
Jules, when JC starts asking me questions, I’ll let my talking chicken speak for me.
We are getting off topic.
Furtz I bet that your talking chicken will have a great deal to say about you and maybe the Good Lord will cook your chicken into your bonfire as well. LOL LOL. ROLF! Two for the price of one.
“Millions” of Canadians hide money offshore? Seriously? There are only about a million US Dollar millionaires in Canada. If you’re a Loonie millionaire, you’re not wealthy enough to worry about hiding money offshore (unless you just don’t want your wife to find it).
Are any of you naive nellies ready to march in the streets if nothing is published?? I thought so…..
If the names of individuals who may or may not be guilty of anything other than having more money than most of the population are published how will it impact your life? Exactly. Personally I am more concerned with corrupt politicians and governments that cost the taxpayer (me) real money and ultimately affect my present and future well being.
And marching in the streets of Cornwall succeeds in doing what? Nothing, zilch nada. Marching in the streets of any Canadian city/town succeeds in getting the same accomplished….nothing, zilch nada, etc.
The rich screw the little guy and it has been on since the beginning and nothing has been done. How do you think that Rothschilds, Rockefellers and all the rest became rich and all the horrible things that they did to people to get where they all are. The same is true with the rich in Cornwall, etc. Corrupt politicians that is all we have nowadays because people deserve the government they get.
Jules just a thought…people accumulate wealth by putting their talent/resources to work. The result generally involves a network of individuals who are paid for their involvement in the process. So wealth generally creates opportunities for others to profit as well. It is a chain reaction started by motivated individuals. How is that a bad thing?