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[FreedomFighter]

It's hilarious. All these people avoiding taxes when they have enough to last a lifetime while just paying their taxes.

That's what I never understood. Like, you have millions and billions of dollars. Why are you so opposed to paying taxes?

 

[JonnyDBrit]

Ok... translation?

Google says 'No more fraud'.

Not sure why Deadpool though.

 

[Strax]

Ok... translation?

Literally its "No More Betrayal"

 

[Onlinehero]

Ok... translation?

”No more betrayals” (?)

 

[Phantast2k]

Ok... translation?
[/QUOTE]

Bring Garfield back as Spider-Man [SPOILER];)[/SPOILER]

[QUOTE][URL="https://www.yahoo.com/news/messi-denies-tax-evasion-panama-papers-scandal-162103770--spt.html"]Messi denies tax evasion in Panama Papers scandal[/URL]

"The Messi family wants to make clear that Lionel Messi has not carried out any of the acts attributed to him, and accusations he created a...tax evasion plot, including a network of money-laundering, are false and insulting," it said in a statement.

...

Messi and his father are named as owners of a Panama company that had not previously been disclosed during a Spanish probe into their tax affairs.
"The Panama company to which they refer to is a totally inactive company that never had any funds or any open current accounts," the Messi family said.

...

Barcelona published a message of support to their star player on their official website.
"The club supports the arguments which the Messi family published in a statement today," said the Barca statement.
"Since the very first moment that the 'Panama papers' which accuse Leo Messi were released, FC Barcelona has sent its affection and support to the player and to his whole family.
"The Club makes all of its judicial means, fiscal and administrative, at the family's disposal in order to make his actions and honour clear in this case."[/QUOTE]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/V03Lucw.gif

 

[Purkake4]

I can't imagine the rest of the Nordic Council being very happy if the Icelandic government keeps it up.

 

[Gen X]

Something seems fishy about this. How come it's mostly Europe and no USA? Something is going down, sure there is a bigger agenda here.

 

[Deleted member 13876]

Messi's a mess.

 

[ty_hot]

People hoping for politician names, or any famous people (football players for eg)... I want to see the big names from companies, the owners of corporate media, judges and people like this.

We are past the time where all problems from the world fall on the shoulders of the politicians, even though they ofc have to pay for what they do.

 

[kaname-san]

That's what I never understood. Like, you have millions and billions of dollars. Why are you so opposed to paying taxes?

They don't care about having enough, they want to have more than everyone else. Can't get that high score if you're paying taxes, bro.

 

[AmaterasuOni]

Something seems fishy about this. How come it's mostly Europe and no USA? Something is going down, sure there is a bigger agenda here.

They're gathering the evidence as we speak. There's 441 clients from USA.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-04/mossack-fonseca-has-441-us-clients-who-are-they

 

[Steel]

That's what I never understood. Like, you have millions and billions of dollars. Why are you so opposed to paying taxes?

How can you afford the fuel and maintenance of that third jet while you're paying taxes? #Billionaireproblems.

 

[Humidex]

On Germany: The current F1 driver Nico Rosberg, Siemens executives and more did business with Mossack Fonseca

- http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/panamapapers-161.html
- http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/articles/56effb802f17ab0f205e6370/

Rosberg? Ouch, more here, regarding 'image rights';

http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/panamapapers-163~_origin-db959b35-6a5c-42a8-8d7a-e10fbdbdc1b6.html

 

[Phantast2k]

British banker set up firm ‘used by North Korea to sell weapons’ | News | The Guardian

A British banker who spent two decades living in communist North Korea set up a secret offshore finance company allegedly used by the Pyongyang regime to help sell arms and expand its nuclear weapons programme.

Nigel Cowie – a fluent Korean and Chinese speaker, who studied at Edinburgh University – was behind a Pyongyang front company, DCB Finance Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands, papers show.

He says DCB Finance was used for legitimate business and that he was unaware of any unlawful transactions.

Cowie moved to North Korea in 1995 when Kim Jong-il was in power, and went on to become head of its first foreign bank, Daedong Credit Bank. Initially operating out of a ramshackle Pyongyang hotel with a staff of three, Cowie led a consortium that in 2006 bought a 70% stake in the bank.

Giving his address as Pyongyang’s International House of Culture, he registered DCB Finance Limited, an offshoot of the bank, in the BVI in summer 2006, with a senior North Korean official, Kim Chol-sam. The Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca incorporated the company, despite North Korea being an obvious high-risk destination.

That July Kim Jong-il signalled his defiance of US sanctions by firing seven ballistic missiles. In October, North Korea carried out its first nuclear weapons test with a controlled underground explosion. The ensuing diplomatic crisis saw the UN impose asset freezes and and travel and trade bans.

...

Thanks for all the nukes.

 

[FreedomFighter]

People hoping for politician names, or any famous people (football players for eg)... I want to see the big names from companies, the owners of corporate media, judges and people like this.

We are past the time where all problems from the world fall on the shoulders of the politicians, even though they ofc have to pay for what they do.

That's what I'm waiting for...

Also, I'm hoping wikileaks will make all the papers searchable for the public. They had a poll up I just saw - 'make entire archive searchable vs. let media cherrypick'.

 

[TangoAlphaLima]

It's hilarious. All these people avoiding taxes when they have enough to last a lifetime while just paying their taxes.

That's what I never understood. Like, you have millions and billions of dollars. Why are you so opposed to paying taxes?

I suspect that this mindset mostly comes from their interpretation of what is "fair". You see U.S. Republicans pushing this tax position, that the graduated income tax is "unfair" to the rich, and that a flat tax rate of 15% should be used for all people.

Never mind the fact that the lower income groups are struggling to get by and put food on the table, we have to make sure the millionaires and billionaires can afford that extra luxury car or vacation home. It's greed, plain and simple.

 

[norinrad]

Thanks for all the nukes.

Yep, THIS

We speak of sanctions, human rights, doing the right thing, meanwhile our backyards are full of despicable people who will stop at nothing to see the world burn.

 

[Vastag]

Something seems fishy about this. How come it's mostly Europe and no USA? Something is going down, sure there is a bigger agenda here.

Only an small part of the names have been published and this is only one of the several companies in that business.

 

[FreedomFighter]

I suspect that this mindset mostly comes from their interpretation of what is "fair". You see U.S. Republicans pushing this tax position, that the graduated income tax is "unfair" to the rich, and that a flat tax rate of 15% should be used for all people.

Never mind the fact that the lower income groups are struggling to get by and put food on the table, we have to make sure the millionaires and billionaires can afford that extra luxury car or vacation home. It's greed, plain and simple.

I think there is a wealthy bubble which leads to collective groupthink. They're so far removed from people's real life struggles. And there is a scathing disdain for the poor. 'If they're in that predicament, they must deserve it. They should work as hard as I have'. Probably not even considering that most of their money is very old money.

 

[Minamu]

Have you guys seen the interview with the Icelandic prime minister? VERY awkward, and borderline indirectly incriminating (he threw a tantrum and left!). Don't have an English link :/

 

[Junior Mint]

Surprise, HSBC involved in something shady again.

 

[Famassu]

I would only consider Spain to be "Western" on that list.

Right, but will we get articles about it? Time will tell. But I anticipate the juicy bits will remain private. I hope I'm wrong.

If US news stations won't, I'm sure they will come out one way or another. I mean, WikiLeaks has everything. If they think that someone in US is trying to silence information from coming out, there's nothing stopping wikileaks or news organizations in other countries with no affiliation with any people in US to push the information out there for everyone to see.

 

[Steel]

If US news stations won't, I'm sure they will come out one way or another. I mean, WikiLeaks has everything. If they think that someone in US is trying to silence information from coming out, there's nothing stopping wikileaks or news organizations in other countries with no affiliation with any people in US to push the information out there for everyone to see.

They ran it on CNN for about 5 minutes so far. So it's on their radar.

 

[norinrad]

Surprise, HSBC involved in something shady again.

They are pretty much into everything that's shady and borderline criminal aren't they? Sadly they will get away with it.

 

[BrokenFiction]

All #PanamaPapers released so far (149 out of 11.5 million)

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/716975081122045952

#PanamaPapers map of companies and clients: more than 3000 in US, more than 9000 in UK

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/716941059935375360

(actual link to map here)

 

[LeadenStride]

Have you guys seen the interview with the Icelandic prime minister? VERY awkward, and borderline indirectly incriminating (he threw a tantrum and left!). Don't have an English link :/

It's in the OP.

 

[FreedomFighter]

If US news stations won't, I'm sure they will come out one way or another. I mean, WikiLeaks has everything. If they think that someone in US is trying to silence information from coming out, there's nothing stopping wikileaks or news organizations in other countries with no affiliation with any people in US to push the information out there for everyone to see.

Good point.

https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/716975081122045952



https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/716941059935375360

(actual link to map here)

Yes this is the poll I alluded to earlier.

 

[chadskin]

WikiLeaks doesn't have any documents except for those already published by ICIJ and has had absolutely nothing to do with the release of the Panama Papers.

 

[jelly]

Something seems fishy about this. How come it's mostly Europe and no USA? Something is going down, sure there is a bigger agenda here.

Can't be the only firm to do this stuff. I imagine there is more than just one. Must be a big one they use in the Cayman Islands for example.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

How is it immoral?

Are you kidding me with this?

Rich people and entities have the resources to explore more options. If tax havens didn't exist, we'd just find other ways for our clients to minimise tax. If inequality is the issue, then your problem is with capitalism itself.

So it's not immoral because if it were illegal, they'd find other means to do their immoral thing? How does that make sense? Plenty of things are unethical without being illegal. Holy shit.

Your answer doesn't touch on morality? Just because you can do something doesn't mean you shouldn't. Wealthy people having the option to pay less tax because of their wealth is fundamentally a bad, injust, immoral thing. Wealth already grants you huge privileges in life and in our society, it shouldn't also give you the option of not paying your fair share.

These people have all the money they could ever need. Why go to such elaborate steps just to avoid tax. They are never going to run out anyway. Sick sociopaths.

They are scumbags of the highest orders. And they have the gall to impose austerity and tax on normal people who can barley make ends meat.

Face it we live in a world where someone is "too big to go to jail".

Just because hiding money in offshore tax havens and shell companies may technically be legal today doesn't mean it should have ever been legal in the first place; these laws should be overturned, and these people should be treated as the criminals they are. When you actively try to shelter trillions of dollars owed to the people of a country of which you are a citizen, a country whose infrastructure and labor pool enabled you to make the money in the first place, you deserve to rot in jail for a very, very long time.

For comparisons sake, a desperate poor person who robs a liquor store or fast food joint for a couple hundred bucks because they are trying to obtain the basic necessities of life required for survival many times will spend the rest of their life in prison.

Neither is right, but this shit with insanely rich capitalists exploiting billions of people needs to stop. Now.

Fucking these.

No canadian politician named = media are lying and/or supressing the story!

Yeah, totally logical except that:

1. The fiscal paradise of choice for canadians is Barbados, not Panama
2. In the grand scheme of things, canadian politicians are dirt poor compared to their colleagues from developping countries where in most cases, only the top of the elite reach the upper echelons of power. In Canada, you're better off staying in the private sector if you want to make bank.
3. Most politicians named so far are from some of the most corrupt countries in the world.

The whole media suppression storyline is amusing. Like it's one big monolithic bloc. Don't you think Fox News wouldn't be delighted to destroy a democrat politician involved in a tax avoidance scheme? Or MSNBC with a republican?

It's ironic that questioning the motives behind a news article of the lack of a news article is a tactic constantly used by russian state media. For example, in this case, they'll say that the whole thing is about discrediting Putin and Russia, ignoring the fact that 90% of the people named are not russian.

Good point.

Also, let's all remember that this is one such company out of many. It's really the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks for all the nukes.

Holy shit, that guy.... I hope he falls hard on his face (he probably won't).

That's what I never understood. Like, you have millions and billions of dollars. Why are you so opposed to paying taxes?

If only all rich billionaires were as cool as Stephen King.... ^^

Fake edit: Man I am re-reading this piece now, and bam:

At the risk of repeating myself, here’s what rich folks do when they get richer: they invest. A lot of those investments are overseas, thanks to the anti-American business policies of the last four administrations.

Worth reading the rest, btw. Full of delicious ether. And you can't say it's jealousy of the rich because he's rich too.

 

[Ether_Snake]

That's what I never understood. Like, you have millions and billions of dollars. Why are you so opposed to paying taxes?

Nobody wants to be a sucker, especially not among their rich peers.

 

[Minamu]

It's in the OP.

Where? I don't see an obvious link.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

That's what I never understood. Like, you have millions and billions of dollars. Why are you so opposed to paying taxes?

The answer to that is simple; why pay a few extra million when I don't have to?

 

[LeadenStride]

Where? I don't see an obvious link.

The video of the interview is behind the link that says "Iceland's PM faces calls for snap election after offshore revelations."
You're right that it's not an obvious link.

 

[Pedrito]

It's not just about not paying taxes, but also about hiding the money.
When you've made your fortune by being a good friend of the regime in place, you better keep a low profile if there's a regime change because the next one will go after you and your money.

 

[chadskin]

New York Times:

By Monday, I had heard from many Times readers who wanted to know why The Times didn’t seem to be giving the news a big ride. The Times posted a wire-service article on Sunday afternoon. It wasn’t until 9:15 p.m. that a staff-produced piece of moderate length went onto the website. It was not given prominent display; in Monday’s paper, the story did not make the front page. It ran at the top of Page A3.

I asked Matt Purdy, a deputy executive editor, to respond. He told me by phone that The Times is very interested in the data leak, and the articles produced from it. But he said Times editors believe that they owe it to their readers to do their own evaluation of the material. And that, he said, is happening now.

Because The Times was not a part of the global consortium and was not aware that the story was coming, it needed some time to get its own story going. “We didn’t know these documents were out there and being worked on,” he said.

“We didn’t have access to the documents, and that is a very big issue,” he said. But Mr. Purdy said he hoped, and had good reason to believe, that that would change soon.

“This is a great trove of documents — certainly interesting and valuable — and it takes a while to know what to make of them,” he said. Failing that on Sunday night, the story didn’t seem appropriate for the front page, he said. (In addition, I’ll note, The Times was publishing a major enterprise piece about corruption in Brazil. Very well done in its own right, it was given the most prominent space on Monday’s front page.)

Mr. Purdy was quick to say that the consortium journalists “did a really good job” with the Panama Papers reporting.

“We tried to put something in place, to do our best without the documents,” he told me.

Why did it take so long to post a staff-written story? Many Times readers told me that as soon as they heard about the story, they went to the Times website to find such a story and were disappointed not to find one. The staff article was published at 9:15 p.m.

“This was not a case of a single-fact story that we could simply confirm and go with,” Mr. Purdy said. “This was a case where hundreds of reporters had been working on it for a long time.”

http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/04/04/why-no-big-splash-for-panama-papers/

 

[Square2015]

The Evening News of the three major networks are ignoring it (USA).

Edit: ABC did a story on it 10 min in.

 

[Steel]

The Evening News of the three major networks are ignoring it (USA).

CNN was talking about it for 30 minutes straight earlier and they've run the story several times now.

 

[epmode]

Yeah, it's big on CNN. That's something at least.

 

[hamauzu kaito]

Yeah, it's big on CNN. That's something at least.

I wouldn't expect a lot of left leaning media to give it time as it could potentially disrupt Hillary and destabilize the election. But "print" media is doing a slightly better job. Also I haven't seen any mentions of it on FB either.

 

[DiscoJer]

Given that Iceland has a grand total of 330,000 people, making it smaller that even many small cities world wide, is their politics really relevant in the grand scheme of things?

 

[Pedrito]

Given that Iceland has a grand total of 330,000 people, making it smaller that even many small cities world wide, is their politics really relevant in the grand scheme of things?

They "put the banksters in jail". Therefore, it's the most relevant country in the world

Spoiler

on Reddit

.

 

[Gazunta]

Phew, I was worried for a moment these would be leaked IRC conversation transcripts from #vidgames in the mid to late 1990s.

They're being held in a computer system so secure nobody can get to them ever

Spoiler

They're on an old hard drive buried underneath a pile of old Commodore 64 games I haven't touched in like a decade, we're safe

 

[Strax]

Given that Iceland has a grand total of 330,000 people, making it smaller that even many small cities world wide, is their politics really relevant in the grand scheme of things?

 

[chadskin]

A longer version of the interview SVT did with Iceland's Prime Minister, Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx7c8huezqY

Even more hilarious than the Guardian's snippet.

 

[cacildo]

People hoping for politician names, or any famous people (football players for eg)... I want to see the big names from companies, the owners of corporate media, judges and people like this.

We are past the time where all problems from the world fall on the shoulders of the politicians, even though they ofc have to pay for what they do.

Same here

 

[Akuun]

That's what I never understood. Like, you have millions and billions of dollars. Why are you so opposed to paying taxes?

Possibly just for the dick measuring contest. You can brag about how much money you're making, and maybe at that level, tax evasion is just another form of "investment income" or some shit.

 

[Ray Wonder]

I hope they put out some big US names in the coming weeks because this is the most surprisingly dead thread I've ever seen.

 

[Cabbagehead]

I hope they put out some big US names in the coming weeks because this is the most surprisingly dead thread I've ever seen.

Yep the party doesn't not start until big named Americans get the pointy end of the stick. This place loves that.

 

[chadskin]

ICIJ's Walker on why some well-known outlets were not among the reporting partners:

The project is also notable for which press outlets appear to have been excluded, particularly the largest news outlets in America: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, all of which do not appear to have worked on the papers and did follow-up stories.

The Intercept, the investigative journalism outfit started by Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, who were instrumental in reporting on the leaks of Edward Snowden, also appears to not have been involved.

As for why those organizations aren't a part of the project, Walker said that openness to collaboration was essential to the project. Each partner was required to share any relevant or important discovery among all the other outlets, she added.

Some media organizations are more comfortable with this kind of sharing that others, which Walker noted can be understandable based on each newsroom's own privacy concerns.

That being said, she noted that the door is open for more partners.

"That does not mean that we can't work with the Washington Post or the New York Times on this data," she said.

http://mashable.com/2016/04/04/panama-papers-media/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link#.6CTeXEoOgqm

The New York Times has already indicated that they'll likely gain access to the documents.