'Paradise Papers' Show Secret Wealth of Officials, Famous People

 

Many famous people and a top United States official are among those on a list of people shown to have money in foreign banks to avoid taxes.

The financial documents have been called the “Paradise Papers.” They are mainly from the legal company Appleby in Bermuda. Millions of documents were leaked to Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper on November 5. The newspaper shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The documents give financial details of many famous people, officials and leaders. The information includes how much money these people have secretly kept in offshore¹ accounts.

Appleby advises wealthy people on international financial transactions. These deals can help people avoid paying some taxes in their home countries that are tied to their investments.

Appleby says it has investigated all the accusations² and found “there is no evidence of any wrongdoing, either on the part of ourselves or our clients.”

Commerce secretary’s business ties are questioned

The documents show that U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has business connections with Russian business executive Kirill Shamalov.

Shamalov is executive and part-owner of the Russian energy company Sibur. He also is the son-in-law of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The 79-year-old Ross is a former businessman and a billionaire. He has an investment in partnerships³ valued between $2 million and $10 million in the shipping⁴ company, Navigator Holdings.

Navigator Holdings earns millions of dollars a year transporting natural gas for Sibur. The documents also say Sibur is co-owned by Gennady Timchenko. He is a Russian billionaire who was tied to a large state-run company before the fall of the Soviet⁵ Union.

Timchenko is subject to U.S. sanctions because of Russia's 2 014 occupation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. The occupation was followed by conflict between pro-Russian separatists and government forces in Ukraine.

Ross sold many financial investments when he joined the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump⁶ earlier this year. Ross sold them to avoid a conflict of interest.

However, Ross kept his Navigator investment. He put it into a series of partnerships in the Cayman Islands, an offshore tax haven⁷. Much of Ross’s estimated $2 billion in wealth is in the Cayman Islands the documents say.

Ross did not disclose the Russian business link when the U.S. Senate confirmed him as commerce secretary. The link was discovered this weekend after the Appleby documents were leaked.

A Commerce Department spokesman said Ross has removed himself as secretary from matters related to trans-oceanic shipping.

The report of Ross' financial connection to Russia comes as a special prosecutor⁸, Robert Mueller, and three congressional groups carry out separate investigations⁹. They are investigating efforts by Russia to interfere¹⁰ in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The U.S. intelligence community says that Russian President Vladimir Putin led an effort to harm U.S. democracy and help Trump win the election.

The release of tax-related documents also comes as the U.S. Congress considers new tax laws.

The far reaches of the “Paradise Papers”

The documents show financial information about individuals outside the US.

The Associated Press reports that the papers show Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has invested about $13 million of her private money in tax havens¹¹ in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

Duchy of Lancaster, which oversees¹² her finances, confirmed these activities but said that all their investments are legal.

The papers also say the musician Bono, of the rock band U2, used a company based in Malta to buy part of a shopping mall in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Bono’s spokeswoman confirmed to The Guardian¹³ newspaper that the musician invested in the Maltese company Nude¹⁴ Estates Ltd. The company sold its assets in 2015.

Putting pressure on the world leaders

The new disclosures may put pressure on world leaders.

The European Union will discuss plans for a tax haven “blacklist” Reuters news agency reported.

E.U. countries had been trying to reach an agreement on tax havens by the end of 2017. European officials are seeking to deal with the problem of tax avoidance that received attention after the release of the “Panama Papers.”

The so-called “Panama Papers” were millions of financial documents leaked last year. The documents gave information of tax-avoidance activities of many famous people and officials.

The European Commission wants to make a list of tax free or low-tax countries including those that do not cooperate with the EU.

The EU hopes the threat of being on a blacklist would discourage individuals and companies from putting their money in those countries or territories.

Currently, Reuters reports that the proposed EU blacklist would apply only to non-EU countries. Low-tax countries such as Luxembourg, Malta and Ireland would not be included.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

blacklist - n. a list of people, organizations, etc., that are disapproved¹⁵ of or that are to be punished or avoided?

clients - n. a person who pays a professional person or organization for services?

disclose - v. to make something known to the public?

discourage - v. to make someone less determined¹⁶, hopeful, or confident?

offshore - adj. located in a foreign country?

transactions - n. business deal?

tax haven - n. a country or independent area where taxes are levied¹⁷ at a low rate.?

sanction - n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country, etc.

1 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

2 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

3 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

4 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

8 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

11 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

12 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

13 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

14 nude   

adj.裸体的；n.裸体者，裸体艺术品

参考例句：

• It's a painting of the Duchess of Alba in the nude.这是一幅阿尔巴公爵夫人的裸体肖像画。
• She doesn't like nude swimming.她不喜欢裸泳。

15 disapproved   

v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• My parents disapproved of my marriage. 我父母不赞成我的婚事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing. 她不赞成儿子不加选择地收看电视。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

17 levied   

征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• Taxes should be levied more on the rich than on the poor. 向富人征收的税应该比穷人的多。
• Heavy fines were levied on motoring offenders. 违规驾车者会遭到重罚。