plawolf
Lieutenant General
There are so many fundamental problems with the way the western media handled and broke this story is not even funny any more.
Firstly, the murky world this story deals in is far more complex and ingenious than what is being publicly presented. Shell companies are only the most basic form where the world's rich and powerful hide their wealth. There are many other means, usually used together with shell companies.
That means that these leaked files are only really useful for law enforcement to tackle your low and mid level criminals and tax evaders.
The really top players will be using so many other back up concealment methods that you will never be able to pin anything on them from these files.
The most basic example is your classic ghost director.
Normally, this is either a willing participant's rented identity, or someone's stolen identity. But for the really top level players, like heads of states, they can literally have a fictional person created from thin air with entirely genuine and unimpeachable credentials by the state itself.
Anyone who thinks the likes of Putin would need to rely on such a close personal friend as the Godfather of his daughter as a stand in is deluding themselves (not least because it defeats much of the point of using someone else to front your illegal business when you use someone that obviously close to you). It would be infinitely better for him to just have the Russian government make a new (fictional) person of his choosing to be the director of this company.
There will be no way anyone could possible tie this fictional person to him, nor would there be any risk at all that this stand-in might have a change of heart and run off with his secret fortune, or die.
While I cannot say one way or the other if Putin has been secretly lining his own pockets, I am pretty confident this story linking him to the cellist is just barking up the wrong tree entirely.
There are 12 million files, hundreds of thousands of companies and people involved, yet the western press broke the story and focused so much on trying to prove a link to Putin and Chinese leaders despite their being nothing but highly circumstantial evidence to support those accusations.
That is despite the fact there are no 'smoking guns' pointing to any actual wrongdoing by Putin or any Chinese leaders, with the best that can be presented that close friends or family members are involved in offshore companies. Even though such involvements could not only be lawful, but actually standard form if they are involve in business, but obviously those 'little details' are largely omitted in the western media stories covering those 'enemies', surprise surprise.
And, as I have already pointed out earlier, if any of people of that level was really trying to hide a secret fortune, they will be doing a far far better job of it.
Even high level criminals know to, and can avoid having to use real people, never mind family or associates to park their illicit fortunes with. Heads of states will have the resources, smarts and motivation to hide any illegal fortunes in ways even intelligence agencies won't be able to find them (and people like Putin and Xi would most certainly expect western intelligence agencies to be especially interested in digging up dirt on them, so would not be taking security anywhere as lightly as using people so easily linked to themselves as fronts).
Notice how the reporting threshold is far more stringent for reporting on western worthies, where names are only named where there is a strong suggestion of law breaking and underhanded behaviour.
Also, note how it's the Icelandic PM who has been made the token western sacrificial lamb and thrown under the bus. One wonders if there was an element of score settling involved in that decision since Iceland is most notable for the very different way it handled its banking crisis.
Those documents represent a treasure trove of information that could bring down many mid to low level criminals, and will cause all sorts of tax problems with many wealthy people all over the world. But you will not find any evidence to bring down governments with in there.
At best you might get some embarrassing details about deals done in the grey zone.
If heads of states are really up to no good, they will take a great deal more care to hide that than just buying a shell company. It's fundamentally the wrong angel to be focusing on.
Firstly, the murky world this story deals in is far more complex and ingenious than what is being publicly presented. Shell companies are only the most basic form where the world's rich and powerful hide their wealth. There are many other means, usually used together with shell companies.
That means that these leaked files are only really useful for law enforcement to tackle your low and mid level criminals and tax evaders.
The really top players will be using so many other back up concealment methods that you will never be able to pin anything on them from these files.
The most basic example is your classic ghost director.
Normally, this is either a willing participant's rented identity, or someone's stolen identity. But for the really top level players, like heads of states, they can literally have a fictional person created from thin air with entirely genuine and unimpeachable credentials by the state itself.
Anyone who thinks the likes of Putin would need to rely on such a close personal friend as the Godfather of his daughter as a stand in is deluding themselves (not least because it defeats much of the point of using someone else to front your illegal business when you use someone that obviously close to you). It would be infinitely better for him to just have the Russian government make a new (fictional) person of his choosing to be the director of this company.
There will be no way anyone could possible tie this fictional person to him, nor would there be any risk at all that this stand-in might have a change of heart and run off with his secret fortune, or die.
While I cannot say one way or the other if Putin has been secretly lining his own pockets, I am pretty confident this story linking him to the cellist is just barking up the wrong tree entirely.
There are 12 million files, hundreds of thousands of companies and people involved, yet the western press broke the story and focused so much on trying to prove a link to Putin and Chinese leaders despite their being nothing but highly circumstantial evidence to support those accusations.
That is despite the fact there are no 'smoking guns' pointing to any actual wrongdoing by Putin or any Chinese leaders, with the best that can be presented that close friends or family members are involved in offshore companies. Even though such involvements could not only be lawful, but actually standard form if they are involve in business, but obviously those 'little details' are largely omitted in the western media stories covering those 'enemies', surprise surprise.
And, as I have already pointed out earlier, if any of people of that level was really trying to hide a secret fortune, they will be doing a far far better job of it.
Even high level criminals know to, and can avoid having to use real people, never mind family or associates to park their illicit fortunes with. Heads of states will have the resources, smarts and motivation to hide any illegal fortunes in ways even intelligence agencies won't be able to find them (and people like Putin and Xi would most certainly expect western intelligence agencies to be especially interested in digging up dirt on them, so would not be taking security anywhere as lightly as using people so easily linked to themselves as fronts).
Notice how the reporting threshold is far more stringent for reporting on western worthies, where names are only named where there is a strong suggestion of law breaking and underhanded behaviour.
Also, note how it's the Icelandic PM who has been made the token western sacrificial lamb and thrown under the bus. One wonders if there was an element of score settling involved in that decision since Iceland is most notable for the very different way it handled its banking crisis.
Those documents represent a treasure trove of information that could bring down many mid to low level criminals, and will cause all sorts of tax problems with many wealthy people all over the world. But you will not find any evidence to bring down governments with in there.
At best you might get some embarrassing details about deals done in the grey zone.
If heads of states are really up to no good, they will take a great deal more care to hide that than just buying a shell company. It's fundamentally the wrong angel to be focusing on.
