Free Republic

Rahn+Bodmer Enters into Deferred Prosecution Agreement for Criminal Misconduct; Agrees to Pay $22 MillionAudrey Strauss, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Stuart M. Goldberg, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Tax Division, and James C. Lee, Chief of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), announced the filing of a criminal Information against RAHN+BODMER CO. (“R+B”), a financial institution located in Zurich, Switzerland. The Information charges R+B with one count of conspiring to help U.S. accountholders evade their U.S. tax obligations, file false federal tax returns, and otherwise defraud the Internal Revenue Service...

During his campaign rallies, President Donald Trump proclaimed, "We got 'em all" or "We have it all!" In the coming weeks -- if not days -- Americans will find out specifically what he means. Those specifics promise to shake Americans to their core by revealing years of entrenched political corruption reflected in electoral fraud. Lawyer Sidney Powell is providing a preview. Powell, who apparently had been helping Trump's legal team prepare a case against alleged election fraud, told Howie Carr, a conservative radio host in Boston, on Friday: "We've got a number of smoking guns -- and we may...

United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN General Assembly on Thursday approved a resolution calling for "international cooperation" and "multilateralism" in the fight against COVID-19, in the first text to come out of the international body since the outbreak began. The resolution, approved by consensus, also stresses "the need for full respect for human rights" and that "there is no place for any form of discrimination, racism and xenophobia in the response to the pandemic." The UN resolution emphasises the central role of the body in the global health and economic crisis. It was submitted by Switzerland, Indonesia, Singapore,...

A long-lost Lamborghini Miura P400 featured in the classic 1969 heist flick, “The Italian Job,” has been rediscovered and restored just in time for the classic film’s 50th anniversary this June. The bright orange coupe can be seen being driven by Rossano Brazzi through the Great St Bernard pass connecting Switzerland and Italy as the opening credits roll, up until he drives into a dark tunnel and crashes into a bulldozer, which pushes the car off of a cliff. But it wasn’t the same car. According to Lamborghini, the filmmakers purchased an already wrecked Miura to destroy and borrowed a...

The Senate confirmed four of President Obama’s executive and judicial nominees Thursday. Theodore Chuang and George Hazel will serve as U.S. district judges for Maryland. The Senate voted 53-42 on Chuang’s nomination and 95-0 on Hazel’s. Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said he couldn’t support Chuang’s nomination because he helped the Obama administration “stonewall” Congress on the investigation of the death of four Americans at the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya. “I can’t support his nomination because of the central role Mr. Chuang played in the administration’s efforts to stonewall an investigation into the situation in Benghazi,”...

With a solution that looks more like SF than real life, and a design taken from the imagination of comic strips fiction authors, the Quant e-Sportlimousine concept, developed by NanoFlowcell, took Geneva by surprise. 

It is very likely that you have not heard about NanoFlowcell until today. Although it looks like a name for an electric car powered by hydrogen, it actually is the name of a company based in Liechtenstein. 
And not just any company, but one that brought the Auto Show in Geneva the most beautiful concept presented in this edition of the most important European auto exposition...

Britain has invaded all but 22 countries in the world in its long and colourful history, new research has found. Every schoolboy used to know that at the height of the empire, almost a quarter of the atlas was coloured pink, showing the extent of British rule. But that oft recited fact dramatically understates the remarkable global reach achieved by this country. A new study has found that at various times the British have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe. The analysis of the histories of the almost 200 countries in the world found only...

Voters in Liechtenstein on Sunday rejected a move to limit the powers of the royal family in a controversial referendum seeking to abolish the ruling prince's right to veto legislation.     Crown Prince Alois A total of 76.1 percent voted against the proposals for the tiny Alpine principality, where the ruling Liechtenstein family has a net worth estimated by Forbes at $5 billion. Crown Prince Alois, who was appointed acting head of state by his father Hans-Adam II in 2004, had threatened to quit if the referendum passed and eliminated the veto right which is enshrined in the constitution. The...

There is a connection between taxation and jobs that is obvious if you take the time to look. Several people talk about taxing the rich. What most people fail to recognize is that another name for the rich is “the people who create jobs.” Businesses and jobs can “vote with their feet” and move to places where they are wanted and away from places where they are not wanted. For decades, business and jobs have been moving out of our area to places and countries that welcome them. What does it take to encourage business and jobs to move into...

Executives with cash to burn traditionally hire luxury yachts, secluded villas or expensive hotel suites to impress clients. Now they can take corporate hospitality to a new level by hiring an entire country, albeit a small one. The principality of Liechtenstein has decided to make itself available to private clients, from $70,000 (£43,000) a night, complete with customised street signs and temporary currency. It's a big step for the country best known for its tax-haven status and exporting false teeth: last year Snoop Dogg, pictured, tried to hire it to use in a music video, but received a stern refusal...

Did you know that the EU has ensured that there has been no war between its members for last 60 years?

Authorities Conclude Switzerland Likely Used as Base for Financing, Logistical Support for 9/11 Attacks by Al-Qaida By Daniela Sigrist Associated Press Writer Published: Jun 24, 2004 BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Investigators have concluded that Switzerland was likely used as a base for financing and logistical support for the Sept. 11 attacks by al-Qaida, the country's attorney general said Thursday. Federal Prosecutor Valentin Roschacher said authorities plan to begin court proceedings in the coming weeks in three terror cases, capping investigations started four days after the 2001 suicide hijackings in New York and Washington. A special task force initially was charged...

Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad, considered one of the wealthiest people in the world, controls the company through a secret foundation worth 100 billion kronor ($15.34 billion), according to a Sveriges Television (SVT) report. Despite the revelation, the company and Kamprad's image will probably not be affected, according to media advisors. Kamprad controls the enterprise through a holding company called Inter Ikea by way of a secret foundation in Liechtenstein. The foundation is currently worth about 100 billion kronor, according to the latest episode of SVT's Uppdrag granskning investigative news programme, set to air on Wednesday evening. Ikea is controlled through...

Scotland's manager launched an outspoken attack both on what he perceived as cynical Lithuania tactics and poor refereeing in the immediate aftermath of Friday's scoreless draw in Kaunas. His words were laced with frustration after the Scots failed to turn territorial dominance into tangible reward. "The magnitude of that game just makes you a little bit more disappointed," he says. Levein's latest target is the management of the Liechtenstein national team, who will visit Hampden Park on Euro 2012 qualifying business on Tuesday. He has been riled by Liechtenstein's refusal, as would normally be regarded a basic courtesy, to supply...

May 29, 2008 By Andrew Walden (Hawai'i Free Press) Nadhmi Auchi, seen here with the Governor of Illinois, Rob Blagojevich (middle) at a 2004 Chicago dinner in Auchi's honor arranged by Antonin Rezko (potentially, right)[1]. All three men have been convicted of corruption related charges (Auchi 2003, Rezko 2008, Blagojevich 2009).[2] “A British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama's fundraiser (dual US-Syrian citizen Tony Rezko) just weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times discloses. The money transfer raises the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi,...

Now are rough times. For all of us. This is where we stand: Liechtenstein/Saudi Arabia: Business as usual, minor sources of irritation Venuzuela: INRI - IN a moRon CommunIst we trust, that'll do the trick! Germany/Switzerland/Austria: High tax, some captial, medium sized car, can't afford fuel, decent house, nothing left of our former empires. USA: Moderate tax, nice eating out, nice car, heavy debt, some capital, some fuel, no home. Japan: Small tax, microscopic car, no future Italy, Spain: Heavy tax, small car + vespas, Fascist tradition, government debt, Catholicism, nice food Norway: Heavy tax, small car, dried cod (lutefisk),...

Hundreds of super-rich American tax cheats have, in effect, turned themselves in to the IRS after a bank computer technician in the tiny European country of Liechtenstein came forward with the names of US citizens who had set up secret accounts there, according to Washington lawyers investigating the scheme. The bank clerk, Heinrich Kieber, has been branded a thief by the government of Liechtenstein for violating the country's bank secrecy laws. He is now in hiding but scheduled to testify to the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Thursday via a video statement from a secret location, according to Congressional investigators....

An informant who provided German authorities with data from a Liechtenstein bank that sparked a massive tax fraud probe has said his life is threatened, two news magazines are to report Monday. "You are putting my life in danger," Heinrich Kieber wrote to German intelligence services, according to German weekly Focus in an article released in advance of publication over the weekend. The informant has blamed the intelligence services for not keeping his identity secret and asked them to provide him with a new identity so that he can relocate to South America. His request has been refused, Focus reported....

March of the unstoppable tax machine Carl Mortished: World business briefing Your greed is not good, say Britain and Germany, pointing accusing fingers at thousands of very wealthy clients of LGT, the Liechtenstein bank at the centre of a row over tax havens. But bend your ear and you might just hear, beneath the cries of moral indignation over alleged tax evasion, a compromise - sotto voce. Greed is not good, say Europe's finance ministers, unless we can have 40 per cent. The state is on the march, in search of ever more cash to oil its creaking machinery. It...

The German government's purchase of data stolen from a Liechtenstein bank has reinvigorated longstanding debates about privacy, law enforcement and international relations. Much of the fallout has followed predictable patterns. Some argue that Germany's richest citizens should be brought to justice for failing to comply with the tax laws, while others point out that it is unseemly for a nation to spy on a peaceful neighbor. The conflict between Germany and Liechtenstein also has triggered a broader debate about tax competition and the role of so-called tax havens. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is trying to use...