Free Republic

As far as liberal financiers go, you don’t get much more powerful than S. Donald Sussman Since 1989, the hedge-fund billionaire has pumped millions into the coffers of Democratic politicians and their political pet projects. Sussman sits on the board of the Center for American Progress, the Democracy Alliance and the dovish Israel Policy Forum, and he’s been one of the top contributors to left-leaning 527 organizations during the 2010 election cycle. But while Sussman has long kept a behind-the-scenes profile, a recent ethics controversy in Maine has flung him into the center of a complicated dispute over state residency,...

At least four times now Justice John Roberts has betrayed the conservatives. Further he has twisted the law and written decisions that were legal contortions inconsistent with his legal ability and history. What has been going on? What could have motivated him to betray his country and his legal integrity like that? It has been suggested that Roberts is secretly homosexual, and he did pro-bono work for gay activists back in 1996, but the stigma attached to that has effectively been removed by societal changes over the decades. He appears to be happily married in the normal sense. It has...

When Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ran for the top office in 2014, he promised voters he would sell Roshen, Ukraine’s largest candy business, so he could devote his full attention to running the country. “If I get elected, I will wipe the slate clean and sell the Roshen concern. As President of Ukraine I plan and commit to focus exclusively on welfare of the nation,” Poroshenko told the German newspaper Bild less than two months before the election. Instead, actions by his financial advisers and Poroshenko himself, who is worth an estimated US$ 858 million, make it appear that the...

Problematic, in a very big way even if the offer was made.Qatar’s ties to Al Qaeda and ISIS aren’t news. They’ve effectively served as intermediaries in everything from ransom exchanges for hostages to Taliban negotiations. But actually trying to secure terrorist swaps for prisoners on their own behalf would have been a new frontier. Before he was released from a U.S. maximum-security prison last week, a confessed al Qaeda sleeper agent was offered up in a potential prisoner swap that would have freed two Americans held abroad.According to two individuals with direct knowledge of the case, the proposition was...

A Glimmer of Hope Dear A-Letter Reader:In the April 17, 2002 A-Letter, I wrote about an obscure type of treaty called a "MLAT," or Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. MLATs give governments the right to gather evidence and seize assets without a judicial hearing and in some cases, with no right of appeal to any court. The treaties essentially override all confidentiality laws that might otherwise apply. And their one-sidedness is an invitation to serious abuse.The US has more than 50 MLATs in effect, more than any other country. Since the first MLAT came into effect in 1977, they have been...

Car bomb kills journalist behind Panama Papers offshore tax evasion investigation 'days after she received threats to her safety' (Full Title) A journalist who led the Panama Papers offshore tax evasion expose was killed today when a bomb blew up her car. Investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia - dubbed a "one-woman WikiLeaks" - was killed as she was driving near the village of Bidnija in northern Malta. She had filed a complaint to police a fortnight ago after receiving personal threats to her safety, local media said. Caruana Galizia ran a hugely popular blog relentlessly highlighting cases of alleged corruption,...

European Union nations on Thursday agreed on a sweeping policy to fight tax evasion after tiny Luxembourg dropped its reservations to new rules which render its secretive banking culture more transparent. Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel confirmed at Thursday’s summit of EU leaders “the willingness of the government to take that road,” a key step to scrap the banking secrecy for foreigners. […] The legislation proposes an EU-wide automatic exchange of data on bank deposits to allow governments to identify and pursue tax evaders with foreign accounts on home soil. Van Rompuy said it would “close down loopholes, promote automatic...

From a law practice standpoint, it seems that a lot of the very “innocent” and “near innocent” are stepping forward to take advantage of the Amnesty Program. These are individuals that otherwise would ordinarily qualify for the regular Internal Revenue Service Program.

The Sir Allen Stanford Story: The Emperor Has No Clothes Revisited In a scheme going back over 20 years, it appears that Stanford's "Banks" were nothing more than a ponzi scam, bilking investors for billions -- atleast $8 billon and counting -- but it took a smart Venezuelan analyst named Alex Dalmady to cry out that the emperor had no clothes, setting off a chain of events that within two weeks would lead to the collapse and closure of affiliated banks in Caracas, Canada, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Antigua. By Russ Dallen Latin American Herald Tribune staff In the early...

Three senators proposed legislation that would target what they say is $100 billion a year in tax revenue lost each year because of overseas tax havens, in part by forcing hedge funds to track their foreign investors. The measure would impose tougher requirements on U.S. taxpayers using offshore secrecy jurisdictions, give the U.S. Treasury the authority to take action against foreign jurisdictions that impede tax enforcement, stiffen penalties against abusers and close offshore trust loopholes, according to a summary of the bill released by Michigan Democrat Carl M. Levin. The legislation would require hedge funds to establish programs to combat...