Whoever leaked the Mossack Fonseca papers appears motivated by a genuine desire to expose the system that enables the ultra wealthy to hide their massive stashes, often corruptly obtained and all involved in tax avoidance. These Panamanian lawyers hide the wealth of a significant proportion of the 1%, and the massive leak of their documents ought to be a wonderful thing.
Unfortunately the leaker has made the dreadful mistake of turning to the western corporate media to publicise the results. In consequence the first major story, published today by the Guardian, is all about Vladimir Putin and a cellist on the fiddle. As it happens I believe the story and have no doubt Putin is bent.
But why focus on Russia? Russian wealth is only a tiny minority of the money hidden away with the aid of Mossack Fonseca. In fact, it soon becomes obvious that the selective reporting is going to stink.
The Suddeutsche Zeitung, which received the leak, gives a detailed explanation of the methodology the corporate media used to search the files. The main search they have done is for names associated with breaking UN sanctions regimes. The Guardian reports this too and helpfully lists those countries as Zimbabwe, North Korea, Russia and Syria. The filtering of this Mossack Fonseca information by the corporate media follows a direct western governmental agenda. There is no mention at all of use of Mossack Fonseca by massive western corporations or western billionaires – the main customers. And the Guardian is quick to reassure that “much of the leaked material will remain private.”
What do you expect? The leak is being managed by the grandly but laughably named “International Consortium of Investigative Journalists”, which is funded and organised entirely by the USA’s Center for Public Integrity. Their funders include
Ford Foundation
Carnegie Endowment
Rockefeller Family Fund
W K Kellogg Foundation
Open Society Foundation (Soros)
among many others. Do not expect a genuine expose of western capitalism. The dirty secrets of western corporations will remain unpublished.
Expect hits at Russia, Iran and Syria and some tiny “balancing” western country like Iceland. A superannuated UK peer or two will be sacrificed – someone already with dementia.
The corporate media – the Guardian and BBC in the UK – have exclusive access to the database which you and I cannot see. They are protecting themselves from even seeing western corporations’ sensitive information by only looking at those documents which are brought up by specific searches such as UN sanctions busters. Never forget the Guardian smashed its copies of the Snowden files on the instruction of MI6.
What if they did Mossack Fonseca database searches on the owners of all the corporate media and their companies, and all the editors and senior corporate media journalists? What if they did Mossack Fonseca searches on all the most senior people at the BBC? What if they did Mossack Fonseca searches on every donor to the Center for Public Integrity and their companies?
What if they did Mossack Fonseca searches on every listed company in the western stock exchanges, and on every western millionaire they could trace?
That would be much more interesting. I know Russia and China are corrupt, you don’t have to tell me that. What if you look at things that we might, here in the west, be able to rise up and do something about?
And what if you corporate lapdogs let the people see the actual data?
UPDATE
Hundreds of thousands of people have read this post in the 11 hours since it was published – despite it being overnight here in the UK. There are 235,918 “impressions” on twitter (as twitter calls them) and over 3,700 people have “shared” so far on Facebook, bringing scores of new readers each.
I would remind you that this blog is produced free for the public good and you are welcome to republish or re-use this article or any other material freely anywhere without requesting further permission.
Urgent call to Anonymous !! Get your best hackers on this now. You know more or less where to look so it shouldn’t be difficult to hack the database.
They haven’t released the names of more western leaders in effort to prolong the story and generate more revenue from the headlines. Learn how business works before you start spreading this ignorant drivel about the so-called “western media gatekeepers”. These ideals are toxic, warping individual perceptions and causing a disconnect between fact and opinion.
“Learn how business works before you start spreading this ignorant drivel about the so-called “western media gatekeepers”.
Well, 24 hours is a long time in journalism and the Guardian has not (at the time of writing this) opened ANY of its articles on this subject for public comment – not one out of several different pieces on the same subject.
Are you a shill!? This blogger is totally accurate about what is going on. If anyone is owned and overseen by corrupt mega corporations, they are not going to be able to do transparent and unbiased work! Plain and simple, we know this to be true. And yes everything I have read is referencing Russia, Putin, his cellist friend, Iceland etc, just like he describes. It’s laughable to think the NY Times would do a piece on the involvement of its media owners in the MF files!
Just look at how the Guardian handled the Snowden files. Much will never see the light of day and they and their writers have gone out of their way to discredit Assange. He wrote a good article about it, if you care to search for it.
Totally agree. You’ll bet, there is more material. …and I’m quite sure, the big stories are still hidden.
Every now and then you see a comment that is the polar opposite of reality in every respect. Yours is one of those comments. I guess one man’s gatekeeper is another man’s waiter.
I would like to see all names in this released to the public. I was thinking out of all of the ones that have the information The Guardian would be the main one that would publish the Western list. I guess I am wrong for having this assumption? I was hoping to see a few from the West this week in the news.
It seems a lot of the targets aren’t just enemies of the west, they’re men who don’t want to have to give their wealth away to their ex wives. Gynocentrism is still a core value in our culture, if this wasn’t the case these men wouldn’t have to hide their money!
We are as corrupt as any place in the World. I speak as a USA citizen, 70 years old and have seen the rot from the lowest municipal places to the highest Government arenas. Thank you for publishing this. Do any of us have any doubt that the “leak” is being manipulated to the benefit of our Governments?
Obviously some of you have no idea of the corruption in the rest of the world if you are seriously comparing USA to them.
to: Brian Richards,
You are spot on, I am 60 and like you have seen how corrupt the wheels of industry, Gov’t, small and large business roll and I find it disgusting. Raised to be honest and hardworking only to see the lazy sleezy bums get ahead and you wonder what is wrong with this picture.?? This has been going on all my life and the life of
my father, grand-father etc… nothing will change.
Ray Fillion
It seems they need to put something up as news so we think we are not held in the dark. The problem is that the major criminal activities are committed by major people in powerful positions. Like the investigation into the pedophile ring in the Palace of Westminster came to an abrupt end with little to show. Like you say, a few under dogs in the community will be sacrificed to protect the high ranking lords in the financial world. All the ingredients for a crime novel. As usual, nobody of high importance will be court out and a few more people in the know will be paid to keep their mouths shut.
Thank you for giving this further substance.
Well, if they don’t have dementia when they are jailed they will suffer from it soon after: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/profile-ernest-saunders-out-of-jail-and-back-in-business-1347932.html
Makes me wonder about the Clintons.
David,
” Makes me wonder about the Clintons.”
Do you have to “wonder”. Just look at their history and the death trail behind them.
What more evidence do you need?
GOOD REPORTing. Maybe things are starting to change.
The Guardian has become the public collections dept. of MI6 since Snowden affair caused the state to require its recompense through service… and often can thus emphasize ‘leaks’ that give GCHQ plausible deniability (ie, the sources and data overlap, but the media can publish something independently thus concealing simultaneous SIGINT capacities of the state collector). Take what happened in little Macedonia last year. A story we will hopefully tell at some point @Balkanalysis
Craig,
” What if they did Mossack Fonseca database searches on the owners of all the corporate media and their companies, and all the editors and senior corporate media journalists? What if they did Mossack Fonseca searches on all the most senior people at the BBC? What if they did Mossack Fonseca searches on every donor to the Center for Public Integrity and their companies?
What if they did Mossack Fonseca searches on every listed company in the western stock exchanges, and on every western millionaire they could trace?”
Obvious and evident – then the Western Emperor has no clothes and is naked, dirty and as corrupted as all the other Emperpors.
I love this..
Yeah.. I wish they expose all .. Well, it will come soon.. Don’t worry, all that American foundations and corporations will be expose too.. Time is here! “Time” ..
Do you think it’s a coincidence that the ”Trade Secrets Protection” Directive is due to be voted on by MEPs on April 14th? This text creates excessive rights to secrecy for businesses and is a direct threat to the work of journalists and their sources, whistleblowers, workers’ freedom of expression, and rights to access public interest information.
http://corporateeurope.org/pressreleases/2016/04/panama-papers-show-need-safeguard-press-freedoms-proposed-eu-legislation
Very well done! Thank you for this information. Primary concern for any opposition to the western cabal/hegemony is obtaining and releasing documents detailing the western companies/shareholders and individual fortunes hidden away..
It’s a great development. No doubt more will emerge, but for now I would like Corbyn to ask Cameron this question in PMQs. “You probably don’t have shares or private wealth invested in these tax havens, you don’t need to, your father did it for you. If you are investigated (when we get into power) and it is discovered that the fortune your father amassed before passing it on to you is found to be from tax evasion, will you hand every penny of it back to HMRC?”
It is all over the news – even the major stations and newspapers here. I am sure more names will be released and more attention will be generated over a period of time.
This isn’t an issue about what country these people are from. Countries are only lines on a map so people can understand who is against who in a war. These men belong to the rich few who belong only to themselves. The rest of us belong to them.
This is “the begining” for a new order in the world.
Thank you for having the courage to report to the world the truth. You may be the last honest investigative reporters. All major US Media have refused to report on this story because of fear and embarrassment Please consider reporting the biggest theft in the history of mankind. Over 10 Trillion dollars of US Tax Payers money to finance a breakaway group of psychopaths that have hijacked 50 years of world saving technology for their own. There is tremendous support to disclose this issue. Here is a YouTube of the 2001 Disclosure press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC to the largest audience in the history of the Club.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i-48LpRB9c
The Disclosure Project ~ National Press Club 2001. Find out everything you need to know about the high technology available to us and the cover up. We’ve been lied to for many years.
I do not take any credit for this conference footage, I just wanted to re-upload it in high quality because it is of such high importance and needs to be spread far and wide so as many people have access to it as possible.
Time,
“Yeah.. I wish they expose all …”
So in all reality – who really is exposing whom – when the tailor who knew he did not make the Empreor a new suit – is doing what? – exposing the non-fact that the Emperor is naked and corrupt to the bone?
Who is trying to fool who here?
Look for small scandal-revealing papers like Mediapart in France or Spain… some other names are coming out. No huge surprises for now, it’s mostly people already convicted for corruption (etc), but it may get broader… Societe Generale starts to appear.
I don’t say you’re a complotist, I wouldn’t be surprised you’re right.. but I hope you just judged too fast 🙂
The rot has spread to New Zealand now. Despite being named in the documents as a place where trusts were set up by MF, the NZ national radio station has reduced itself to merely playing the BBC piece in full.
Wot they haven’t interviewed Nicky Hager about it yet? Come on, RadioNZ!
I strongly suspect that hi LlAR y and bil LIE are on MANY documents.
This story is similar to what ICIJ put out last year about HSBC and its Swiss banking division.
https://www.icij.org/project/swiss-leaks/banking-giant-hsbc-sheltered-murky-cash-linked-dictators-and-arms-dealers
A lot of the same people are implicated.
Thanks, Craig. Sure looks like this will be buried, but maybe the person who leaked the info kept a back-up set and will deliver it to some media not beholden to U.S. and UK crooked elite. Al Jezeera, or Democracy Now, might be good starting points.
A couple points everyone seems to be missing here.
1. All the media outlets keep saying what an Huge trove this is. But a couple terabytes can be indexed for full text search in a matter of hours to days depending on your computer resources and how many different file formats you’re working with. The ICIJ has had these documents for over a year, so presumably they’ve indexed them and consequently learned just about everything about any interesting people in them. So, size really does not matter here. Yes, this is a larger leak by orders of magnitude than previous leaks; but it pales in comparison to, say, a couple years’ worth of USENET tripe.
2. Once the PDFs are OCRed and the documents de-duped and indexed for full text search, the dots practically connect themselves. One has to wonder why now? Why is this being announced now? To distract from the DNC’s money-laundering for HRC perhaps? http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/01/how-hillary-clinton-bought-the-loyalty-of-33-state-democratic-parties/
3. SZ FAQ claims that “Politicians from Germany and / or the United States can not be found so far in the documents. Therefore, we can not report on German or American politician.” Oh, please. Do they really expect us to believe that? http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/panama-papers-haeufige-fragen-zu-panama-papers-und-antworten-1.2935507
4. There’s an even bigger picture. All of the communications to this firm has been scarfed up by the US for decades by “No Such Agency”. So the US, at least, has actually had all of this information all along. That they have chosen not to act on it speaks volumes. They’d need to be shamed into acting. Maybe the ICIJ and SZ will go for it. Maybe not. Time will tell.
5. The timing of the hacker Sepulveda’s incarceration and cooperation coincides with when these data were given to the ICIJ and among all people, he would have had access to the MF data through his uh, other activities. http://www.latintimes.com/opposition-hacker-andres-sepulveda-sentenced-10-years-prison-spying-colombia-peace-309023 Plus the language and physical proximity would have enhanced his opportunity. But, who would he be cooperating with and why? And how? Odd that he started giving interviews to Bloomberg mere days before the Panama papers were released. http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-how-to-hack-an-election/
So, how are we going to find out about our US corrupters? There has to be a way. A baby step has been taken here and we need to go all the way. We need to know the truth about our own!
I’d just add that it’s the .01% rather than the 1%. The latter figure, I’m convinced, was a purposeful red herring. In the US, people who make as “little” as $600,000 a year are in the 1%, if I calculated correctly. While that’s unimaginable wealth for me, it’s absolutely nothing compared to the real evildoers. But when you’re talking about the 1%, then you can argue about “income inequality” and point the finger at people who yes, are upper middle class if not upper class, but who still have little to no political clout, much less the power to wage illegal wars, control virtually all the media, education, entertainment, fashion industry, you name it. It becomes yet another meaningless argument created specifically for the purpose of divide-and-conquer.
I agree. The names published are a mere tip of the iceberg. Our–everyone’s–freedom requires/mandates full disclosure.