Dont forget to go to our website if you dont want to go do that you can give us the email address. Pick up the copy of the newsletter on the counter. Secrecy world offers a disturbing and sobering view of how the world really works and raises critical questions about financial and legal institutions we may once had trusted. The investigative Journalist Team that broke that story. They are written for the washington post. Pro public advice. Nbc the editor of the texas observer. Mister jake bernstein. It is great to be here great to see so many old friends thank you so much to books in the books to mitchell kaplan. I dont know if you all know. But he now makes movies in addition to selling books in his latest is currently in theaters my wife and i saw the other day. Our review is that it is delightful. I encourage everybody to see it. They encompass an entire shadow economy. In jersey. Its also places that offer secret Bank Accounts like switzerland in singapore. And also the intermediary is. Now i wish i have invented this phrase because i love it that i did not. I came upon it while rummaging through that the Panama Papers. They were plundered by an anonymous source. And a german newspaper. And then shared it with the international contortion. I was part of the team that spent a year digging through those documents. I found this amazing glossary. It had been written by a junior employee and what made it so fantastic was that a Senior Lawyer had gone through the document and deleted the places where the original author have been a little bit too candid. A little too truthful. It was all there plain as day in the miracle of the track changes. There was an entry for aggressive tax avoidance. And the lawyer had removed the phrase uncertain legality. It was stuff like that. I came apart this term secrecy world. It encompasses the end regulated market and all of those who would create an promote the jurisdictions and what they offer. They can be completely legal and perhaps a shrewd business strategy. One of the greatest values is that they offer concealment that could be hiding their activities or assets from the Business Partners or your wife or in some places kidnappers it can also be hiding your activities or assets from government tax collectors. Or Law Enforcement. Many stories were told. And they stretch back as far as the early 1980s and actually there were companies in the documents that go back even further. One company we found from the 1930s and the secrecy world is not static. It morphs, and changes it reacts and so the files tell the story of the evolution of this world. The secret world. For a long time particularly in the 1980s and 90s. It was of the the wild west. Those three monkeys see nothing here nothing say nothing that is is what governed the secrecy world. You ask questions. It wasnt necessary to know who actually owned the company. Theyre called the ultimate beneficial owner. Once it was created you put the information into a file and you forgot about it until a year have passed and there was time to send the invoice to renew. And sometimes not even then. There is a stories of the secrecy world about a man who was the biggest client in geneva and he actually ends up selling his office to the firm. In leaving the country in the middle the night. Before that he had joked with subordinates that he slept with a gun under his pillow. It turns out that he has a habit of taking the money to renew the company but never actually renewing the company. Until the client needed it for something. It is of a firm that found a great Business Model for that. The 1980s and 90s. Highvolume, lowcost think of mcdonalds. They were innovators. They took an island chain known for tourism and drug smuggling. Nothing much was happening and turned into a belching factory of shale companies. Some of the incorporators followed the lead that the two men decided to look elsewhere to try to gain a new advantage and i will lead you a little bit about that. Right now. As they crowded into the bahamas they looked to increase the business elsewhere. The United States pointed away. He was familiar with the ship registry since the 1950s he have it registered ships under their own flag but the public registry was never based in africa. They resided in a suite of offices in new york city. It was created by a former u. S. Secretary of state in conjunction with corporate interests like shell oil. They if they could have a monopoly by running their own public registry by credit they. The south pacific. The reflections were to find a friendly country to allow itself to be used as a jurisdiction. She disappeared for a week. Literally disappeared and poppa new guinea. We were really worried. We thought maybe she would she was eaten by cannibals or something. Prospecting and an offshore conference and one day at the conference she was sitting at the hotel bar and struck up a conversation with the neighbor on the stool beside her. Shed been sent out by the bosses in panama to find a magical land her new friend listened with interest. We can do that he told her. Her bart bart mate was the they were situated in the middle of nowhere. Northeast of new england. In the rising three sea levels. In 1774 when the locals are repeatedly prevented the captain from landing there prompting him to debit savage island. In 1901. But approved selfgovernment under an Association Agreement in 1974. The site been but the money was not enough to make it meet. When they met louis. They were already investigating converting to a tax haven to create additional income for approximately 500 inhabitants. They joined a group. They largely copied the bbi law which bvi law which itself had been copied from delaware and customize it for example the law allowed Company Names in chinese characters and the russians it was passed in 1994. Later that year. To sell the jurisdictions to the chinese. With the registry opened they could crank out a new company and under an hour with ever price they have the blank documents. All they have to do was check from panama. We could control the process in the speed. With the companies from being used by criminals. About stand hope investments. Using it to buy Expensive Properties in london. The prosthetic uterus the prosecutors sentenced him to 13 years in prison. Goldstein and the south African Investment company. In argentina the father and son operated in network that u. S. Prosecutors alleged were used to pay bribes in exchange for multimillion dollar television contracts. One of these Companies Purchased the rights for the soccer matches and then flipped them to the ecuadorian broadcaster for 311,000. Despite the ease of incorporation it was always a tough sell to many potential customers. If you think people dont know where it is try explaining to them with the middle of the pacific ocean. There were all kinds of dangers that came from selling companies but asking no questions about the owners. At first these were the kinds of problems that just afflicted society but not them personally. But it did not stay that way. As the story illustrates. The founder of the Guadalajara Cartel he owed his fortune to transporting cocaine in late 1984 the thriving marijuana business. He led it. A massive plantation. Where they found more than a thousand acres of plants. Likely worth several billion dollars. He lashed out. In american novelist and a dental student were among the first to die. In january 1985 the two friends mistakenly walked in. The drug king was having a private party. They kidnapped the students who they may have the system suspected. They torture them. One of them is still alive when they put them in the ground. The following month the men grabbed him. After he left the american consulate and the burnt the ex marine with cigarettes and beat him with a tire iron for two days in a secret chamber. Ill dr. Was on call to keep the agent alive. Before they discovered the body. They boarded a jet and left the country. He did business with jose marie a local lawyer with a crooked clientele. They wanted to serve an indictment. With hundreds of millions of dollars. They deliver the papers. One of the attorneys. In the early days on april 4. They arrested carol can tear up. During the time in the Central American nation. Among the four properties he owned. And traveled around in a limousine. Despite the publicity surrounding the arrest they manage to stay in the background. About a week after the extradition to mexico. He paid him to act as a director of the company. At least one of the Companies Held a sprawling mansion on the out skirts. In 1989. An mexican judge u. S. Authorities accused him of continuing behind bars. For investing his considerable fortune. What the properties confiscated. They stopped pain. They died on Christmas Eve and 2004. A year later the lawyer sent an email to the partners. The president and the secretary general have visited the office with the thorny problem. Theyd given the committee the mansion for the new headquarters but they could not acquire the legal title because technically they still held it through the panamanian company. The elliptic committee wanted him as a director of the company to donate the property to the committee to avoid a complicated process. It seemed ill advised. The firm decided that they would design their business. In the legal issues on their own. He was a child nursing at his mothers breast compared to that notorious kingpin. I dont want to break a mom those. On august the ninth 2013 a judge and guadalajara unexpectedly released him on a technicality. With 12 months and 12 years remaining. Before they could extradite them he disappeared. The list of tips. The high volume low cost model was opportune because it became before which made it easy to streamline. It was a time when there was incredible wealth in the developing world even as countries like russia and china in the u. S. Proved increasingly unwilling to provide welfare for their citizens. The consequences of which can be seen in one heartwrenching story they transferred billions of dollars to their children. They have a gdp per capita of about 9,000. The Economic Situation has forced them to seek work abroad they joined the crew of the russian cargo cyst ship. I sit month kind by the demo group. In the united arab emirates. According to them the files. This offshore company and others through the offshore company and others and several other ships. They added an additional layer of secrecy by shuffling the registration among small Pacific Island nations. Which required Little Information or regulation for the ships that flew in their flag. Their flag. Instead of Economic Opportunity they found themselves a preventer dash make a a prisoner aboard a slave ship. It have no air conditioning it baked. They refuse to pay them. He took a bad fall. Despite document several different ports they denied his request to seek medical care. Within a month the machinist was dead. And another crewmate went missing from the ship after complaining to the russians about the conditions aboard the ross. His body was never discovered. Has husband was thrown overboard. They issued a an arrest warrant. But they simply change the name and continued ceiling. The men also owned the ss belize. They abandoned in the philippines 12 russians eight indians and one ukrainian without paying for their work. They declared bankruptcy and walked away from the company. The russian prosecutors filed charges against two of the owners. For use of slave slave labor. Guess you will see that. And they will prey on the innocent. Also services plenty of innocent people and most american multinational corporations why does it matter to us here today. In miami is a great example of why. Foreign nationals bought nearly 6. 1 billion worth of property. Just in 2015. It was a more than double the national average. Led by south americans. Much of the bite comes from those who distrust their butt when a Shell Company is widely used it also allows corrupt politicians and criminals to spirit their cash out. At their not reported to their local tax authorities can deprive them of needed revenue. Developing companies lost between 620 billion. And at home this behavior contributes to making miami one of the worst places to be a renter in the country. So the United States by one estimate loses 70 billion a year in tax revenue from shifting corporate profits. The republicans hope that some of that money will return home when they lower Corporate Tax rates. But there is little incentive to do so. That is to say nothing of individuals. Zillions more. Other leaks it shows a global leak that is no longer bound by the nationstate in the way that most of us are. They live in multiple cities for travel the world and private jets. The top 1 of households own more wealth than the bottom 90 combined. Its getting worse. It is one that they know well it has long been a frequent user and it admitted during the campaign that he had 515 Companies Including 378 registered in delaware. It was used as a template nine of trumps former Business Partners many minimart were connected to now indicted campaign manager. And soninlaw here is the story of one of them. Another apparent investor trump joined forces with bayrack in 2005 offering a brandname and they could coalesce. There best known project. In one of the trendiest neighborhoods. Trump announced the project on a television show. For the use of the name and input they received a 15 cut of sales with another 3 parceled out to two of his children. In 2007 a reef cut a deal with the Florida Group for 50 million in financing for trump and three other trump related process in return for future process. They signed a document a green to the arrangement and a group was an International InvestmentCompany Serving the financial mania. They spun off offshore companies lick like a pinwheel. A number of them there. It would go belly up when financial crisis exposed the fraud. A search of the group. Leads to substantial loans investments in india. And the largest debtor in luxembourg. They charge the companys former ceo with embezzlement of about 22 million in corporate funds. But the businessman was acquitted at trial. A civil suit against him filed by a former employee jodi chris speculated that some of the money was russian in origin. They operated for years for a pattern of continuous crimes. He further less that the groups in the trump soho project was a fail disguised as a loan. To avoid pain approximately 29 in taxes. He denied the allegations and said he have nothing to do with the financing. Lending only his name. I dont know who owns it. In the deposition. That the group was helping to finance a project. I never really understood that. Another apparent investor according to a pamphlet was alexander matchett. It was part of it trio a conglomerate. A spokesperson said the billionaire never invested in trump soho or bayrack he was also close to the president for life whose grandson and other relatives at their own companies in 2011 the three principles behind er and see. What accused of money laundering. They were subsequently dropped when the agreed. The nrc had deep ties. Through a trash trust company. Company. Some of the companies were involved in mining in congo. It was implicated in a bribery investigation. You also have the companies. He denies any wrongdoing. In 2014 the intermediate attempted to move those Companies Directly there. The law firms Compliance Department reviewed the matter and discovered they were related to en rc limited. All of the people involved were politically exposed people. They have recently been delisted from the London Stock Exchange after a massive share price dropped. The company faced multiple investigations. There were too many red flags even there. Found in the course of our investigation. The decision is do not accept these companies under our administration wrote one of the firms compliance officers. When at the Panama Papers broke it was everywhere. They did not fully realize what have happened to his firm. Until he turned on the television and saw his lifes work on every single channel. They have more than 300 reporters from around the world some dangerous pictures. I never saw it. The death by carpet bombing was clearly a message through journalists everywhere. Her son matthew is a staff member of the international distortion. Let me close with an expert excerpt with how they dealt with the publication of the panama pickers papers. Release came from the cia. The note sketched out oddly conspiracy theory. The first round much Stories Ministry pop lathed once they received from the information new identification will be posted on the National Government to justify the current attempt to increase interexperience and sanctions from the obama administration. Leaving us without room to maneuver before public opinion. Chillingly the memo also singled out by name venezuelan reportersing working for independent media organizations that have participated in the project. Throughout the world, publication of the data fed into a tax on journalist preexisting political and social drama in various country ors reporters and editors wrestled with which part of the data was in the public interest. In europe and United States come to in and about concern was taxing and people aserrating them and latin america, an africa, tax was a violates issue but it took second place to concern about corruption. And political repression. In ecuador president rafael denounced participants on twitter and rallied a troll army to send them a message. He hopefully included social media accounts which were then did diluged nasty comments and two newspapers involved in the project. As panama had do