hello and welcome to four corners tonight the story of how some of
Australia's richest companies got into bed with one of the world's shadiest law
firms which operates through offshore tax havens under a veil of secrecy in
the early hours of this morning companies and individuals across the
globe found their most sensitive financial dealings exposed in a massive
leak of documents from a firm in panama city called MARSOC fonseca amongst those
out in for having assets secretly stashed in tax havens are present and
former world leaders dictators and their cronies arms dealers and drug
traffickers the Australian connections include BHP Billiton Wilson security a
major electricity company and 800 individuals now targets of the
Australian Tax Office the database of eleven and a half million documents was
handed over to German newspaper sueddeutsche Zeitung last year since
then four corners has worked with the international consortium of
investigative journalists in washington analyzing the files the story from this
massive leak will fuel the already heated debate in Australia about tax
avoidance Marianne Wilkinson investigation took her to the
notoriously tax havens of Panama and British Virgin Islands it begins in the
United States
a secret project investigating the wealth of the world's rich and powerful
is in full swing
team of international reporters to unravel of vast network of companies
that hides the financial affairs of corporations politicians oligarchs and
criminals looking at here is really a parallel universe where people can go to
play in a voice they can go to offshore tax havens and basically do things they
wouldn't do it home
international consortium of investigative journalist we've got
access to a massive database of documents from tax havens around the
world
stunningly financial secrets from a panamanian firm called masak fonseca or
looking at easily the biggest leak in history in terms of the size we're
looking at eleven million documents and if you were to compare it with source
famous leaks like the WikiLeaks state department records as thousands of times
larger than that leaked the documents revealing graphic detail how masak phone
sticker set up more than 200,000 companies foundations and trusts largely
in Texas opens in a parallel universe where people want secrecy they go to my
second second first set up the big companies and then those companies are
used to pay Citi open a bank accounts and therefore the real owner by the fact
that it's a company that technically there the engineer's who put together
the wheels on the machinery to make it work and they make sure that it
continues to work so they're very important and who is instructing them
it's gonna be the corporations it's gonna be the representatives of heads of
state who stolen money it's going to be all over criminals who want to hide
money and as long as the firm has not held to a standard of serious to Dylan
Jones who its customers are and what they're up to
they keep the show storm rolling right along
clients in the data base a respected global corporations
leaders who have assets in offshore havens the current prime minister of
Iceland is the current president of the ukraine we've got the current king of
Saudi Arabia we've also got interesting sites like David Cameron british Prime
Minister's fathers in there and then rather embarrassing way because he
clearly world while Assad is now campaigning against accidents it seems
almost impossible that there are also notorious cronies and criminals who use
masak fonseca to secretly organise their business around the world we discovered
their passports and company records buried in the files
of Syrian President Bashar al-assad an acute financial backer of the regime
Mallory check on Russell queen of the Latin American cocaine trade before she
was jailed in the you s
godfather to the daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin the cello
player but the leak Biol showed his offshore company receiving millions
dollars in suspicious law
and his son
the biggest sports marketers in Latin America
charged in the fetus can for allegedly conspiring to solicit a hundred and
fifty million dollars in bribes
system that protects the criminals use the same shows the Corporation shall
look what we're doing is perfectly legitimate after all the OEC treaty
allows us to maneuver around happily subsidiaries to move the profits to
wherever we want the same system is this
criminals use to hide the money and to make sure that they're not caught and
they have no responsibility for what they've done
discovered hundreds of Australian passports names and addresses in Mactan
seconds
files they include corporate giant BHP Billiton and some of our leading foreign
investors but we also uncovered convicted and tax evaders
second link escalates the heated debate in Australia over tax avoidance
the business model of these tax havens pay the Cayman Islands British Virgin
Islands Panama the business models built around we will allow you to engage in
practices for a small fee otherwise be illegal in your host country that's the
business that there's at least 21 to 32 trillion dollars of individual private
financial wealth offshore park through havens that's just individual well
that's not corporate money there's additional trillions of dollars of
corporate money that flows offshore and is parked in a low tax havens for tax
purposes
has become a global leader in the text
at the height of the cocaine trade
offers full-service Walsh rings and Spain dry these days panama's says its
reform
today panamanian lawyers and bankers give rich moving money into tech savings
it's not a crime but they business often moves billions in tax revenue out of the
reach of national governments they are increasingly using the best structures
in the planet's largest Panama facilities but they're based in town
because there is relatively strong financial secrecy in panama wire the
money elsewhere as James Henry from the text Justice Network explains many
wealthy individuals and corporations wanted tax haven company to get around
the tax laws at home are usually we refer to a tax haven as a low-tax
jurisdiction compared to other places it's a place that we're non-residents
either companies or individuals can take advantage of the fact that they're not
really tax on their income capital gains or estates even though the planted
companies
even in the second second stands out among other law firms its setting up tax
haven companies on industrial scale through its 30 offices around the world
confounded is an experience with tax law with a glamorous cuban wife and
unlimited ambition
my mission is our government relations because organization that is really
respected but which is an organization markers were basically
his partner is one of the best connected lawyers in panama until recently he was
a special ministerial adviser to the panamanian president and a top player in
the ruling political machine beautiful second is the president of the governing
party mister full circle was advisor to president and as such he basically
advises the President and whatever he's requested is that an influential
position I definitely you know he has the ear of the president
laundering is a big problem in panama we are making corrections we are trying to
restricted but it's still dragging on there are still cases going on the local
head of the anti-corruption body transparency international says despite
both excellent circles political connections its operations coming under
scrutiny going to continue in this industry you need to know your client
you need to make sure your client is bona fide is doing exactly what he tells
you he's doing with this I used not using this company for any criminal
activity
files reveal its clients are under investigation on board continents it's
simple a might be to help people and companies minimize their tax relief
darter exposes a pattern of covert Financial maneuverings can help people
avoid the laws and the regulations of countries that have the capability of
collecting tax imposing liability and they're very good at helping people in
that offshore environment
one way helps its wealthy client by hiding their identity in so-called shell
company
companies so the real owner of the company
the game you're playing but ultimately you're trying to avoid identification
ultimate beneficial liability let's say someone borrows money and defaults on it
they want to escape their creditors and I wanna know you want you to be able to
track them down if they're dodging taxes they're not interested in the IRS
finding them so it's really a game of hide the subpoenaed under the shells and
that's a major part of it as we dug deep into my SEC 16 files we found one
network of Brent men and women repeatedly used to hide the identity of
clients
was not based in panama but on Queensland's Gold Coast behind it
Ian Taylor Taylor is a shady news
Australia a decade ago you shell companies have been embroiled in a
series of scandals including allegations of money laundering in taylor is one of
these people and there were many hundreds of them in the data where they
literally rent their name to pretend to be directors of companies so if you want
to have an offshore company you'll need someone to be your basically your proxy
so in Taylor will be the director of thousands of companies around the world
what any of those companies are doing
property
to Queensland's Gold Coast bein Taylor
these appear on hundreds of texts even companies registered by masak fonseca
directors at this address
doesn't look like there's anyone
other addresses used by Taylor including this one who currently lists with the
Australian corporate regulator oh hi I'm looking for and Taylor
believed to be distant brown but the complex paper trail that leads back to a
New Zealand registered company by this Kiwi businessman Taylor and his father's
business have registered the local company with nominee directors that was
exposed organizing an arms shipment from north korea to where r on both countries
under UN sanctions after we went into I guess they trying to figure out exactly
where we stand with everything that's really attracted a lot of unwanted
attention to them and I believe that the authorities began to look at their
activities major scandals involving feeling scandals involving the longer
Mexican drug cartels
describing as a standard within co-operating with this company for minis
agreed to meet me at a pub in Surfers Paradise
acting as a nominee director and shareholder on hundreds of texts and
companies but he also claimed his passport and identity had been stolen
and used to point directly ships in eastern europe he said he would explain
in an interview but then stopped taking up and Taylor and the family always
blame them for this cause I don't know what the companies are doing but they
are directors of these companies and they do have some sort
recently questioned Taylor on behalf of Romanian authorities but Taylor and his
proxies can escape legal responsibilities for the company's a
front because they operate in the offshore world what this really says a
lot about the system broke the system is and how crazy the whole thing that you
can do this I mean you can have this power you've got all these fake
directors and all these big companies and all the secrecy I think the Taylors
just power
crazy world
I think in a place where there is a massive locked in at the very least some
proper due diligence on the backgrounds of those people being contracted
should have security portrays itself as an Australian operation but buried in
the files we found this career envelope that tells a different story
accountants opposed to Wilson's ultimate holding company in the British Virgin
Islands
kind of journalists so I wouldn't expect a warm red carpet treatment
to the BBI the British Virgin Islands is
Caribbean dozen reporters indeed we can be jailed here for publishing the
documents we were forced to end a bit territory as to when the authorities
refused his work permits the border with Martin a top athlete recovery lawyer who
knows this place better than most British Virgin Islands a beautiful
archipelago of islands in the Eastern Caribbean Sea we have 32,000 people here
perhaps 2,000 beautiful sailing boats sail boat charters lead but we have far
more companies than people were boats 500,000 representing about a quarter 25%
of the world's population of offshore companies
that's about 15 offshore companies for every man woman and child who lives here
these companies don't come here to invest they come because it's a tax
haven and in some cases they come to hide their from public scrutiny we have
the same level of confidentiality as you would have in Australia where I'm from
Canada with the exception that we don't have a public registry of identifying
the names of Directors or register shareholders or was critically important
to a fraud lawyer the identity of the upo the ultimate beneficial owner the
real owner behind a corporate structure
this is the capital of the British Virgin Islands
behind them is the address on the envelope securities holding company it's
the same price as mosque from sickles headquarters here
group covers many dimensions and especially when you have that many
dimensions and that many layers and is not within one country but globally it's
just complex beyond one can actually
regional directors holding company they include two billionaire directors from
hong kong Raymond and Thomas Kwok in 2012 the Koch brothers along with one of
their top executives were charged in one of the biggest bribery cases in hong
kong's history
number now go some time now but charges heat as Wilson security in Australia get
up to bid for government contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars
definitely hong kong's day where charge because
by no one really knew which one of the Koch brothers was actually within a week
of the charges the coop brothers resigned as directors of Wilson's
holding company in the British Virgin Islands apparently cutting their ties
with Wilson security but two mysterious companies then appeared as the new
directors harmony core and winsome sky and we found behind these companies
Raymond and Thomas Kwok
directorships of the company controlling Wilson security with the help
financial secrecy is the panamanian law firms are to figure out how to shut up a
trust here
corporation there that owns another corporations somewhere else and create a
series of layers that make very difficult if not impossible for an
investigator to figure out who really owns want and where the money securities
Australian executives would not be interviewed but in a statement they
sought to distance from the company has not been a director of security Thomas
Kwok is not nor any stage director all nor has he ever had any involvement in
any Wilson company's operations
2014 Thomas jailed over the hong kong bribery scandal
his brother Raymond was acquitted security had one Australian government
contracts worth more than a hundred million dollars including contracts that
are supposed to require tough probity it seems ridiculous to me that a company
that can take hundreds of millions of Australian taxpayer dollars in exchange
for locking up children doesn't require an assessment of the character of the
individuals involved where else would that be acceptable
well this fundamental question why large countries of the world except as real
evidence that are shut up on a group of islands that as fewer people by far than
it has operations and has no real legal system to monitor and police what these
remedies are up to that is really the heart of the problem and what government
should be doing is we will not accept as real as you have to come here have to
incorporate hearing under our rules and that requires full disclosure
government seems they want to clean up the number of companies in tax havens is
explored taxes
to come down to the famous panama canal to see that
the company that operates this crucial port at the entrance to the Panama Canal
is controlled by Hong Kong's richest man and he too is a client of MasTec here in
panama he also happens to be one of the biggest foreign investors in Australia
today good fortune is estimated at over $1 and we discovered his identity card
in Nasik phone signals
the number-one richest man in hong kong and he's very well and he's best known
for business which happens to be one of the biggest listed companies but he also
has gone on masses that he holds
Australia and you turn on your lights at night you help at the top of the richest
company infrastructure has a big slice of Australia's electricity market
especially in South Australia
this company is a big clitoris everyone who turns on the lights turned on and
blinds in the home through this company they have a monopoly on the distribution
of electricity into people's homes and into factories and businesses rather it
has a massive presence in my home state that's all the more reason that there
needs to be transparency
recasting company infrastructure PKI Holdings is listed on the Hong Kong
stock exchange but it's incorporated in the tax haven of Bermuda
shows infrastructure used fun seekers Hong Kong offers to organize a string of
related subsidiaries in Panama in the British Virgin Islands internal email
show the company insisted on the utmost secrecy protect pays special instruction
please do not display in a sense as the high confidence and here is that there
is a company that effectively provides like for every South Australian
household but is not prepared to have the light shone on it takes is
unraveling Texas starter is virtually impossible but we do know the Australian
Tax Office took to CKI related companies to court in 2013 the Tax Office argued
each company owed almost four hundred million dollars in back taxes and
penalties on their Australian electricity business that particular
company had blatantly it appeared ignored its obligations under the tech
sector large are the returns or documents or it had filed a return that
the tax office was to have been the first
with the Australian Tax Office Martin lock to explain extraordinary court
ruling obviously frustration the Texas farley issued assessments which company
obviously didn't even act upon because I had to take this matter to court to get
a judgment against the company in your experience is pretty unusual for a large
corporation to do that that's very unusual cooperation to do that that show
just blatant disregard for the law compliance
companies quietly settled with the Australian Tax Office last year or less
than one-tenth of the original claim
refused to be interviewed by four corners about their tax haven
arrangements but issued a statement saying all a company's fully comply with
regulatory tax and legal requirements of the countries they are operating and
Australia is no exception
Tax Commissioner the settlement with laws on the confidentiality of corporate
taxpayers mean he can't discuss it
comment on anything to the public record
settlements very important in his reign tax system because they allow us to
secure the right amount of tax without having to go through a whole thought
process to paraphrase Lewis Carroll this is a case of curiouser and curiouser he
is a company which has been subject to ruling of almost 800 million dollars in
taxes in underpaid taxes they quietly settled a year or two later for a
fraction of that something like ten percent of the total amount things
soared what I think this highlights is the need for greater transparency in the
settlements financial problem you only have to see the room to realize the
company actually keeps any significant records in this tax haven it's just a
little
fact is that they don't holding because the companies running through those and
I might run through them but I don't leave any information so then you have
you have to the sea through the heavens to to try and find out what's really
going on
companies and businesses and most importantly its finance
the files show 5 BHP Billiton finance companies were registered in the BVI
moving billions of dollars in loans through the tax haven organized from
London the DPT Tax Commissioner won't comment on BHP Billiton specifically but
he explains why some multinationals intercompany loans through tax havens
money to your struggling company through a low-tax jurisdiction you charge
interest that's a deduction that money would have been subject to taxes I 30%
in Australia but it leaves the country it may have a withholding tax of 10% but
when it gets to the texts I ben and I have attacked in my view text there is
one percent so your overall tax burden becomes 11% as opposed to 30% that's
essentially why you go through what's called a tax however what we call i text
you see these executives declined to be interviewed but in a statement i
strenuously denied on its companies to avoid tax BHP Billiton does not engage
in aggressive tax planning each of these companies walls continues to be resident
in the UK the tax purposes and therefore subject to UK tax on its worldwide
income consequently any profits made by these companies were taxable in the UK
at the normal company tax rate
to have over text and this issue I go away until there is a fear of texts
being paid by these companies I have no idea what you're talking about
frankly the justifications provided by the
companies that well we're technically operating we believe within the law so
that makes it ok you know I think we have to call that for what that is and
that's bullshit a bullshitter the reality operating in a very very gray
area of the law
this isn't a victimless act if we don't minimize is a dollar not going to a
school not going to a hospital that's not going to a service that we were
acquiring these companies are getting away with it and we're letting them get
away with it
Australian Tax Office against tax avoidance and tax officials have got
their hands on some of our analysis so far has shown a number of people who are
either
we can be or I'll wealthiest rollins investigation programs have come up so
there is people involved in these sorts of arrangements to evade tax they need
to consider very carefully bearing in mind that in recent use forty-six people
have been sent to jail
program it's clear that the groundswell of resentment of these tax evasion
activities because we continually receive information from informs we've
received information since the company you're referring to
on other companies and so the I don't think you can rely on these secret arise
was being kept secret
secrecy and handling the affairs of the rich and powerful now finds himself on a
very public stage
we're here outside the panamanian headquarters another concert with media
from all over the world who are demanding answers to the questions so
bad
around 25 is in front of your building president expose a was to send out its
PR man detailed questions were answered but most ever acted illegally we follow
both the letter and spirit of the law because we do have not once in nearly
four years of operation
charged with criminal wrongdoing
what is legal and acceptable in the global world of tax havens abroad public
spotlight on that world many believe is the only way to achieve a peres and
Kleiner financial system
there's really only one solution and that's to change the laws the parliament
has to change the laws if it wants a particular result can't rely on concepts
of fairness to come into thinking of the course social conscience of the fish we
paying what we are required to pay under the law and if that's your standards
change
people have had enough people are fed up and the political system
that will interest
from this extraordinary continue around the world tonight
now take concerted international action to translate the anger it has caused
into real reform next week the rise and fall of Clive Palmer's business empire
and political career
see you then
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