PAPERING OVER PANAMA PAPERS?: Howards lawyer Wylie Clarke still not explaining to Fijileaks his involvement in offshore banking scandal

24/5/2016

10 Comments

But Fijileaks says:

(i) Prominent Fiji lawyer Wylie Clarke has to explain to everyone what his relationship is with John and Shirley Miller, owners of Katafanga, last heard of in Panama, and whether he or anyone in his law firm, Howards has any connection to the Panama firms helping people to avoid tax (its legal to avoid tax) in the country where their business is going on; and

(ii) Since the Panama Papers have rocked the legal world, he should hold a legal seminar for the Fiji Law Society on how to do offshore banking for clients without running foul of the law.

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/icij-offshore-leaks-the-data-along-with-panama-files-re-fiji-just-because-many-in-ffp-not-on-list-doesnt-mean-they-are-all-squeaky-cleantheres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat-lets-wait-for-other-leaks

10 Comments

Rajend Naidu

24/5/2016 11:35:38 pm

Editor,
Public's Right To Know
Ranadi Plantation Partnership and representatives from Waikalou in Deuba took court action and won a case against the Dept. of Environment, the director of environment and the Attorney-General for their refusal to produce a copy of EIA for a planned development in Pacific Harbour - as they were required to do under the law the High Court in Suva ruled (Fiji Times 25/5 ).
The petitioners are delighted with the outcome of their court action because they " they wanted the public of Fiji to know ... they had the right to this information" for future reference.
Is this a case of the Attorney -General and his underlings not being able to properly interpret their own laws?
Or, was it a case of the gang in government riding roughshod over the public's legitimate right?
Be that as it may, it shows the Attorney General and his crew can and do blunder.
Where the public have a legitimate right to know nobody must be allowed to arbitrarily deny that right so long as Fiji remains a democracy.
The same principle applies with regard to the Panama Papers leak and any Fiji connection to it.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Rajend Naidu

25/5/2016 01:59:32 am

Editor,
Appearances Can Be Very Deceptive
We learn from itv news 23/5 that Yung Feng Glan a 66yo Chinese granny, by appearance an unlikely candidate for a criminal mastermind, has been arrested and hauled before court in Tanzania for Ivory smuggling .
In Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar Es Salaam, she has become better known as the infamous " Ivory Queen".
Her arrest is being heralded as a major breakthrough for the country's anti- poaching battle against this brutal trade that has seen Tanzania's population of elephants decline at a catastrophic rate.
When it comes to law enforcement, usually it is the foot soldiers that get arrested. It is exceedingly rare to get a prominent player into court.
( Don't we know that from our own experience?).
Mrs Yang first came to Tanzania in the 1970s as a translator when China was building a railway there (she has studied the native language at university as part of foreign affairs training in China) . She stayed and developed high level contacts. At the time of her arrest she was the vice-president of the Tanzania-China - Africa Business Council. But did her business ( she had a restaurant as a front) also include the lucrative and illicit ivory trade?
If convicted the " Ivory Queen" dethroned faces 20 to 30 years in jail.
Are there any " Ivory Queen" characters - local and foreign - in post coup Fiji plying their unscrupulous trade/ business by cultivating " high level contacts"?
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

Pita

25/5/2016 02:43:09 am

In a world comprising sovereign states and private entities that operate under the laws of sovereign states how can the use of off-shore tax havens that are designed to avoid state accountability and public scrutiny be legitimate? Victor, Your own adopted capital, the City of London, is the biggest tax haven of all into which tiny ex British colonies in the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean who act as tax havens feed their ill-gotten trillions.
Panama is a small time tax haven compared with those of the ex British Colonies that answer to their masters in the City of London. It's well known that the cranky billionaire, the extreme right wing George Soros was behind The leak of the Panama Paper. The leak served a political agenda: to discredit those who stand in the way of US and City of London interests like naming close associates of Russian President Putin and a few members of the Chinese Politburo. But the secret off shore dealings of the high rollers of America, Britain and their allies and the biggest fish of all the Roschilds, the House of Saud and old money interests of Europe who are the real movers and shakers of the world, remain hidden from view thanks to protections provided by the City of London

Bulls Eye

25/5/2016 08:43:15 am

And the trillion missing dollars in US that led to 9/11 false flag so they could bomb the 3rd building where all the audit files were kept.

With that lie they blamed Sadam Hussein and Bin Laden. Now the 28 page report release Saudi threaten if that comes out they will freeze US assets in Saudi Arab.

Under the name of democracy we are all pawns. US will soon kill more of its people like 9/11 so to call a state of emergency and rule by decree as what US is heading towards.

Victor Lal

25/5/2016 09:07:21 am

Spare me the details Pita, just tell us who in Fiji is part of this scheme. No one is saying it's actually illegal. But it does have tax implications since this government needs money to build more roads and have the dream Fiji we all want.

Builder

25/5/2016 09:14:16 am

Why would "ordinary" Fijians who stay here and who say they are committed to Fiji, putting their money in offshore accounts? The only answer is because these are illegally acquired funds. The current leaders must declare these funds, bring them back to Fiji, seek apology from the public and repent. Or else, as the country's AG said this week: "You will get caught".

Pita

25/5/2016 10:00:40 am

Victor, you stated in your post that "it is legal to avoid tax." My comment challenged your statement. I believe in the contrary and I painted a picture of a system headed by the City of London that allows a global system of tax avoidance and money laundering to flourish. That system rewards people who cheat and keep their money outside the control of National governments and Reserve Banks. I can't see why it can be legal to avoid tax as you stated in your post above

Fijileaks

25/5/2016 10:09:14 am

ICIJ Q & A: Should I assume that the people and companies mentioned in the database are involved in tax avoidance or evasion? No. There are legitimate reasons to use offshore companies and trusts. ICIJ does not intend to suggest or imply that the people and companies included in the database have broken the law or otherwise acted improperly.
Picture
The Offshore Leaks Database begins to strip away the secrecy of the offshore system by partially opening the company registries of 10 offshore jurisdictions. Opening up the records serves the public interest by bringing accountability to an industry that has long operated in the shadows. Fijileaks is still waiting for comments from those listed below

Fiji is full of Crooks

25/5/2016 11:33:08 am

Tax avodance v Tax evasion

The latter is illegal, not the former.

Rajend Naidu

26/5/2016 07:40:00 am

Editor,
The Other Panama
Hard on the heels of the Panama leaks an investigation by George Turner and a Liberian journalist has turned a spotlight on a tax haven in the heart of Africa. The Liberian journalist identity is concealed to protect his publication from reprisals. The story was produced by the Liberian journalist and Finance Uncovered, a global network of investigative journalists. It was written as part of Wealth of Nations, a pan-African media skills development programme run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
We read in it that Liberia's former Auditor General John Morlu slammed what he called secrecy surrounding the registry and the Maritime Programme of which it forms part.
He said " The Presidency has managed to conceal the corporate registry in the infamous maritime registry with 99% of the cabinet, 99% of the legislature, and 99% of the Liberian people having no clue what a corporate registry is. Many Liberians know that the Maritime Programme is lucrative, and since it has always been the prerogative of the Presidency no one dares bother to poke into it.
... Liberia's offshore registry would not have been possible without US patronage. It was originally set up by the US government after WW2 and has been run by retired US generals and coast guard... ( read more in ' amaBhugane: Liberia, America's outpost of financial secrecy' Daily Maverick 26/5).
*amaBhugane - Centre for Investigative Journalism.
Sincerely,
Rajend Naidu

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PAPERING OVER PANAMA PAPERS?: Howards lawyer Wylie Clarke still not explaining to Fijileaks his involvement in offshore banking scandal

http://www.fijileaks.com/home/icij-offshore-leaks-the-data-along-with-panama-files-re-fiji-just-because-many-in-ffp-not-on-list-doesnt-mean-they-are-all-squeaky-cleantheres-more-than-one-way-to-skin-a-cat-lets-wait-for-other-leaks

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