The Panama Papers are yet another Western PR-coup by investigative yet not independent journalists
by Ralph T. Niemeyer
The German businessman and lawyer Jürgen Mossack founded the offshore money laundering service centre Mossack Fonseca in Panama where a huge portion of the world’s criminal assets are being hidden. Up to 25% of World GDP is laundered more or less legally in offshore tax havens that roll out the red carpet for the Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (“UHNWIs” as Merril Lynch calls them) thus assisting in tax evasion.
British Prime Minister David Cameron had vowed not long ago to close down offshore tax havens but his ambitions may sound a bit hollow since it transpired that his own family, mainly his father, had accounts in Panama. This fact, however, is not the main topic on western world free media who also did not use the filter to expose the elite of western free democracies and their oligarchs but focussed on Iran, North Korea, Russia.
The British Guardian reiterated that most of the leaked material will remain private. In other words, the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is protecting their owners.
Closer scrutiny reveals that the “investigative journalists” are being financed by the US-American “Center for Public Integrity” which are receiving huge donations from the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Endowment, the Rockefeller Family Fund, the W K Kellogg Foundation and George Soros’ “Open Society Foundation”.
Same foundations are always eager to finance such ‘humanitarian’ work as one could also witness in the 1980ies when Amnesty International received funds from the Ford Foundation in order to investigate in Chile the crimes of the fascist junta of General Pinochet but managed to criticise only human rights violations without mentioning it’s beneficiaries, namely US-American industries.
And, in Germany, the leading “investigative journalists” are found in Süddeutsche Zeitung, SPIEGEL, Bertelsmann and Springer – publications which all are members of the Atlantikbrücke, a US-American lobby organisation seeking to cement the pro – capitalistic order in Germany while eagerly trying to portray Russian President Vladimir Putin as corrupt, even though in the “Panama Papers” he is not appearing.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what transpired if “investigative journalists” used filters such as “SIEMENS”, “DEUTSCHE BANK”, “BUSH”, “CLINTON”, “BLACKROCK”, “HALIBURTON”, “GOOGLE”, “STARBUCKS” and “ROTHSCHILD”?! The truth is as always painful: the investigative journalists are not independent but lobbyists.
And, why is there no scandal about the US tax havens in Wisconsin, Nevada etc.? How hipocritical it can get one can see as the US are attracting the rich and glory from around the world who used to reside in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Virgin Islands, Bahamas and Panama.
But, the NGO “Tax Justice Network” disclosed in 2015 that in the worldwide ranking to attract evasion Panama is holding place 13, after Switzerland, Hong Kong, USA, Singapore, Cayman islands, Luxembourg, Lebanon, Germany, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Macao and Japan. The UK is on place 15, surrounded by classical havens such as Jersey and Guernsey.
