"The morons have spoken". Conned by the offshore super-rich.
A correspondent, John, has accused me of not being a real democrat, because I think the gormless, unemployed, unwashed, unthinking masses who voted to leave the European Union market and customs arrangement have been hoodwinked. He urges me to adhere to "The Will of The People".
My reply to John:
“Oh look! 63 million people are jumping off the
cliff. As a democrat - I think I’d better join them.”
I believe in informed, thoughtful, educated
democracy - not mass, emotional, idiotic claptrap – fuelled by the private
policies of a few tax-evading offshore billionaires.
Come off it John – Do me a lemon! - Noel
(In fact, 52% of 60% of UK voters were stupid enough to vote LEAVE in our crudely engineered Referendum in June 2016 - engineered by Cameron, Putin, Trump, The Media and other offshore tax-evaders. That's only 31% of the electorate who want us to insult our hard-won millions of good customers in Europe (27 countries with 550 million souls). As the UK visibly collapses and The City and our motor industry and major businesses migrate, threatening 7 million job losses, the polls now show that 54% would vote Remain. TOO LATE DUMBOS - You have been well and truly conned).
*****
15 Feb 2018
16 Oct 2018: Who is actually leaving?
This Guardian article below, on dodges to escape EU regulations on tax-evasion, reinforces my view that all our VIP Brexiters
are back-pedalling from EU tax laws; into the comfortable security of UK Courts
and Judges with whom they were at school or in the Bullingdon Club. There is
£2.3 trillion at stake for the rich (and poor) of the UK. “Follow the money”
indeed. Track Rees-Mogg and Pals – And David Cameron – and all UK media owners
– And the Drumph family fortunes.
In the Guardian article; they fail to mention a
major hurdle to the possible tax dodges around the new EU rules, which is
having to bank money/assets with less than reliable banks in dodgy countries –
from where the dodgers are likely to have all their wealth stolen. “Secret”
means “insecure” and “illicit” and “up for grabs”. In 1995, as an EC treasurer,
we couldn’t send money to banks in ex-USSR cities “because the Russian banks
will steal it in transit” – it had to be in cash and hand delivered.
I have seen it all before. Several times since Cornfeld massively defrauded offshore tax-evaders in (1967/8).
Investors Overseas Services[edit]
In
the 1960s, Cornfeld formed his own mutual fund sales company, Investors
Overseas Services (IOS), with principal offices in Geneva, Switzerland,
although it was incorporated in Panama. He also established mutual funds in
various jurisdictions, as noted below. Although the executive headquarters were
in Geneva, the main operational offices of IOS were in Ferney-Voltaire, France, across the French border from Geneva.
In
1962, IOS launched its "Fund of Funds," which meant investment in
shares of other mutual funds, including some other IOS vehicles. The offering
was popular in the bull market times,
and Cornfeld's one-line pitch, "Do you sincerely want to be rich?"
became a by-word for its success. During the next ten years, IOS raised in
excess of US$2.5 billion, bringing Cornfeld a personal fortune which has been
estimated as more than US$100 million. Cornfeld himself became known for
flamboyance and lavish parties. Socially, he was generous and jovial, and
generally surrounded by a bevy of beautiful young women, including for
example Victoria Principal,
later widely known as a star in the TV series "Dallas".
At
its peak, IOS employed around 25,000 salesmen, who sold a series of mutual
funds door-to-door all over Europe, especially in Germany, to small investors. He originally
targeted US expatriates and servicemen who had no access to US investing, but
the main growth of the business came from the public in countries such as
Germany and Italy, who had until then had no other easy access to investment
vehicles of this kind. Cornfeld called it "people's capitalism."
******
GUARDIAN 15 Oct 2018: European rules designed to make it harder for
wealthy individuals and companies to hide their cash offshore have loopholes
that mean foreign accounts can be kept secret from tax collectors, a report has
warned.
Countries in the EU have exchanged financial information about
accounts held by overseas residents since the introduction of the “common reporting standard” in
2017, designed to reduce tax evasion.
Information on offshore holdings is sent to the country where
the account owner is registered as resident, where authorities can then ensure
the money is appropriately taxed. Information is also shared with and by
low-tax jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands.
But while the rules make it easier for countries to see what
money is owed, wealthy investors and companies can use loopholes, according to
the report by the European Green party, shared with the Guardian.
One problem is that not all countries are taking part in the
exercise; the US is one of the key players missing. It has committed to sending
partial information, but individuals can still hide their identities behind
companies.
Austria and Bulgaria do not receive information from the US, the
report said, and as of June 2018, at least 43 countries were not committed to
implementing the common reporting standard, including Montenegro, Serbia and
Ukraine. The report said the easiest way for an EU citizen or company to avoid
the automatic exchange of information was to set up bank accounts in one of
these countries or in the US using a company name.
Another loophole involved countries that offer so-called golden visas to wealthy
investors who commit large sums of money in exchange for citizenship.
In a scenario set out in the report, someone living in Italy
could buy citizenship in Cyprus,
which has agreements to receive information from only 33 jurisdictions in or
related to the EU. Any account the person opened in a country that fell outside
that arrangement would in effect remain invisible.
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