To fight corruption, target the offshore money laundries
Why do we tolerate the existence of tax havens that make it possible for criminal tax evaders to rob their homeland?
And why are ship-owners who register their vessels in tax havens allowed to use harbours in countries which condemn tax avoidance?
The Western world could easily stop ships sailing under flags of convenience by barring them from their ports. They could impose embargoes on tax havens and countries that harbour fugitive felons. But they do not. They let this international lawlessness continue, out in the open and right in front of our eyes.
The beneficiaries of these hideouts are people with power, whether through money, politics or both. Cases exposed by the media include a former Thai prime minister’s connections to the Virgin Islands and Dubai. More recently, a tax evader named in the Panama Papers has just lost the presidential election in Ecuador. The Panama Papers also revealed that the father of former UK leader David Cameron made his fortune in Panama and Geneva. It seems our politicians prefer to use safe havens instead of fighting them. Donald Trump promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington. He needs to be reminded of the offshore swamps where the disease of corruption reigns untouched.
Just A North Country Man
