Financial Transparency Coalition

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of 37 front companies based in Germany, Malta, and Cyprus and five Iranian individuals for being owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its affiliates. Today's action, taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, targets IRISL's complex network of shipping and holding companies and executives and further exposes Iran's use of its national maritime carrier to advance its illicit weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program and to carry military cargoes.

You’ve heard the story before. A corporation with something to hide uses a tax haven as a host for its phony subsidiaries. In the classic tale, it is for the purposes of evading millions in taxes. Sometimes the corporation exploits the tax haven for other evils, like hiding losses from investors. My favorite example is Enron’s executives, who used shell corporations with snazzy names like “Raptor” and “JEDI” to hide losses and fabricate earnings—with disastrous results. But never before have I heard of companies using tax havens to win U.S. government contracts. That sentence sounds shady...

There is an ongoing saga of good versus evil. Valiant governments, with proud leaders at their helms, are devoted to bringing down the wicked tax havens and the conniving men and women who hide money on their shores. One day, we will tell the tale of how these governments reigned victorious, dismantling the shadow financial system, and restored the money to the rightful people of their nations. If only. Banking secrecy is no fairy tale. In the system of international tax evasion, the valiant heroes are just as guilty as the wicked witches. In a report to...

WASHINGTON - Craig Shaber, an attorney from San Diego was arraigned today before Magistrate Judge Anthony J. Battaglia in that city on charges of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and tax evasion for years 2000 to 2002, the Justice Department and IRS announced. On Aug. 14, 2009, Steven Wright, an accountant, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jan M. Adler to one count of tax evasion for the 2000 tax year. Wright admitted to evading $387,000 in taxes for 2000 to 2002.