International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: Political Donors Play The Offshore Game

Date

 A cache of nearly 7 million leaked files from the offshore law firm Appleby and corporate services provider Estera was leaked. The records, part of a cache now known as the Paradise Papers, were obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The leaked documents’ revelations about the offshore activities of top American political donors underscore concerns about how the global system of tax havens helps the rich and powerful operate in ways that, though often legal, provide advantages not available to average citizens.

...

These transfers may not have erased the potential conflicts in question and may have run afoul of federal ethics rules, according to Lawrence Noble, senior director of ethics at the nonprofit and nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. Public records indicate that one of her children was under 21 when the assets were transferred, meaning the supposedly divested assets may still have been attributable to Pritzker. “Under normal circumstances, if one of the beneficiaries is under 21 and they’re still a dependent child, it doesn’t meet standard of divesting assets,” Noble said.

Read the full article