역외 비밀계좌 명단 추가 공개, 유명 인사 벌벌

국제 탐사보도언론인협회가 역외 조세피난처로 유명한 영국령 버진아일랜드 내부 문건 분석 결과를 추가로 공개했다.

이 명단에는 탁신 태국 전 총리의 전부인과 마하티르 말레이지아 전 총리 아들 등 각 국 유명인사와 고위급 인사가 포함되어 파문이 일고 있다.

최근 신상이 공개된 바야르적트 상가자브 몽골 전 재무장관은 정계 은퇴를 선언하기도 했으며, 프랑수아 올랑드 프랑스 대통령의 친구이자 대선 캠페인 공동 재무담당이었던 장 자크 오기에도 명단에 포함되어 올랑드 대통령 역시 정치적 타격을 입은 상태다.

버진아일랜드에 가짜 회사 세운 후 영국계·아일랜드계 은행에서 기록적인 7억5천만 파운드의 부동산을 대출을 받아 빼돌린 수감된 아킬레아스 칼라키스도 명단에 올라 있다.

이 밖에 필리핀의 전 독재자 페르디난드 마르코스 대통령의 맏딸, 스페인의 최고 부자 미술품 수집가이자 미스 스페인 출신인 카르멘 티센-보르네미사도 그림을 사기 위해 조세 회피국의 역외 업체를 이용한 것으로 드러났다.

한편 국제 탐사보도언론인협회는 역외 재산 은닉자 명단과 조사 결과를 이번 주 내 공식 발표할 예정이라고 영국신문 가디언은 덧붙였다.

한편, 한국 국세청은 버진아일랜드에 재산을 숨긴 부유층 가운데 한국인이 있는지 확인 작업에 나섰다.

국세청은 "국제 탐사보도언론인협회와 영국 일간 가디언 등 국제 미디어들이 협력해 발굴해 낸 재산 은닉자 명단을 압수하기 위해 다방면의 채널을  가동하고 있다"고 밝혔다. (코리아헤럴드) 

<관련 영문기사> 


Tax haven report  leak raises doubt about offshore bank accounts

It's a data leak involving tens of thousands of offshore bank accounts, naming dozens of prominent figures around the world. And new details are being released by the day _ raising the prospect that accounts based on promises of secrecy and tax shelter could someday offer neither.

Among those named include a top campaign official in France, the ex-wife of pardoned oil trader Marc Rich, Azerbaijan's ruling family, the daughter of Imelda Marcos and the late Baron Elie de Rothschild. The widespread use of offshore accounts among the wealthy is widely known _ even Mitt Romney acknowledged stashing some of his millions in investments in the Cayman Islands.

But this week's leak, orchestrated by a Washington-based group called the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, appeared to be the broadest in what has been a steady stream of information emerging about hidden money in recent years amid a wave of anger targeting the super-rich in an age of austerity.

The leak allegedly involved records from 10 tax havens, where the world's wealthy have long stashed funds. It uncovered a shadow network of empty holding companies and names essentially rented out to fill out boards of non-existent corporations, including a British couple listed as active in more than 2,000 entities, according to The Guardian newspaper, which participated in the global undertaking.

The project started with the receipt of a hard drive by an Australian journalist, Gerard Ryle, who took the data with him when he joined the consortium, according to the project's website. The group, a project of the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity, has said the hard drive arrived in the mail.

 ``We know the data is valid. We know who originally produced the data and we've done massive crosschecks to make sure what we're getting is accurate and isn't corrupted,'' said Michael Hudson, a senior editor on the project.

Rudolf Elmer, who once ran the Caribbean operations of the Swiss bank Julius Baer and turned whistleblower after he was dismissed in 2002, told The Associated Press that he considers the data to be authentic.

``This comprehensive information is like a torch that will probably set off a wildfire and bring to light a lot more about secretive tax havens,'' he said.

The secret bank accounts of the rich and powerful have recently come under a crush of whistle-blowing scrutiny.

France's former budget minister, Jerome Cahuzac, was forced to resign last month after a French investigative website unrelated to the latest leak revealed that he held offshore accounts _ a particularly damaging scandal because he was spearheading a campaign against tax evasion. In 2010, a Greek journalist published a list of about 2,000 people holding undeclared Swiss bank accounts, disclosures that triggered a firestorm of outrage as Greeks were forced to swallow brutal austerity measures.

In November, an HSBC insider leaked a list of more than 8,000 customers with accounts based in Britain's tiny Jersey Island, drawing an immediate tax investigation from Britain's revenue and customs service. Two years before that, a former HSBC employee stole account details for 24,000 clients.

Germany, eager to learn about its own tax cheats, promptly offered to buy the information.

``This just shows what we all know, which is that for decades we have seen the emergence of globalization on the one hand and governments that were unable to coordinate and cooperate on the other hand,'' Pascal Saint-Amans, head of tax policy for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said Friday.

There is nothing inherently illegal about opening bank accounts overseas, but it's well known that the wealthy use them to avoid higher taxes at home _ a practice that Saint-Amans said was quickly falling afoul of governments desperate for revenue, especially those suffering in the European financial crisis.

Britain has an outsized share of offshore territories, which include the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Channel Islands, whose 4{ square miles (12 square kilometers) are saturated with current and former British company directors, according to The Guardian.

``Britain has this network of satellite tax havens around the world that have been acting as feeders,'' said Nicholas Shaxon, author of the book ``Treasure Islands.''

Shaxon said he was encouraged by the succession of whistleblowing employees over the years, and described the latest leak as the most significant to date.

``I hope this has created a new willingness among players who are inside the system to say, `Hang on, maybe this isn't such a good thing,''' Shaxon said.

French President Francois Hollande, who has promised to clean up France's finances, has had a particularly bad week when it comes to news about tax havens. No sooner had Cahuzac acknowledged lying about his offshore accounts than news emerged in the newspaper Le Monde that his former campaign treasurer, Jean-Jacque Augier, was a shareholder in two firms in the Cayman Islands, through a holding company.

Augier said he did nothing wrong. Cahuzac was felled by a recording of him talking about his accounts that was leaked to French website Mediapart.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists consortium promised Friday to continue publishing details in coming weeks. Hudson, the senior editor, said the goal was to shed light on an industry that has thrived on secrecy.

``It becomes a question of not necessarily right or wrong, but it is a question of how our world works and how some folks who have the wherewithal to use havens get a degree of secrecy and tax benefits that average folks don't have access to,'' he said.

Tim Ridley, former chairman of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, warned against any satisfaction people may get from seeing the private banking information of the wealthy splashed across the Internet.

``Whatever may happen with offshore accounts today with everybody smiling about it could happen to onshore accounts in London or New York tomorrow,'' Ridley said. ``Normally people are entitled to information about their financial affairs or their medical affairs to be private.''

Ridley said there remained entirely legitimate reasons to set up accounts offshore, even for individuals, especially those from volatile countries: ``Unstable governments have a habit of taking people's money in unjustified circumstances.''

Shaxon was less concerned about the rights of wealthy individuals holding secret bank accounts.

``I don't think we should be worried about the sensitivities of the poor banker and poor criminals whose criminal activities are being exposed,'' he said. ``If there are people who are doing nothing wrong and their information is being exposed, then it's collateral. It's a price to be paid.''

Both Ridley and Shaxon _ coming from entirely opposite perspectives _ agreed that the disclosures dented the world of offshore banking, but were hardly a fatal blow.

And experts say it will take years for current efforts against secrecy to fully take hold.

``It is ultimately public pressure that is going to make a difference here,'' Shaxon said. (AP)