# 450 wealthy Canadians caught...............



## sags (May 15, 2010)

The CBC has acquired a list of 450 wealthy Canadians, who have secretive offshore accounts.

One of them is a high profile lawyer........and his wife is a Senator.

The total list contains the names of 130,000 wealthy people worldwide.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/04/03/merchant-offshore-trust.html?cmp=rss


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

They are probably just looking for legitimate ways to put money into investments outside of Canada.

http://canadianmoneyforum.com/showt...re-Investing-for-Canadians?highlight=offshore


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

The key word here is 'caught'. 

No estimate published on the total estimated population of non-reporting offshore investors. 

Like so many newspaper articles. Quick headline, with next to no attempt to analyse the facts.


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

Here's CRA's response:

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whtsnw/tms/sttmnt130404-eng.html?utm_source=mediaroom&utm_medium=eml

key bit:


> "We call on The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to hand over this list to allow our Government to crack down on tax evaders."


So CRA doesn't have the list .......yet! 

And with the new budget provision that call for an up to 15% finders fee for informants, that could be a very valuable list....perhaps CBC's funding woes are a thing of the past .


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

The CBC say they will be releasing the names as time goes by.......makes for good headlines.

They said on BNN today there are some well known names on the list, from around the world.

Nobody is guilty of anything yet...........but it does say something that the high profile lawyer and his Senator wife haven't made any comments yet. If there was nothing to it...............one would think they would simply say they have an offshore account and have claimed the income and end the speculation.

The "secrecy" involved, fee payments in cash, "no fax" demands, and obsession with security..........points in another direction for this couple though.

All of these accounts in the Cook Islands?

Do they even have a bank there?

Any Americans on the list are not going to be dealt with lightly. The US gave everyone a chance at a prosecution free amnesty if they came forward and paid their taxes up. Anyone brash enough to ignore the opportunity to come clean is going to pay for it now.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

sags said:


> All of these accounts in the Cook Islands?
> Do they even have a bank there?


Yes, it is an offshore tax haven.
Keep in mind that these are not retail banks, like our brick and mortar branches of TD, RBC, etc.
These are nothing more than an office with a fax machine, a phone line, and a couple of computers.

Some are more sophisticated than others i.e. have a building or a floor to themselves, but many of these offshore bank and trust companies are like any other back office operation.
Don't be fooled by that though - they manage and move millions of dollars a day all across the globe, and AUM are in billions for most of them.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

I wonder how we can reconcile the recent cutback in CRA staff with this data. While there appears to be evidence of tax evasion, there needs to be substantial follow-up to turn that into a trial. Is this a job for the RCMP rather than the CRA?


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

I wonder if any of them will do a Brian Mulroney. That is, make a voluntary admission to CRA just after it becomes public but prior to the CRA launching a personal audit. I believe that this is what happened when it became public knowledge that Mr. Mulroney took a $200K 'consulting fee' in cash.

My guess is that there are are few people who are a little nervous this morning.

If the reports are true, Mr. Merchant may have a larger problem than the CRA in the form of the standards and ethics board of the Sask. Bar Assoc. They have the power to suspend members or worse for ethics violations, conduct unbecoming, etc.


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