The Tax Haven Nextdoor

Adaora Ede

It feels like in this internet age of privacy and secrecy that more things are exposed than kept to ourselves. Our bank PINs, computer passwords, and smartphone locks do not evade the laws. This is how the internet-based Wikileaks came through Australian whistleblower Julian Assange. Paranoia surrounded our lives with former CIA employee Edward Snowden’s disclosures about the global surveillance programs of the NSA. Privacy is the question currently being asked with the Apple-FBI iPhone backdoor debate in light of the December terrorist attacks in San Bernardino. In this situation, it’s 2.5 terabytes (or 11.5 million files of data) at stake. For comparison’s sake, think about the fact that the massive and groundbreaking Wikileaks data drop was 400 gigabytes, or about 1.2 million files of data.

The Panama Papers, at its core, reveals how the world’s most powerful were able to use offshore bank accounts and shell accounts in order to avoid paying their taxes by hiding their true wealth from tax collectors. Tax evasion is not an uncommon crime, but the Panama Papers reveals the scale of this economic negligence in the world. A week of two ago, a media coalition called the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported that a Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, helped establish thousands of secret shell companies and accounts for world power players after German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung was tipped by an anonymous source.

But how exactly do the offshore economic activities of the rich, famous and powerful concern us? That’s often the main question asked when a typical scene is played out on our television screens, a designer sunglass wearing celebrity, tracked by the ever present bevy of paparazzi, is portrayed heading to the courtroom for tax fraud or tax evasion or something of the like. This happens all the time.

So, why does it matter to us law-abiding middle class citizens who do pay their taxes? The reason varies from nation to nation, and holds a lot more weight in countries where more powerful people have been implicated in the scandals. In Iceland, Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson resigned Tuesday after being revealed as personally involved with such offshore shell company. In the UK, the Panama Papers has left a cloud over Prime Minister David Cameron’s move for supposed “public transparency” while exposing the unfair nature of the London real estate market as foreigners buy properties and jack the prices all the way up. While Russia’s Vladimir Putin wasn’t listed among the names in the Panama Papers, his personal link to many of the names may incriminate him as being part of the large-scale cronyism seen in Russia’s elite. In Brazil, Mossack Fonseca has been linked to much of the political turmoil occurring in the nation during their election season. China and Argentina’s national leaders are also being scorned for tainting their campaigns of public transparency as well.

In a personal way, the Panama Papers is more than just the content of the papers or who is being exposed. The people behind the Panama Papers were journalists, plain and simple. Journalism is so much more than just writing a seven paragraph news story; journalism is about going out there and finding what is important and what people want to know. The crimes of the rich and famous are constantly going to be perpetuated as long as they have the power- and they will continue to get away with it if nothing is said.