With the annual gathering of global financial elites taking place this week in Davos, and all the recent news focusing on money laundering, taxes and the .0001 percent, it seems an appropriate time to take another look at where so much of the wealth-that-dare-not-speak-its-name is being stashed.
Back in 2016 we learned that a Panamanian law firm had become a kind of digital safe-deposit box for tainted money and tax evaders. WhoWhatWhy has extensively covered this story, which laid bare something like an alternative global financial system — an incredibly complex web of offshore accounts, lawyers, guns and money.
In the wake of Davos and the ongoing revelations about Deutsche Bank, it seems important to take a fresh look at the “Panama Papers.” My guest for this week’s WhoWhatWhy podcast is journalist Jake Bernstein, who has devoted years to uncovering and explaining what is really going on behind the scenes of international finance.
One can’t help wondering: How many owners of the private jets at Davos have Panamanian accounts?