Tag Archives: Bandit Gang Writ Large

Bloomberg Calls for a US Exit Tax

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“Why should the rich get to take all that wealth with them when they move? Why should they be able to walk out of the country with resources that they have accumulated largely by dint of their history in the U.S.? We don’t let them walk out with a share of the mineral wealth of public lands or a piece of the interstate system. Exiting the country with all that property should surely count as theft.  … The rate of the exit tax would reflect the proportion of wealth that is due to the lottery of birth. Of course, rich people have already paid some taxes on that wealth—so, in fairness, the top rate probably wouldn’t go above 50 percent.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/35859/Bloomberg-Calls-for-a-US-Exit-Tax-on-the-Horizon/

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Germany sues Swiss bank over missing East German money

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“Julius Baer revealed it was being sued for Sfr110m (£73m), plus interest, over allegations a bank it later bought had allowed cash to be withdrawn illegally.   Since East and West Germany were reunified in 1990, the country has launched dozens of lawsuits to try to recover money stashed by the former regime.  The charges centre around Austrian communist Rudolfine Steindling, who headed up East German trading company Novum.  She transferred the money to several Swiss banks, including Cantrade, and withdrew the cash after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Germany argues Ms Steindling had no right to the cash, which was amassed from fees charged to Western firms.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11049289/Berlin-sues-Swiss-bank-over-missing-East-German-money.html

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The Spoils of the Iraq War – 2003

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“On Mar. 18, 2003, as U.S. soldiers started bombing Baghdad and looters across the country began plundering the country’s museums, nearly $1 billion vanished from the Central Bank of Iraq. Authorities knew right away who took it — Qusay Hussein, the son of Iraq’s fugitive-dictator Saddam Hussein. Qusay was killed in July during a three-hour gunfight with U.S. troops; Saddam was captured in December near ad-Dawr, where soldiers also discovered nearly $750,000 in fresh $100 bills. An additional $650 million was found hidden in the walls of Hussein’s royal palace. The rest remains unaccounted for. Most officials believe the money is in the hands of the country’s violent insurgency.”

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1865132_1865133_1865200,00.html

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ISIS May Have Looted $430 Million From Mosul’s Central Bank

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“The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (Isis) has become the richest terror group ever after looting 500 billion Iraqi dinars – the equivalent of $429M (£256m) — from Mosul’s central bank, according to the regional governor.  Nineveh governor Atheel al-Nujaifi confirmed Kurdish televison reports that Isis militants had stolen millions from numerous banks across Mosul.  A large quantity of gold bullion is also believed to have been stolen.  Following the siege of the country’s second city, the bounty collected by the group has left it richer than al-Qaeda itself and as wealthy as small nations such as Tonga, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Falkland Islands.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/430m-looted-from-mosuls-central-bank-2014-6

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The Plight of the Russian Taxpayer

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“Without any prior discussion, Makarov suddenly introduced a bill to introduce so-called ‘municipal levies’ on small businesses in 22 areas, including trade, transportation of freight and passengers, auto repair, dry cleaning, hairdressers, jewelry sales and photographic services. Reports indicate that the law will initially apply to small businesses in the major cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sevastopol, but many suspect that it will later include other regions as well.  The authorities are also poised to dramatically increase property taxes.  The authorities also have plans to increase the gasoline tax as well as the cost of utilities, medical care and educational services.”

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/the-plight-of-the-russian-taxpayer/510954.html

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Beijing to back United States over new FATCA law against tax evasion

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“Mainland China has been included on a list of jurisdictions co-operating with the United States on a new law to halt tax evasion.  It removes the threat of blacklisting or penalties that had been hanging over Chinese financial institutions. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (Fatca) is a US law that requires financial institutions around the world to provide information on US taxpayers to the US government. The move will enable Beijing to obtain information on mainland Chinese taxpayers in the US, which will help in its fight against tax evasion and corruption. The US authorities will impose a 30% withholding tax on US-related income going through financial institutions that do not comply with Fatca.”

http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1542111/beijing-back-united-states-over-new-fatca-law-against-tax

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Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required

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“Using a law designed to catch drug traffickers, racketeers and terrorists by tracking their cash, the government has gone after run-of-the-mill business owners and wage earners without so much as an allegation that they have committed serious crimes. The government can take the money without ever filing a criminal complaint, and the owners are left to prove they are innocent.  Many give up.  The I.R.S. is one of several federal agencies that pursue such cases and then refer them to the Justice Department. The Justice Department does not track the total number of cases pursued, the amount of money seized or how many of the cases were related to other crimes.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/us/law-lets-irs-seize-accounts-on-suspicion-no-crime-required.html?_r=0

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Iowa Troopers Steal $100,000 in Poker Winnings From Two Drivers

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“The Des Moines Register highlights an Iowa forfeiture case, the subject of a federal lawsuit filed this week, in which state troopers took $100,000 in winnings from two California poker players traveling through the state on their way back from a World Series of Poker event in Joliet, Illinois.  ‘Both of their California homes were searched the next day by law enforcement based on a tip from an Iowa agent,’ the Register notes. Although both men have state-issued cards identifying them as patients allowed to use cannabis for symptom relief, the paper says, they still faced ‘felony drug charges’ because of the marijuana found in their homes.”

http://reason.com/blog/2014/10/01/iowa-troopers-steal-100000-in-poker-winn

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The Forfeiture Curmudgeons

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“Cash became the crime.  The government figured out that drug sales weren’t done on Visa or MasterCard, but in currency.  Evil currency. So they criminalized cash.  But that still wasn’t enough to feed the hunger of the government and starve the drug kingpins, so then the ‘instrumentalities of the crime’ was conceived. If you drove to a drug deal, the car was an instrumentality. If the drug deal happened in a house, the house was the instrumentality. And even if there was no drug deal at all, it was all an instrumentality or substituted proceeds.  Take the profit out of crime.  This became as important, if not more so, than proving the existence of a crime at all.  And it was so much easier.”

http://blog.simplejustice.us/2014/09/20/the-forfeiture-curmudgeons/

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Japan’s economy shrinks after sales tax hike

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“Japan’s economy contracted by an annualised 6.8% in the second quarter of the year, the biggest fall since 2011 when it was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami.  The official gross domestic product (GDP) figure though was smaller than the 7.1% drop economists expected.  The shrinkage was largely in response to a government sales tax, which held back consumer spending.  Japan’s sales tax rose from 5% to 8% in April.  On a quarterly basis, the economy contracted 1.7% in the second quarter after a 1.5% rise in the first three months. Private consumption, which makes up 60% of economic activity, was 5% down on the previous quarter.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28767708

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