INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS OF PANAMA PAPERS DATA YIELDS NEW OFFENDERS

A data analysis, by an independent company, of the information contained in the 11.5m documents, has yielded results not previously found. Technicians, employing software designed to help businesses analyze large amounts of data have found additional categories of individuals who used Mossack Fonseca's corporation formation services for tax avoidance, and, reportedly, for the illegal purpose of tax evasion.

The software found:

(1) Politically Exposed Persons, more commonly known as PEPs,. were not the largest group who used Mossack Fonseca to form offshore corporations with bearer shares, or foundations, as well as open bank accounts in the name of these anonymous entities, in tax haven jurisdictions.

(2) Professional athletes represented the largest single group. The next largest group were artists; PEPs, most of whom were politicians, were third.

(3) Among the athletes, the ranking was as follows:
     (A) Soccer [Football] players.
     (B) Tennis & Basketball players.
     (C) Hockey & Volleyball players.

Professional athletes. whose playing careers often only span a few years, earn huge salaries, and are often motivated to shelter that income from the high tax brackets that their income confers, in their countries of residence. Obviously, some of their advisers choose to engage in tax evasion, in an effort to hide their clients' wealth from the taxman, according to this data analysis.

Based upon these results, compliance officers would be best served by designating all professional athletes for enhanced due diligence,  at account opening, and subsequent account monitoring, to insure that these categories of bank clients are not engaged in tax evasion, using offshore companies & bank accounts.