# IRS probes Belize offshore accounts



## Disir (Sep 19, 2015)

Uncle Sam” has ramped up collection efforts on US taxpayers, including US citizens, Belizeans with dual nationality and green card holders who are believed to be hiding their wealth in offshore jurisdictions in Belize, which has not only been dubbed as a “tax haven” – but has also been listed as one of the major money laundering jurisdictions by the United States Government.

Miami federal judge Ursula Ungaro—who 10 years ago had presided over litigation in the telecommunications saga of Jeffrey Prosser against the Government of Belize—granted a petition this Wednesday, September 16, to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the United States government agency responsible for tax law enforcement, which will allow the IRS to issue two “John Doe” summonses to Bank of America and Citibank, both of Miami, Florida, in order to probe into offshore accounts held by thousands of Americans who may have stashed their wealth in The Jewel.

   Offshore accounts in Belize should only be held by non-residents – not by persons living in Belize.

   The IRS summonses are engineered to probe into financial transactions facilitated over the last 8 years (December 31, 2006 to December 31, 2014) by Belize’s largest commercial bank, the Belize Bank, and its offshore counterpart – Belize Bank International, both subsidiaries of BCB Holdings, which had their correspondent banking relations with Bank of America severed at the end of April 2015, purportedly after the US bank cited “a business model mismatch.”

     The summonses also extend to a third related Belizean company, Belize Corporate Services (BCS) Limited.
IRS probes Belize  offshore accounts!

How unfortunate.


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## waltky (Apr 3, 2016)

Huge leak reveals elite's tax havens...

*News group claims huge trove of data on offshore accounts *
_Apr 3,`16  -- An international coalition of media outlets on Sunday published what it said was an extensive investigation into the offshore financial dealings of the rich and famous, based on a vast trove of documents provided by an anonymous source._


> The International Consortium of Investigative Journalism, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, said the cache of 11.5 million records detailed the offshore holdings of a dozen current and former world leaders, as well as businessmen, criminals, celebrities and sports stars.  The Associated Press wasn't immediately able to verify the allegations made in articles that were published by the more than 100 news organizations around the world involved in the investigation.  However, the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which first received the data more than a year ago, said it was confident the material was genuine.
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See also:

*Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca leak reveals elite's tax havens*
_Sun, 03 Apr 2016 - A huge leak of confidential documents from a Panamanian law firm reveals how the rich and powerful launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax._


> A huge leak of confidential documents has revealed how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.  Eleven million documents were leaked from one of the world's most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.  They show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax.
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Related:

*Panama to work "vigorously" to investigate offshore accounts*
_Apr 3,16  -- Panama's president says his government will cooperate "vigorously" with any judicial investigation arising from the leak of a vast trove of information on the offshore financial dealings of the world's rich and famous._


> An international coalition of media outlets Sunday published investigations it said stemmed from the leak of 115 million records kept by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca on behalf of clients.
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> President Juan Carlos Varela said in a statement that the revelations shouldn't detract from his government's "zero tolerance" for any illicit activities in Panama's finance industry.
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