‘Panama Papers’ Implicate Client of Clinton-Linked Lobbying Firm

FreeBacon ^ | April 5, 2016 | BY:

[Steelfish]

‘Panama Papers’ Implicate Client of Clinton-Linked Lobbying Firm Podesta Group registered to lobby for bank subsidiary weeks before tax haven leak

BY: Lachlan Markay April 5, 2016

A firm with ties to senior members of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign registered to lobby on behalf of a major Russian bank just weeks before a massive leak exposed the bank’s role in a web of secret financial dealings that have enriched members of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

The “Panama Papers” are being called “the Wikileaks of the mega-rich.” Corporate documents leaked from the law firm Mossack Fonseca show how world leaders have used offshore tax havens to hide their involvement in lucrative companies and business deals around the world.

Among those companies is the Russian Sberbank, whose U.S. investment banking branch recently enlisted the services of the Podesta Group. According to its lobbying registration form, the firm will work on banking, trade, and foreign relations issues.

One of the three lobbyists working on the account is Tony Podesta, a bundler for the Clinton campaign and the brother of campaign chairman John Podesta, who co-founded the firm.

Politico reported last month that Podesta and two of the firm’s other lobbyists would be working to affect “the scope of U.S. sanctions against Russia for its role in the Ukraine conflict and whether relief is possible.”

In addition to the company’s Russian parent, the lobbying registration form lists three other directly-affiliated foreign entities: Cayman Islands-based Troika Dialog Group Limited, Cyprus-based SBGB Cyprus Limited, and Luxembourg-based SB International.

According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, a consortium of journalists exploring the Panama Papers leak, Sberbank and Troika Dialog have ties to companies used by members of Putin’s inner circle to funnel state resources into lucrative private investments.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

They are really forked now. Imagine being a large firm concentrated in that line of practice, and having those that never heard of you learn that you lead with your a$$ when it comes to information security. Major likelihood this firm is going tango uniform soon.

[Ann Archy]

If any Podesta is involved, so is the Clinton Crime Family Slush Fund.