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Democratic congressman Alan Grayson reportedly unleashed a profanity-laced tirade against a reporter who questioned his offshore investments during a recent interview, angrily asking the journalist if he’s “some kind of s**tting robot” who goes around “s**tting on people.” The fiery moment reportedly came after Tampa Bay Times political editor Adam Smith inquired about some accounts in the Cayman Islands which he said Grayson “incorporated … so investors could avoid taxes”; the politician railed against this accusation.

glaringly missing from the summary was mention of $15 million in fees paid by Burkle's Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund since 2002

A joint investigation by the Washington Examiner and the nonprofit watchdog group Judicial Watch found that former President Clinton gave 215 speeches and earned $48 million while his wife presided over U.S. foreign policy, raising questions about whether the Clintons fulfilled ethics agreements related to the Clinton Foundation during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. According to documents obtained by Judicial Watch and released Wednesday in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act case, State Department officials charged with reviewing Bill Clinton's proposed speeches did not object to a single one. Some of the speeches were delivered in global hotspots...

Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic fundraiser-turned-gubernatorial-candidate, is closely linked to a company headquartered in a Cayman Islands building long derided as a tax shelter by President Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats. The company, Leaf Clean Energy, trades on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LEAF and describes itself as “a renewable energy and sustainable technology investment firm.” In its most recent report to investors, the company listed as its official address a post-office box in Ugland House, a Grand Cayman office building that serves as the nominal headquarters for nearly 19,000 companies. Ugland House has attracted considerable...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/jl2002.aspx Treasury Targets Major Money Laundering Network Operating Out of Colombia 7/9/2013 Trade Based Money Laundering Network Supported Narcotics Traffickers Ayman Joumaa and Evaristo Linares Castillo WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of Colombian nationals Isaac Perez Guberek Ravinovicz and his son, Henry Guberek Grimberg, as well as 29 other individuals and entities, including companies located in Colombia, Panama, and Israel, as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs). These 31 individuals and entities together form a money laundering network responsible for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in...

Every so often, you get a “teaching moment” in Washington, and we now have an excellent opportunity to educate lawmakers about the “offshore” world because President Obama’s nominee to be Treasury Secretary has been caught with his hand in the tax haven cookie jar. Mr. Lew not only invested some of his own money in a Cayman-based fund, he also was in charge of a Citi Bank division that had over 100 Cayman-domiciled funds.As you can imagine, Republicans are having some fun with this issue.Mitt Romney was subjected to a lot of class-warfare demagoguery during the 2012 campaign because he...

I point this out, not because I think that Lew’s erstwhile Cayman Island holdings in and of themselves should be a discrediting factor in his nomination to replace Tim Geithner as head of the Treasury Department; again, if politicians are looking for someone or something to blame for wealthy people looking to save more of their own money by moving it to offshore accounts, then maybe they should start with our ridiculously uncompetitive and bulky tax code. Quite blaming the symptoms, people, and try blaming the disease instead. I point this out, because of the spectacular showcase it provides into...

An investment Jack Lew made in the Cayman Islands has been flagged as an issue in the Treasury secretary nominee’s vetting by the Senate Finance Committee, according to multiple sources close to the confirmation process. The White House says the investment was previously disclosed and is already a public matter. Republican staff “have told us that there are concerns,” said Sean Neary, a spokesman for Finance Committee Democrats. “This came out through the vetting process in prior confirmations. Once it was looked into deeper, it was determined that it was not an issue. Lew has been completely transparent and forthcoming...

One of the many tense moments in the second presidential debate turned on a new topic in the race: President Barack Obama’s pension account. Here’s how it came up: Early in the face-off, Obama scoffed at Mitt Romney’s pledge to crack down on unfair trading practices by China, saying Romney is currently invested in companies "that are building surveillance equipment for China to spy on its own folks." Romney later explained that, yes, he understands that his blind trust has invested in foreign firms, including companies in China. Then he confronted Obama. Romney: "Mr. President, have you looked at your...

A top Obama campaign bundler living in Shanghai, China, is an international businessman with ties to the Cayman Islands. Robert W. Roche has lived in China and Japan for the past 27 years, although he maintains a residence in Chicago. He has used his extensive connections to raise money for the Obama campaign, and has pledged to raise $500,000 for the Obama campaign this year, an upgrade from the $100,000-200,000 he agreed to raise four years ago. He donated the maximum $50,000 allowable to Obama’s inauguration fund in 2009. Roche’s wife, Ritsuko Hattori-Roche, along with Roche’s business partner Don Yang,...

A Southern Californian man thrown off a Caribbean gay cruise earlier this week has said that that he and his partner were taunted, humiliated and subjected to inhumane treatment when they were arrested for indecent exposure.Dennis Jay Mayer, 53, of Palm Springs said he has no doubt they were arrested in Dominica because they were gay. Police said it was because they were seen having sex in public on the balcony of their ship cabin. Mayer said they were not having sex, but were ‘partially clothed’. (edit) The pastor of Dominica's Trinity Baptist Church, Randy Rodney, praised the police for their...

Once thing's for sure. Mitt Romney didn't send his money down to the Cayman Islands to work on its tan. The former Massachusetts governor has been criticized by some for having some of his vast fortune in the Caribbean offshore banking center. Yes, it was politically clumsy. But it was not uncommon, and -- assuming he has filed all the right disclosures -- it was perfectly legal. But if you're not running for president, and don't have to worry about public relations, what are the legitimate reasons for moving money offshore? I spoke to Jim Duggan, a partner at Chicago...

Romney Parks Millions in Offshore Tax Haven By MATTHEW MOSK, BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) and MEGAN CHUCHMACH (@megcourtney) Jan. 18, 2012 Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven. A spokesperson for the Romney campaign says Romney follows all tax laws and he would pay the same in taxes regardless of where the funds are based. As the race for the Republican nomination heats up, Mitt Romney is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a...

Former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer on Monday gave WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange data on about 2,000 clients that he contends may have evaded taxes, published reports said. At a press conference in London, Elmer told reporters about 40 politicians and “pillars of society” were among the individuals he gave Assange information on, the reports said. Elmer told The Observer newspaper during the weekend that the individuals named in the data include “business people, politicians, people who have made their living in the arts and multinational conglomerates — from both sides of the Atlantic.” Elmer once headed the Cayman Islands office...

The offshore bank account details of 2,000 "high net worth individuals" and corporations – detailing massive potential tax evasion – will be handed over to the WikiLeaks organisation in London tomorrow by the most important and boldest whistleblower in Swiss banking history, Rudolf Elmer, two days before he goes on trial in his native Switzerland. British and American individuals and companies are among the offshore clients whose details will be contained on CDs presented to WikiLeaks at the Frontline Club in London. Those involved include, Elmer tells the Observer, "approximately 40 politicians". Elmer, who after his press conference will return...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://treas.gov/press/releases/tg46.htm March 3, 2009 TG-46 Treasury Designates Companies Tied to Iran’s Bank Melli as Proliferators Washington, DC -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated 11 companies under Executive Order 13382 for their ties to Iran's Bank Melli. E.O 13382 is an authority aimed at freezing the assets of Weapons of Mass Destruction proliferators and those who support them. Bank Melli has been designated as a proliferator by the United States, the European Union, and Australia for its role in Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Additionally, United Nations Security Council Resolution...

Offshore centre of choice for the world's hedge funds has admitted it may have to begin a new life – as a tax haven with taxes. After lengthy wrangling, the British overseas territory on Wednesday confirmed that it has finally secured permission from the UK to obtain a CI$50m (£38m) bail-out loan to plug a 35pc-40pc collapse in revenue this year. The island's government has also signalled that it is ready to cave into UK conditions on slashing government expenditure and an independent report on reform of its tax system that could see it start to impose direct levies to...

A Swiss bank that used its Cayman Islands’ branch to engage in what a US federal judge has branded “predatory lending practices” is being investigated by the US authorities. Senior officials of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second largest bank, are facing claims that they pocketed millions of dollars by dishing out loans that were impossible to repay. On Tuesday, 15 September, 31 of the bank’s officials received subpoenas demanding that they hand over internal documents that explain why they loaned $375 million to the now bankrupt Yellowstone Club in 2005. The Yellowstone Club, founded by American tycoon Tim Blixseth, was once...

• Collapse of offshore centres could cost UK many millions • Liberal Vince Cable says it is wrong to reward mismanagement Britain could be forced to bail out one or more of its offshore tax havens at huge cost, according to early drafts of a Treasury report, because the economic crisis has wrecked their finances. Offshore expert Michael Foot will next month set out a number of options to government ministers in the report as anxiety grows within Whitehall over the health of Britain's overseas territories and crown dependencies. Senior insiders say early drafts of Foot's report suggest that the...

Cayman Hedge Funds Break 10,000 Barrier, by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London Last updated 30 hours ago | Monday, August 11, 2008 Recent second quarter figures from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA), have confirmed the achievement of a key milestone by the Cayman Islands financial services industry, with more than 10,000 investment funds currently registered in the jurisdiction. At the end of June 2008 there were 10,037 funds on CIMA's register, compared with 9,681 at the end of the previous quarter and 8,972 at the mid point of 2007. The current annual growth rate of 12% in net new hedge...