Shell Companies and Government Corruption
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S Shell Companies and the special function to cover the shady business of Government Corruption the global elite, including numerous senior politi- cians, heads of states, and dictators (Obermayer David Jancsics and Obermaier 2016). Yet, autocrats and their School of Public Affairs, San Diego State cronies extensively use shell companies, not just University Imperial Valley Campus, in tax havens but in the Western world so that they San Diego, CA, USA can hold their illegally accumulated wealth in the financial institutions of democratic countries (Sharman 2017, pp. 73–74). Moreover, corrupt Synonyms politicians and government officials also use domestic shell companies in their home countries Dummy corporation; Front organization; Off- to facilitate illicit transactions (Jancsics 2017). shore company; Stooge; Straw man Shell companies are typically formed and maintained by Corporate Service Providers (CSPs), or intermediary law or accounting firms. Definition Transactions and assets can be tracked back to shell companies established by a CSP but not to A shell company is supposedly an independent, the actual people who indirectly and covertly legal business entity that is used to separate and exercise control over the company. Shell compa- hide the identity of its real owner. The use of shell nies may constitute complex corporate structures companies can be legal when they serve as tech- in which they act as shareholders of another such nical vehicles facilitating complicated business company. One subcategory of shell companies, transactions, but they are often used for illegal called “shelf” companies, includes organizations purposes. kept “on the shelf” for sale later on. Since finan- cial institutions often prefer to do business with companies that have been in existence for a cer- Introduction tain number of years, such appearance of longev- ity may be attractive to buyers who want to use As the Panama Papers leak exposed in 2016, the shell companies to obtain leases, credit, and bank secret world of shell companies is not a small- loans. scale marginal phenomenon, as previously The use of shell companies can be perfectly believed, but a widespread and complex network legal. For example, they might be created for of offshore companies in remote tax havens with mergers and joint ventures by business partners # Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 A. Farazmand (ed.), Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3566-1 2 Shell Companies and Government Corruption to simplify matters or to guarantee impartial legal those in Central Asia, are happy to use them to treatment for the parties in a neutral jurisdiction. facilitate their high-level grand corruption Shell companies can be also used to hold personal (Cooley and Heathershaw 2017). Empirical or family assets to facilitate inheritance or protect research finds that CSPs in wealthy Western coun- against attachment by creditors (Van der Does de tries are the least inclined to comply with interna- Willebois et al. 2011). Furthermore, when buying tional standards (Findley et al. 2014). Domestic property or land, well-known brands often hide laws may also support such behavior. For exam- their identity behind shell companies so they can ple, the United States is among the most tolerant be protected from extortive price increases by the countries when it comes to regulating shell com- owner (Findley et al. 2014, pp. 33). Hollywood panies (Sharman 2017). Here CSPs are under no stars also use shell companies to shield the loca- obligation to establish the true identity of the tion of their residence from the general client who becomes the company owner. The public. Firms, still legally, can create offshore most infamous tax haven states in the USA are shell companies in order to lower their tax bills Nevada, Wyoming, Delaware, and Florida. Some at home. The lucrative business of shell compa- industries are especially vulnerable to corrupt nies in tax havens such as Panama can be traced shell company use. For instance, the US real estate back to the 1920s, but their use has significantly industry makes less than minimal effort to exam- increased since 2005 when the European Union ine the identity and background of property introduced a tax penalizing interest on income buyers behind shell companies (Cooley earned by EU residents in tax havens et al. 2018). (Obermayer and Obermaier 2016, pp. 13). Since We can classify shell companies along two the tax applies to accounts owned by only indi- main dimensions, the location where companies viduals not shell companies, European depositors are formed (offshore vs. onshore shells) and the can shift their assets to such technical vehicles. form of operation (live vs. empty shells). A shell company can hold bank accounts, own assets, and engage in transactions. In many coun- tries, shell companies are cheap and easy to estab- Location: Offshore Versus Onshore lish. Confidentiality is their key advantage. Since they provide convenient vehicles for moving The main advantage of offshore shells for corrupt money secretly, even across national borders or actors is that they are in remote tax haven coun- hiding real owners of assets, they can also be used tries where authorities are typically not too eager for illegal purposes such as laundering money, to investigate suspicious cases. Moreover, Webs evading taxes, financing terrorism, busting inter- of shell companies are often linked together national sanctions, and facilitating corruption. across multiple offshore jurisdictions which This entry chapter discusses the specific phenom- makes obtaining information about them espe- enon when shell companies are used in corrupt cially difficult (Van der Does de Willebois et al. transactions. Here the most important function 2011). The infamous Panama Papers leak in 2016 that a shell company can offer for its corrupt revealed the entire internal database of Mossack shadow owner is providing anonymity while Fonseca, a major Panamanian law firm specializ- simultaneously guaranteeing control over the ing in forming anonymous shell companies shell company and its resources. (Obermayer and Obermaier 2016). It included Despite the popular conceptions that shell the records of 214,000 offshore shell companies, companies exist only in exotic tax havens such names of their true owners, passport scans, bank as Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, or statements, and email conversations between the Panama, the West has a significant role in hosting CSP and the owner’s representatives. The leak illegal money via shell companies. Surprisingly exposed illegal money movements of several the majority of shell companies are formed in non- prominent figures, for example, the Nicaraguan tax haven Western countries and dictators, such as president Arnoldo “Fat Man” Alemán, who has Shell Companies and Government Corruption 3 been declared one of the 10 most corrupt politi- Domestic shell company arrangements also cians of all time by Transparency International, a enable corrupt political elites to turn public global anti-corruption watchdog. Alemán used resources into private ones under a veil of com- shell companies to channel almost $100 millions plete secrecy. These actors pay particular attention of public funds into his own pocket. The Papers to making their operations seem lawful and had serious political consequences such as the extract money through legal contracts that require resignation of Iceland prime minister, a massive a large number of “clean” shell companies demonstration in Argentina, a small war in (Jancsics 2017). Some of these cases are discussed Azerbaijan, the block of words “Panama Papers” in the next section under the category of live on the Internet by Chinese authorities, and the shells. unpleasant confession of his late father’s decade- long tax evasion by the former British Prime Min- ister, David Cameron. Form of Operation: Empty Versus Live Onshore or domestic shell companies are typ- Shells ically established by corrupt actors in their home country to facilitate corruption. Despite the fact Echoing the mainstream approach of shell com- that political campaign contributions are sup- panies, empty shells do not have real operations, posed to be transparent in most democratic coun- employees, infrastructure, or assets while live tries, domestic shells are frequently used by shells, a less researched phenomenon, are func- powerful corporations to get access to the political tioning entities controlled by shadow owners arena while keeping their identity and affiliation (Jancsics 2017). Most offshore shell companies with politicians secret. For example, in the USA, are empty shells that have no physical presence shell companies are often registered with the sole other than a mailing address, yet onshore or purpose of receiving untraceable and unaccount- domestic versions of these companies also exist. able donations for campaigns of politicians, even This type of shell company is often set up only for presidential candidates (Findley et al. 2014, a single corrupt transaction and then left dormant. pp. 29–30). The most recent example is the shell Empty shells can be established to serve a very company, Essential Consultants LLC, established simple function, receiving bribe cash secretly, for by President Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen to be instance, in the form of a “consultancy fee.” Cor- able to pay hush money and receive invisible rupt politicians