It was a major mistake of International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to hack FinCEN [*] (or illegally receive FinCEN documents) and publish information obtained from FinCEN’s confidential documents. So this month ICIJ has gone back to its regular trade, by publishing documents obtained from their usual targets, company service providers, this time under the name ‘Pandora Papers’ [1].

In the publications the journalists mix unimportant events (like the investment by the Dutch Minister of Finance, Hoekstra [2]) with data on criminals and suggestive information regarding rich people. As usual, the articles focus on sensation and do not address the general context of tax competition and international transactions, because that does not interest readers. The public response is predictable: questions in the European Parliament and the national parliaments, questions by supervisors, etcetera [3].

The most important questions are not answered, like:

• Where does the information come from? It would not surprise me when there is governmental assistance. [4]
• What is de political background of the agents providing the data to ICIJ?
• On whose behalf ICIJ is working?
• Who is funding ICIJ?
• How the selection is made and what is left out? Are the accusations correct and adequate?

I’m waiting for another Pandora’s box.

—

[*] The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is a U.S. governmental authority.

Amazing coincidences that neither hedge fund oligarch George Soros nor tech oligarch Omidyar are ever implicated in any of these Panama/Pandora leaks that their foundations underwrite. We Americans are lucky to have such honest incorruptible oligarchs ruling over us.

— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) October 3, 2021

Notes

[1] Offshore havens and hidden riches of world leaders and billionaires exposed in unprecedented leak, The Power Players, ICIJ.
[2] Dutch minister draws fire on EU and tax-havens, EUObserver; Minister Hoekstra overtrad geen wet, maar was blind voor morele vraag, NRC. Fiscale safari, FD 5 October 2021: “De hooivorken gingen op Twitter hoog de lucht in. Want oh oh, dat Hoekstra met zijn vrinden van Minerva (old boys network!) al op zijn 34ste zomaar €26.500 kon investeren (bevoorrechte elite!) in duurzaam toerisme in Afrika (neokolonialisme!). Allemaal irrelevant natuurlijk. Een lachertje bovendien vergeleken bij de strapatsen van buitenlandse politici“. De Wopke-rel is een tropische storm in een glas water, Jesse Frederik, 7 oktober 2021. Frederik: “Vijftien jaar later. Staat je naam opeens in de Pandora Papers, de Gouden Gids van ’s werelds meest notoire belastingmijders – koning Abdullah, Vladimir Poetin, Shakira, Wopke Hoekstra. ‘Hoekstra staat nu schouder aan schouder met de Italiaanse maffia, die ook zulke schimmige belastingconstructies gebruikt’, verklaarde Europarlementariër Paul Tang (PvdA). Lees hier de opmerking van Paul Tang. Columnisten draaiden overuren“, terwijl Hoekstra niets heeft misdaan.
[3] European Parliament: Parliament slams EU governments during debate on Pandora Papers, 6 October 2021; EU must step up its game against harmful tax practices, says Parliament, 7 October 2021.
[4] Like suggested by some articles 1, 2, 3, but I have not the time or resources to check these sources. Read also: Wenn Medienschaffende fast wie Geheimdienstler arbeiten, Infosperber, criticizing that verification of the journalists is impossible, “Nicht thematisiert wird die zunehmende Kritik an den globalen Rechercheteams, zu denen die «Süddeutsche» und in der Schweiz der «Tages-Anzeiger» gehören. Deren spannenden Enthüllungen lassen nach der Publikation oft jede Transparenz über Materialien und Grundlagen vermissen. Damit behalten ausgewählte Medienschaffende nicht nur die Deutungshoheit über ihre Recherchen, sie können auch Informationen filtern und Storys selektiv verbreiten. Ihre Arbeit wird damit weniger angreifbar, Nachrecherchen und Einregionalisierungen werden oft verunmöglicht.“