Cyprus a “Laundry Machine for Dirty Russian Money”
Illegal Inflows of Capital Estimated at US$552.9 Billion; Driving Underground Economy, Crime, Tax Evasion
US$764.3 Billion in Total Illicit Flows (Inflows + Outflows) Measured
Russia’s Underground Economy Averages 46% of GDP, 35% in 2011; Weak Governance and Endemic Tax Evasion Lead to Increasing Outflows
WASHINGTON, DC – The Russian economy hemorrhaged US$211.5 billion in illicit financial outflows from 1994—the earliest year for which data is available following the dissolution of the Soviet Union—through 2011, according to a new report released Wednesday by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization. The study, titled “Russia: Illicit Financial Flows and the Role of the Underground Economy,” [HTML | PDF] also measures massive illicit inflows to the Russian economy of $552.9 billion over the 18-year time-span, raising serious questions about the economic and political stability of the nation currently chairing the G20.
E.J. Fagan, +1 202 293 0740 ext. 227
Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Introduce CUT Loopholes Act
WASHINGTON DC – In the midst of a Congressional and White House showdown over the impending sequestration, and growing calls for corporate tax reform, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) put forth the Cut Unjustified Tax Loopholes Act (S. 268, CUT Loopholes Act). This bill, which closes loopholes and strengthens enforcement measures against offshore tax haven abuse, could raise nearly $200 billion over ten years.
The details of the HSBC money laundering case are simultaneously enraging and sickening, as the comedian Jon Stewart reminded us all on The Daily Show this week. HSBC agreed last month to pay the U.S. government $1.9 billion to settle a probe into widespread money laundering facilitation by the New York branch of Europe’s largest bank. But, this is not mere money we are talking about; it is the daily gang violence on the streets of our cities and towns, it is the increased likelihood that your children will be offered drugs in their schools, it is the abduction of children and selling them into the sex trade. Authorities estimate that the average annual income generated from a trafficked child is $200,000 per year. That money has to be laundered somewhere, by someone.
For most of my professional life, I owned and operated a number of businesses in Nigeria. My partners and I would find a failing company, buy it out, and rebuild it as an efficient, well-run enterprise that turned a profit. We paid our taxes, refused to participate in bribery or corruption, and created jobs.
I am sad to say that when Nigerians look into the future, they do not see the optimism that I experienced back in the 1960s and ’70s. Their country has been torn apart not just by civil war, but also by the terrible forces of crime, corruption, and tax evasion. After years of seeing the quality of life for so many people in Nigeria decrease, I decided that I was obligated to do something about it. I founded Global Financial integrity, an organization dedicated to curtailing illicit money leaving countries like Nigeria around the world.
E.J. Fagan, +1 202 293 0740 ext. 227
Illicit Financial Outflows Cost Developing World $859 Billion in 2010, Rebounding Rapidly from Financial Crisis
Nearly $6 Trillion Stolen from Poor Countries in Decade between 2001 and 2010
WASHINGTON, DC – Crime, corruption, and tax evasion cost the developing world $858.8 billion in 2010, just below the all-time high of $871.3 billion set in 2008—the year preceding the global financial crisis. The findings are part of a new study released today by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based research and advocacy organization.
E.J. Fagan, +1 202 293 0740 ext. 227
Latest Global Financial Integrity Research Places India as Decade’s 8th Largest Exporter of Illicit Capital
Illicit Outflows Cost Developing World US$859 Billion in 2010, Rebounding Rapidly from Financial Crisis
WASHINGTON, DC – The Indian economy suffered US$1.6 billion in illicit financial outflows in 2010, capping-off a decade in which the world’s largest democracy experienced black money loses of US$123 billion, according to the latest report released today by Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization.
Capital Flight Fueling Poverty In One of the World’s Poorest Nations, Writes GFI Economist
WASHINGTON DC – Illicit financial flows due to crime, corruption, and tax evasion cost Zambia $8.8 billion from 2001-2010, finds a forthcoming report from Global Financial Integrity (GFI).
WASHINGTON, DC – As the world observes International Anti-Corruption Day this Sunday, December 9, 2012, Global Financial Integrity highlighted some of the most notable achievements, developments, and short-comings in the fight against corruption over the past year.
