Trouble in Paradise: Paradise Papers Reveal Further Evidence of Corruption Among the Global Elites, Causes More People t

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Dubbed the “Paradise Papers” and published nearly two years after the the infamous Panama Papers, a scandal similar in its implications to the latter but much greater in scale, exploded onto the news pages of the world. These latest revelations divulge an absolutely shocking level of financial corruption amongst members of the global oligarchy and have led to an increasing number of people and institutions to consider adopting cryptocurrency. To re-cap a bit of the details surrounding the scandal that started it all - Panama Papers was a name given to a set of some 11.5 million documents that detail the dealings of a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider - Mossack Fonseca.

The documents, some dating back to the 1970s contain personal financial information about wealthy individuals and public officials that had previously been kept private. More specifically, the documents detail how Mossack Fonseca helped wealthy international clients avoid paying their fair share of taxes by obfuscating their wealth in tax heavens and bogus shell companies around the world. The information in the documents came to light after they were leaked in 2015 by an anonymous source. While offshore business entities are legal, reporters found that a significant amount of the Mossack Fonseca shell corporations were used for illegal purposes, including fraud, tax evasion, and evading international sanctions.

Not was only the scope of the corruption evidenced in The Papers absolutely appalling, but the mere mention of some of the names that appeared in the documents is what astounded many members of the public. Those named in The Papers include the world’s largest businesses, heads of state and important figures in global politics, as well as beloved entertainers and athletes - all who have sheltered their wealth in secretive tax havens.

No sooner than the public outcry over the Panama Papers began to subside, the Paradise Papers - a set of 13.4 million confidential electronic documents relating to offshore tax havens that were leaked to a German newspaper and released to the public on 5 November 2017 - reminded the public that it would be naive to think that the supposed naming and shaming that occurred in the aftermath of the Panama Papers revelations, would prevent members of the global elite from engaging further in such activities.
The documents originate from the offshore law firm Appleby, which has a presence spread across more than 19 tax jurisdictions. They contain the names of more than 120,000 clients - including individuals and companies. Just a few among those whose financial affairs are mentioned are Queen Elizabeth II, the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, the lead vocalist of the band U2, Bono, and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross. Corporations such as Facebook, Apple, Uber, Nike, Walmart, Allianz, Siemens, McDonald's, and Yahoo! are only some among the companies named, that aggressively sought to avoid paying their fair share of the tax burden.

In contrast to the Panama Papers, which involved only a single country, Appleby’s shady dealings have a footprint across more than 19 different sovereign territories - most of them well known tax havens. The affair also served to publicly discredit the image of Mossack Fonseca. Appleby on the other hand, when approached by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with allegations of wrongdoing, denied that any misconduct whatsoever has a occurred and issued a public statement saying: "No evidence of wrongdoing has been found. We are a law firm which advises clients on legitimate and lawful ways to conduct their business", and "We do not tolerate illegal behaviour."

Despite these assertions, most members of the global public responded with general incredulity. Indeed such was the level of outrage among the global citizenry that even the beloved rockers U2 did manage to evade the fury. At a recent concert, protesters mounted a sign opposite the stage reading: “U pay taxes 2?!” -- a reference to the perceived hypocrisy displayed by Bono and his bandmates in taking a very vocal anti-establishment stance in public but in private, engaging in the same type of financial corruption as the very establishment they criticize.

As in the case of the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers scandal has given more ammunition to proponents of cryptocurrency. Advocates of electronic currency adoption contend that the above-mentioned financial corruption would be very difficult to engage in, if the global financial system were to adopt more blockchain based digital currencies, as the very nature of a publicly distributed ledger would provide a great deal more transparency to the system.