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How to Hide a Billion Dollars

163 points by known 7y ago

forinti 7y ago
These articles always focus on poor countries, but shouldn't we treat such places as Switzerland as corrupt, given that the money always seems to end up there or it is used as a stepping stone so that mineral wealth can be siphoned off cheaply (and thus pay less taxes)?
- kenneth 7y ago
  Before blaming Switzerland, perhaps best to take a look at places such as the U.S. and Delaware, which gets even more of the world's shady business.
  - bpodgursky 7y ago
    Because it isn't true? Delaware doesn't charge state corporate income tax and has a specialized business court system. It does nothing to shelter you from international taxation.
    - newguy1234 7y ago
      The only reason people believe this non-sense is because of how we are going into another election cycle and pundits like to stoke people's ignorance of international finance/taxation. If you repeat a lie enough, it becomes reality and then you can use that new reality to push your agenda through with the support of the ignorant masses.
      - chillwaves 7y ago
        For someone railing against "ignorance," your comment is certainly lacking in knowledge. Some useful information would be helpful.
    - kgwgk 7y ago
      Deleware, like most states, doesn’t require companies to identify the beneficial owners. But that may change: https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-passes-bill-to-expose-owners-of-shell-companies-11571785516 https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-passes-bill-to-expose-own...
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- ur-whale 7y ago
  People who watched too many James Bond movies in the 70's love to blame Switzerland for money laundering. The fact is Switzerland has very much cleaned up their act in the last 10 years, and the worse offender when it comes to cleaning and hiding ill-gotten gains these days are actually the US and Canada.
  - forinti 7y ago
    And The City with all its tentacles in sunny islands.
- PeterisP 7y ago
  Leadership is corrupt when it acts against the interests of their people to benefit their personal interests. Swiss government is accountable to their people, not to foreigners - if they choose to act in a manner that benefits the swiss (not because it somehow directly enriches these Swiss leaders personally) at the expense of some other people exploited by their corrupt dictator, then that's not a corrupt action but a prudent decision for the benefit of their country, possibly even a duty if their people support that.
neonate 7y ago
http://archive.is/frnY9 http://archive.is/frnY9 https://web.archive.org/web/20191014191405/https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/10/10/how-to-hide-a-billion-dollars https://web.archive.org/web/20191014191405/https://www.econo...
- ngold 7y ago
  So you’ve stolen a billion dollars. That was the easy part. The country of which you are president may be poor, which is a pity, but it is also lawless, which creates opportunities. The auditors, police and prosecutors who should have slapped the hand you put in the treasury chose to kiss it instead. So your pockets are bulging with ill-gotten loot. There is just one snag: the world has grown less tolerant of kleptocrats. Back in the good old days of the cold war, strongmen could be strongmen. When Mobutu Sese Seko, the late dictator of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, robbed his country into a coma, no one cared. (Apart from his subjects, of course.) When his household drained 10,000 bottles of pink champagne a year and Mobutu kept a Concorde idling on the runway of his tropical palace, his Western backers turned a blind eye, so long as he did not invite the Soviets into central Africa. Likewise, the Soviets overlooked the equally egregious thievery of their clients in Angola. And a kleptocrat in those days had no trouble finding places to park his squillions. Swiss bankers vied to offer him roomy vaults. Estate agents on the Côte d’Azur rolled out the gold-thread carpet. Get our daily newsletter Recently, however, Western governments have been confiscating looted assets and prosecuting those involved in corruption far beyond their borders (see Middle East & Africa section). This year America’s Justice Department indicted a former finance minister of Mozambique and won convictions against several ex-Credit Suisse bankers over the embezzlement of $2bn in loans. Malaysia’s former prime minister, Najib Razak, lost his job and his liberty after America revealed that he had $700m in personal bank accounts; American prosecutors are still pursuing his alleged money-launderer. Last month Swiss authorities auctioned off $27m-worth of sports cars seized from Teodorin Nguema Obiang, the unaccountably wealthy son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, a tiny oil-rich dictatorship. It was not his first brush with foreign law enforcement. In 2014 he had to hand over assets worth $30m after America’s Justice Department said he had embarked on a “corruption-fuelled” shopping spree “after raking in millions in bribes and kickbacks”. Everywhere, pilfering potentates and their progeny must be nervous. So here are some steps they can take to safeguard their loot. First, stay away from social media. The younger Mr Obiang posed on Instagram in fancy cars and on private jets. That may have impressed his friends, but it also raised awkward questions about how he could afford such extravagant toys. Second, avoid purchases so conspicuous that they make headlines. Kolawole Akanni Aluko, a Nigerian businessman accused of bribery, not only spent $80m on a superyacht—he also reportedly rented it to Jay-Z and Beyoncé for $900,000 a week. These (blameless) singers attract a certain amount of attention. Mr Aluko might have avoided unwelcome scrutiny had he bought a less blingtastic boat. Third, keep an emergency stash close to hand. The late Robert Mugabe, who misruled Zimbabwe for three decades, always travelled with a suitcase of “coup money”, in case he was ousted while abroad. Cash piles must be looked after, mind. A former ruler of Equatorial Guinea, Francisco Macías Nguema, kept a large portion of the country’s foreign reserves in a bamboo hut in his garden. He forgot to waterproof the hut, alas, and much of his stash rotted. One way to protect overseas assets is to claim they belong to the state. The younger Mr Obiang stopped France from selling his home in Paris by insisting it was owned by his country’s embassy. His lawyers also say that a $100m superyacht seized by the Netherlands was a naval vessel. Prosecutors are mystified as to what military purpose might be served by the upper deck’s jacuzzi. Another way to elide the distinction between public and personal property is to be royal. Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) lives like a king—and it’s legal. Gulf royals were reportedly among the bidders for Mr Obiang’s cars. One final thought. How about ruling honestly? This is not as crazy as it sounds. Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-British telecoms tycoon, has endowed a $5m prize each year for an African president who governs well and retires when his term is up. You can live quite well on $5m. Yet for seven of the 12 years since
gwbas1c 7y ago
Bitcoin! (Loud chorus of laughter)
- nickthemagicman 7y ago
  That could be an article titled how to lose a billion dollars.
  - therein 7y ago
    Tether it is then. \s
    - DuskStar 7y ago
      That's how to steal a billion - related but not quite the same thing.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
  - vl 7y ago
    Bitcoin futures!
- k_sze 7y ago
  No. You hide it behind a paywall!
Havoc 7y ago
>Prosecutors are mystified as to what military purpose might be served by the upper deck’s jacuzzi. Actually South Africa's former crooked president solved that. You see it's not a swimming pool. It's a firepool. A source of water in case of fire. Making it a safety feature and thus legitimate expense to guard the president. And to prove it they - I kid you not - made a youtube video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH2PWsn1qu8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH2PWsn1qu8
- toomanybeersies 7y ago
  That's actually a legitimate feature of a swimming pool if the building doesn't have another water supply (e.g. mains water or a pond) nearby. In Australia they are a tax deductible expense as a water facility: https://www.theland.com.au/story/4330059/cool-pool-20k-tax-write-off/ https://www.theland.com.au/story/4330059/cool-pool-20k-tax-w...
  - mxfh 7y ago
    Quite ingenious low cost reuse of a half container with prefab fibreglass inlay. Even without the tax incentive. http://shippingcontainerpools.com.au/ http://shippingcontainerpools.com.au/ https://www.instagram.com/shippingcontainerpools/ https://www.instagram.com/shippingcontainerpools/
  - Havoc 7y ago
    >That's actually a legitimate feature of a swimming pool Yeah it was in a way legit. Lots of thatch roof houses nearby etc - if it hadn't been for the context. They built a ton of private stuff with taxpayer money and then tried to justify it later when called to account. e.g. A mini Amphitheatre because a soil retaining wall. Swimming pool became a fire pool. The chicken coop...well there their creativity failed them.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
rustig 7y ago
Article cites gulf royals and king of Swaziland as examples of corruption but neglects to mention the UK's own royal bunch who are just as wealthy or even more so with no good explanation for how and why they're entitled to so much of the country's wealth. A one-eyed take if you ask me. Typical of the economist.
- cperciva 7y ago
  The UK Royal family is wealthy because they acquired land through a combination of warfare and marriages many centuries ago. If they're unique, it's in the lengthy tenure; other medieval kingdoms have mostly overthrown their kings and seized their assets. That's completely different from rulers who are actively looting their nations today.
  - rustig 7y ago
    How is that different from the Saudi Royal family or king of Swaziland? The comparison was not to looting rulers but the other royals the article strangely cites as examples without mentioning the UK Royal family who's source of wealth is similar. Also what do you mean by 'acquired' wealth. Arguably the despots of today are just doing the same ('acquiring' land for future descendants through warfare and despotism)
    - jjeaff 7y ago
      You don't see a difference between inheriting ill-gotten gains from several generations back and actively looting the country yourself? If there is no difference, I'm afraid all white land-owners in America are going to need to return their land to the natives.
      - jlv2 7y ago
        Maybe you mean "all non-Native American land-owners in America". I'm not sure why you single out white.
        7y ago
trollied 7y ago
A good modern day story of how not to hide $4 billion is Jho Low: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jho_Low https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jho_Low The book that chronicles (Billion Dollar Whale) is a real page turner, with lots of it being unbelievable. Seen The Wolf Of Wall Street? He funded its production with his stolen $... :)
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
  The article mentions him (but not by name) as the launderer of Malaysian PM Najib's loot.
- jeffwilcox 7y ago
  Agreed. I also enjoyed this short summary write-up about part of the book... https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2019/09/08/how-to-steal-billions/ https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2019/09/08/how-to-steal-bi...
Gusen 7y ago
President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, rapes and kills 15 boys in Buffalo, New York on January 10th, 2019. Complete audio of it all and the Buffalo connection here. Full audio of the event from 10th Jan 2019. Download the mp3 file, put on head phones, and turn the volume all the way up. 10JanCh3_1255 -1557.mp3 https://drive.google.com/file/d/18lTt_YKFEtsV6YDNzXFVQYLkStY-kSg2/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/18lTt_YKFEtsV6YDNzXFVQYLkStY... From previous posting: This is audio of the President, Donald Trump, demanding a $4 billion dollar bribe from child rapists to “take a blind eye” on January 3, 2019. Trump becomes one on January 14, 2019. Also, here is the big reason the major networks do not report any of it. (Media moguls are in on it also) //Download the video, turn the volume all the way up and put head phones on. Note: there is not much to see in the video, the audio is picked up from another [illegal surveillance] system. Trump is on a call from with Henry Porter and Gigi Hadid. See page 63. Bribe demand at 10:18am: 3JanCh3_900 -1100.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Grdr8xF2psKNsuYlEnl9dIRV-77YG0Vr/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Grdr8xF2psKNsuYlEnl9dIRV-77... //President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, rapes and kills his first boy at 6:32am. Video link below: 14JanCh3_600.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/154QvA5hwyHGYIVXtod1ZbsOHFUJNbqZW/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/154QvA5hwyHGYIVXtod1ZbsOHFUJ... 14JanCh2_600 -700.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/19UkqmnMwZiWy7xxWngltqwoKLTJL-IZ_/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/19UkqmnMwZiWy7xxWngltqwoKLTJ... //On January 18, 2019 at 8:31am (see page 8) Trump acknowledges the $4 billion dollar bribe and says: "Let's get it done and get to fucking some kids." Video link below: 18JanCh3_725-.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bVTcGq5Z9oOSAiOQcKYrmuK4TwoNmY1h/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bVTcGq5Z9oOSAiOQcKYrmuK4Two... //The major reason this has not been reported by the major news networks is right here. Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News, apparently a member of the Illuminati since the 1980's, along with ABC Nightly News lead anchor David Muir, stop over to the Porter studio in Buffalo on January 14th, 2019 at 500am. They both rape and kill about two dozen boys by 6:00am. Muir starts around 514am, then Holt about 536am. Multi-billionaire Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp & Fox Corporation, takes his turn after Holt. Video links below: 14JanCh3_500- 601.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i7NKepeyG_FfdQRrM7KsnFOZOOX3o7UL/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i7NKepeyG_FfdQRrM7KsnFOZOOX... 14JanCh2_530 -600.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NZzgN5ilI7ToroU5cfqMaL4o2u1RwidV/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NZzgN5ilI7ToroU5cfqMaL4o2u1... Adding to the (media protection) reason this is not picked up by the media, CBS & Viacom owner Sumner Redstone and Leslie Moonves rape boys following the President. 14JanCh3_700.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/10XDw6x3ldnnQiq7oIjpdYVENyXaB4aI0/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/10XDw6x3ldnnQiq7oIjpdYVENyXa... 14JanCh2_700- 800.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NS_e6AzEZ05wnfljkGMETGU5CWYKfRDp/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NS_e6AzEZ05wnfljkGMETGU5CWY... //Full 89 page PDF [updated 16Nov2019]: FBI_FinalDraft_26Jul2019_BSchlenker.pdf https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sj9EN_pHmicKS6rFQlmk67knMdJc9cGk/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sj9EN_pHmicKS6rFQlmk67knMdJ... \\This post will be censored when this account logs off, the posts are "shadow banned". They try to make it look like the post is live, but it is not. Here is an example. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zxS8JESoIg7uxRkUgdptMsF6SuJedYKz/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zxS8JESoIg7uxRkUgdptMsF6SuJ... \\@ Video of the Buffalo Police illegally seizing my apartment at 307 Summer without a warrant on behalf of child rapist Henry M. Porter of 100 Oakland on January 18, 2019. The day before, BPD Commissioner Byron Lockwood and US Attorney for WNY James Kennedy rape boys for Porter. Full audio of it here. \\Video links below. See pages 7-10 of the PDF below for more... • 18JanCh4_KnockToEnd.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N2mozGdPD7HMWELjRhvIZ94eBLjXEAVX/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N2mozGdPD7HMWELjRhvIZ94eBLj... Yes, it is the Buffalo Police. View from Ch3: • NVR@ch3@main.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JNMZn6JxYTCBULkC58AQtXa75hzjPVlr/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JNMZn6JxYTCBULkC58AQtXa75hz... • Transcript of the event: https://drive.google.com/file/d/192B7tZa3b23Ab0UkSLGqNuLBUrDqOaAr/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/192B7tZa3b23Ab0UkSLGqNuLBUrD... \\The (early) morning before, Henry Porter insists Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood, and US Attorney for the Western New York region James Kennedy, and FBI Supervisory Special Agent Andrew Abromowitz among others, rape and kill boys to confirm their membership in the “Illuminati”. Download the video, turn the volume all the way up and put head phones on. Note: there is not much to see in the video, the audio is picked up from another [illegal surveillance] system. Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood rapes and kills boys starting 3:25am. US Attorney for Western New York James Kennedy starts right after at about 3:30am. Both rape multiple boys to death on January 17, 2019. Erie County Social Services Special Invesigator Keith Pelky rapes four boys to death starting about 2:45am. FBI supervisory special agent Andrew Abromowitz at 2:53am onward. WGRZ Channel 2 News in Buffalo lead anchor Scott Levin begins about 3:00am. 17JanCh3_200-300.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uzXPvnyDz_tm25MbeW5oKseH-jrckFsS/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uzXPvnyDz_tm25MbeW5oKseH-jr... 17JanCh3_300-445.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gTDU4Eris8a3QO1llI3gCRmr11zrSdjk/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gTDU4Eris8a3QO1llI3gCRmr11z... 17JanCh4_230-430.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZoJNJwlTRlDf2PD-IV5jTAqnYPEWjFnC/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZoJNJwlTRlDf2PD-IV5jTAqnYPE... Erie County Commissioner of Social Services Marie Cannon, “preps” boys for rape by these men @2:53am. This means she performs oral sex on the boys’ penis and anus, as a child rapist like Henry Porter would, while trying to remove fecal matter from the boy prior to handing them over to be raped and subsequently murdered. These acts expected of female (full) members of the Illuminati. Elisha Burkart and her sister Gelisa join Marie in the duties here. \\Back on January 10, 2019, Porter enlisted the support of his paid off politicians, including the President of the United States, in a show of force to make an example of this tenant who went against his wishes. The Buffalo City Court clerks were paid and instructed to simply enter a judgment into the court system, thus bypassing the tenant's 5th amendment rights while the President is observing this happen. Trump requests a $138 million dollar bribe for a golf course to "ensure a smooth outcome". Excerpts of the dialogue and full audio below. Again, Download the video, turn the volume all the way up and put head phones on. Note: there is not much to see in the video, the audio is picked up from another [illegal surveillance] system. See page 47 in the PDF, which can be downloaded below. 10JanCh3_951_1033.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iSeGHDToFRoRdIht50Wii0i30mlw9INp/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iSeGHDToFRoRdIht50Wii0i30ml... 10JanCh2_1000_1033.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RyFLV_MOYTe2LCl2Q9hT5T3_9ZJH4qvd/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RyFLV_MOYTe2LCl2Q9hT5T3_9ZJ... Excerpts of the dialogue: 1000 Kamala Harris - Matthew Porter: "Are you interested in participating?" Harris: "You'll have to speak with Senator Pelosi." MPorter: "We have. We're paying you $3 billion dollars. " Harris: "Ok count me in." 1004 Barack Obama - Matthew Porter: "...this guy was basically a bartender and doesn't know how things really work. We're gonna show him." Obama: "Well you already have me covered let me know what you need..." 1003 Donald Trump - Wants $138 million for a golf course at [Mar-a-Lago?] to ensure this goes smoothly. "Schlenker is gone....I believe everyone will be ok, that motherfucker has to go." 1004 Corey Ho gan - "Outrageous this guy wants another $138 million...we already gave him $4 billion" viewer comments: "I cannot believe Trump is here....he just acknowledged the [falsified] judgment..." "...Trump is giving Henry advice how to get around the judgment..." 1007 Andrew Cuomo: "Am I confident we could do this without the President involved? Absolutely not." 1007 MPorter: "It's embarrassing but we need the President in case he [Brian Schlenker] catches on it would go all the way to the Supreme Court." 1007 Michinewski(sp?): "This shit is getting too stupid to believe." Note: this is BPD3 from 18Jan. 1010 MPorter: "Kamala how many people do you think are with us [on this]?" Harris: "I don't know how many are on here?" MPorter: "About 350,000....we've had as much as three million...when Brian got the [petition] off the door 350,000 watched and 3 million logged on to see what happened." 1014 Matthew Porter comments the judgment has now been entered into the system... These events were excerpts from this 89 page PDF . It keeps getting censored, but with enough public awareness, they will eventually have to face justice. Please help get this around [update 16th Nov]: FBI_FinalDraft_26Jul2019_BSchlenker.pdf https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sj9EN_pHmicKS6rFQlmk67knMdJc9cGk/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sj9EN_pHmicKS6rFQlmk67knMdJ...
chewz 7y ago
> Chatham House, a British think-tank, estimates that $582bn has been stolen from Nigeria alone since it won independence in 1960. [1] [1] https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/10/10/african-kleptocrats-are-finding-it-tougher-to-stash-cash-in-the-west https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/10/10/...
- senorjazz 7y ago
  Not just a developing country problem. Look at the money that cannot be account for during the Bush wars of the early 2000s, with Halliburton being given costs+profit contracts and being able to say without oversight what there costs where. Same for a lot of developed countries with the 2008 banking crisis with billions unaccountable
erikig 7y ago
Kudos to Mo Ibrahim for putting his money where his mouth is.
mrandish 7y ago
Here's a perverse aside, I suspect once you get much over $10k to hide, each 10x increase in the amount actually makes it easier, not harder. Reasoning: if you've got a small amount, transaction costs eat it up quickly and there's little incentive for others to get involved. If you've got $100m there are entire ecosystems of consultants offering to "help you put that money to work." Identifying the more "cooperative" ones willing to look the other way or sidestep certain barriers is probably not too hard. And with $100m to hide, if it costs $5m to get the job done, that may seem like a good deal. Back when I sold my startup to an F500 acquirer, within days of the acquisition hitting the news I started getting calls on my non-public, pretty closely guarded, mobile number from financial advisors, investment bankers and consultants. Everyone from Goldman Sachs on down. One of them pitched me on how I could "shelter" funds. I asked him how and he walked me through a byzantine scheme that seemed pretty shady - and I didn't even have anywhere close to "real" money compared to even a fledgling banana-republic despot.
- vl 7y ago
  > Identifying the more "cooperative" ones willing to look the other way or sidestep certain barriers is probably not too hard. No need to identify, just call Goldman Sachs or HSBC.
- ct520 7y ago
  150k+ range should get easier. Anything less fees still eat you up. At lower amount you basically be looking to mingle with entrepreneurs that have capital and are willing to exchange at a percent equal to their risk.
  - MR4D 7y ago
    Less than 150K is cash or gold. Pretty easy to put coins in your pocket (or several pockets) with change. Carefully thought through, I'd bet you can put $100,000 into the change cup at the airport security line and nobody would have a clue. For instance, the Canadian Loonie [0], and the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin [1] have similar color the same face on one side. You can get more esoteric if you go with collector coins. Take a 1932 US Quarter, with a value up to $15,000. [2] I guarantee you could put ten of those in your pocket and nobody would notice! [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loonie#/media/File:Canadian_Dollar_-_obverse.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loonie#/media/File:Canadian_Do... [1] - https://www.walmart.com/ip/Canada-1-oz-Gold-Maple-Leaf-9999-Fine-Random-Year/740050376 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Canada-1-oz-Gold-Maple-Leaf-9999-... [2] - https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explorer/washington-quarters-1932-1998-pscid-38/1932-25c-ms-coinid-15790 https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explorer/washington-quarters-19...
slap 7y ago
> Yet for seven of the 12 years since the Ibrahim prize began, no worthy recipient has been identified. The last sentence was truncated.
bookofjoe 7y ago
http://archive.is/frnY9 http://archive.is/frnY9
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
campfireveteran 7y ago
If you have substantial liquid wealth, the best ways to hide it include art (portable/small objects with stable/increasing prices) and foreign real estate in desirable areas in municipalities with strong property rights.
- repomies691 7y ago
  How is art liquid? I don't know much about art but my gut feeling would be that it is very illiquid by default. Also very hard to value and difficult to know which pieces will actually have value 10 years from now.
wil421 7y ago
> Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-British telecoms tycoon, has endowed a $5m prize each year for an African president who governs well and retires when his term is up. You can live quite well on $5m. Yet for seven of the 12 years since the Ibrahim prize began, no worthy recipient has been identified.
rolltiide 7y ago
This article is doing it wrong. It should be an instruction manual on laundering it. It instead lists how state actors messed up and defend the asset forfeitures in court. From my travelling amongst the supposed wealthy in various countries, some cultures are just less flashy and more private than others. The online lists of top 100 wealthiest people are 95% wrong. As in they only correctly list 5 people, in approximate order, and dont even have the names of the other 95.
unnouinceput 7y ago
Here's me expecting an intricate and convoluted article on how to split the billions in lower sums on different accounts and banks, use bitcoin and sorts, make investment funds and bogus charities (like US billionaires) and instead I get...this?
madiathomas 7y ago
This is the simple but not obvious way to hide a billion dollars. While you are still looting resources of your country, make sure you are friendly to United States of America and allow them to also loot. They won't touch you. No-one will go after your loot if the US is also benefiting from the looting.
madiathomas 7y ago
What is the difference between Mswati and the Queen of England? eSwatini also have a Prime Minister. Just like Britain. We can say the same thing about the Queen of England and other royals. He is living like a King because he is a King of eSwatini, not an elected leader. Just like the Queen of England.
dannykings 7y ago
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- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
lurker2823 7y ago
just ask the Biden's on how to do it

163 points by known 7y ago

These articles always focus on poor countries, but shouldn't we treat such places as Switzerland as corrupt, given that the money always seems to end up there or it is used as a stepping stone so that mineral wealth can be siphoned off cheaply (and thus pay less taxes)?

kenneth 7y ago
Before blaming Switzerland, perhaps best to take a look at places such as the U.S. and Delaware, which gets even more of the world's shady business.
- bpodgursky 7y ago
  Because it isn't true? Delaware doesn't charge state corporate income tax and has a specialized business court system. It does nothing to shelter you from international taxation.
  - newguy1234 7y ago
    The only reason people believe this non-sense is because of how we are going into another election cycle and pundits like to stoke people's ignorance of international finance/taxation. If you repeat a lie enough, it becomes reality and then you can use that new reality to push your agenda through with the support of the ignorant masses.
    - chillwaves 7y ago
      For someone railing against "ignorance," your comment is certainly lacking in knowledge. Some useful information would be helpful.
  - kgwgk 7y ago
    Deleware, like most states, doesn’t require companies to identify the beneficial owners. But that may change: https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-passes-bill-to-expose-owners-of-shell-companies-11571785516 https://www.wsj.com/articles/house-passes-bill-to-expose-own...
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
ur-whale 7y ago
People who watched too many James Bond movies in the 70's love to blame Switzerland for money laundering. The fact is Switzerland has very much cleaned up their act in the last 10 years, and the worse offender when it comes to cleaning and hiding ill-gotten gains these days are actually the US and Canada.
- forinti 7y ago
  And The City with all its tentacles in sunny islands.
PeterisP 7y ago
Leadership is corrupt when it acts against the interests of their people to benefit their personal interests. Swiss government is accountable to their people, not to foreigners - if they choose to act in a manner that benefits the swiss (not because it somehow directly enriches these Swiss leaders personally) at the expense of some other people exploited by their corrupt dictator, then that's not a corrupt action but a prudent decision for the benefit of their country, possibly even a duty if their people support that.

neonate 7y ago

http://archive.is/frnY9 http://archive.is/frnY9 https://web.archive.org/web/20191014191405/https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/10/10/how-to-hide-a-billion-dollars https://web.archive.org/web/20191014191405/https://www.econo...

ngold 7y ago
So you’ve stolen a billion dollars. That was the easy part. The country of which you are president may be poor, which is a pity, but it is also lawless, which creates opportunities. The auditors, police and prosecutors who should have slapped the hand you put in the treasury chose to kiss it instead. So your pockets are bulging with ill-gotten loot. There is just one snag: the world has grown less tolerant of kleptocrats. Back in the good old days of the cold war, strongmen could be strongmen. When Mobutu Sese Seko, the late dictator of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, robbed his country into a coma, no one cared. (Apart from his subjects, of course.) When his household drained 10,000 bottles of pink champagne a year and Mobutu kept a Concorde idling on the runway of his tropical palace, his Western backers turned a blind eye, so long as he did not invite the Soviets into central Africa. Likewise, the Soviets overlooked the equally egregious thievery of their clients in Angola. And a kleptocrat in those days had no trouble finding places to park his squillions. Swiss bankers vied to offer him roomy vaults. Estate agents on the Côte d’Azur rolled out the gold-thread carpet. Get our daily newsletter Recently, however, Western governments have been confiscating looted assets and prosecuting those involved in corruption far beyond their borders (see Middle East & Africa section). This year America’s Justice Department indicted a former finance minister of Mozambique and won convictions against several ex-Credit Suisse bankers over the embezzlement of $2bn in loans. Malaysia’s former prime minister, Najib Razak, lost his job and his liberty after America revealed that he had $700m in personal bank accounts; American prosecutors are still pursuing his alleged money-launderer. Last month Swiss authorities auctioned off $27m-worth of sports cars seized from Teodorin Nguema Obiang, the unaccountably wealthy son of the president of Equatorial Guinea, a tiny oil-rich dictatorship. It was not his first brush with foreign law enforcement. In 2014 he had to hand over assets worth $30m after America’s Justice Department said he had embarked on a “corruption-fuelled” shopping spree “after raking in millions in bribes and kickbacks”. Everywhere, pilfering potentates and their progeny must be nervous. So here are some steps they can take to safeguard their loot. First, stay away from social media. The younger Mr Obiang posed on Instagram in fancy cars and on private jets. That may have impressed his friends, but it also raised awkward questions about how he could afford such extravagant toys. Second, avoid purchases so conspicuous that they make headlines. Kolawole Akanni Aluko, a Nigerian businessman accused of bribery, not only spent $80m on a superyacht—he also reportedly rented it to Jay-Z and Beyoncé for $900,000 a week. These (blameless) singers attract a certain amount of attention. Mr Aluko might have avoided unwelcome scrutiny had he bought a less blingtastic boat. Third, keep an emergency stash close to hand. The late Robert Mugabe, who misruled Zimbabwe for three decades, always travelled with a suitcase of “coup money”, in case he was ousted while abroad. Cash piles must be looked after, mind. A former ruler of Equatorial Guinea, Francisco Macías Nguema, kept a large portion of the country’s foreign reserves in a bamboo hut in his garden. He forgot to waterproof the hut, alas, and much of his stash rotted. One way to protect overseas assets is to claim they belong to the state. The younger Mr Obiang stopped France from selling his home in Paris by insisting it was owned by his country’s embassy. His lawyers also say that a $100m superyacht seized by the Netherlands was a naval vessel. Prosecutors are mystified as to what military purpose might be served by the upper deck’s jacuzzi. Another way to elide the distinction between public and personal property is to be royal. Mswati III, the absolute monarch of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) lives like a king—and it’s legal. Gulf royals were reportedly among the bidders for Mr Obiang’s cars. One final thought. How about ruling honestly? This is not as crazy as it sounds. Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-British telecoms tycoon, has endowed a $5m prize each year for an African president who governs well and retires when his term is up. You can live quite well on $5m. Yet for seven of the 12 years since

gwbas1c 7y ago

Bitcoin! (Loud chorus of laughter)

nickthemagicman 7y ago
That could be an article titled how to lose a billion dollars.
- therein 7y ago
  Tether it is then. \s
  - DuskStar 7y ago
    That's how to steal a billion - related but not quite the same thing.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
- vl 7y ago
  Bitcoin futures!
k_sze 7y ago
No. You hide it behind a paywall!

Havoc 7y ago

>Prosecutors are mystified as to what military purpose might be served by the upper deck’s jacuzzi. Actually South Africa's former crooked president solved that. You see it's not a swimming pool. It's a firepool. A source of water in case of fire. Making it a safety feature and thus legitimate expense to guard the president. And to prove it they - I kid you not - made a youtube video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH2PWsn1qu8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH2PWsn1qu8

toomanybeersies 7y ago
That's actually a legitimate feature of a swimming pool if the building doesn't have another water supply (e.g. mains water or a pond) nearby. In Australia they are a tax deductible expense as a water facility: https://www.theland.com.au/story/4330059/cool-pool-20k-tax-write-off/ https://www.theland.com.au/story/4330059/cool-pool-20k-tax-w...
- mxfh 7y ago
  Quite ingenious low cost reuse of a half container with prefab fibreglass inlay. Even without the tax incentive. http://shippingcontainerpools.com.au/ http://shippingcontainerpools.com.au/ https://www.instagram.com/shippingcontainerpools/ https://www.instagram.com/shippingcontainerpools/
- Havoc 7y ago
  >That's actually a legitimate feature of a swimming pool Yeah it was in a way legit. Lots of thatch roof houses nearby etc - if it hadn't been for the context. They built a ton of private stuff with taxpayer money and then tried to justify it later when called to account. e.g. A mini Amphitheatre because a soil retaining wall. Swimming pool became a fire pool. The chicken coop...well there their creativity failed them.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

rustig 7y ago

Article cites gulf royals and king of Swaziland as examples of corruption but neglects to mention the UK's own royal bunch who are just as wealthy or even more so with no good explanation for how and why they're entitled to so much of the country's wealth. A one-eyed take if you ask me. Typical of the economist.

cperciva 7y ago
The UK Royal family is wealthy because they acquired land through a combination of warfare and marriages many centuries ago. If they're unique, it's in the lengthy tenure; other medieval kingdoms have mostly overthrown their kings and seized their assets. That's completely different from rulers who are actively looting their nations today.
- rustig 7y ago
  How is that different from the Saudi Royal family or king of Swaziland? The comparison was not to looting rulers but the other royals the article strangely cites as examples without mentioning the UK Royal family who's source of wealth is similar. Also what do you mean by 'acquired' wealth. Arguably the despots of today are just doing the same ('acquiring' land for future descendants through warfare and despotism)
  - jjeaff 7y ago
    You don't see a difference between inheriting ill-gotten gains from several generations back and actively looting the country yourself? If there is no difference, I'm afraid all white land-owners in America are going to need to return their land to the natives.
    - jlv2 7y ago
      Maybe you mean "all non-Native American land-owners in America". I'm not sure why you single out white.
      - 7y ago

trollied 7y ago

A good modern day story of how not to hide $4 billion is Jho Low: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jho_Low https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jho_Low The book that chronicles (Billion Dollar Whale) is a real page turner, with lots of it being unbelievable. Seen The Wolf Of Wall Street? He funded its production with his stolen $... :)

9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
The article mentions him (but not by name) as the launderer of Malaysian PM Najib's loot.
jeffwilcox 7y ago
Agreed. I also enjoyed this short summary write-up about part of the book... https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2019/09/08/how-to-steal-billions/ https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2019/09/08/how-to-steal-bi...

Gusen 7y ago

President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, rapes and kills 15 boys in Buffalo, New York on January 10th, 2019. Complete audio of it all and the Buffalo connection here. Full audio of the event from 10th Jan 2019. Download the mp3 file, put on head phones, and turn the volume all the way up. 10JanCh3_1255 -1557.mp3 https://drive.google.com/file/d/18lTt_YKFEtsV6YDNzXFVQYLkStY-kSg2/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/18lTt_YKFEtsV6YDNzXFVQYLkStY... From previous posting: This is audio of the President, Donald Trump, demanding a $4 billion dollar bribe from child rapists to “take a blind eye” on January 3, 2019. Trump becomes one on January 14, 2019. Also, here is the big reason the major networks do not report any of it. (Media moguls are in on it also) //Download the video, turn the volume all the way up and put head phones on. Note: there is not much to see in the video, the audio is picked up from another [illegal surveillance] system. Trump is on a call from with Henry Porter and Gigi Hadid. See page 63. Bribe demand at 10:18am: 3JanCh3_900 -1100.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Grdr8xF2psKNsuYlEnl9dIRV-77YG0Vr/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Grdr8xF2psKNsuYlEnl9dIRV-77... //President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, rapes and kills his first boy at 6:32am. Video link below: 14JanCh3_600.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/154QvA5hwyHGYIVXtod1ZbsOHFUJNbqZW/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/154QvA5hwyHGYIVXtod1ZbsOHFUJ... 14JanCh2_600 -700.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/19UkqmnMwZiWy7xxWngltqwoKLTJL-IZ_/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/19UkqmnMwZiWy7xxWngltqwoKLTJ... //On January 18, 2019 at 8:31am (see page 8) Trump acknowledges the $4 billion dollar bribe and says: "Let's get it done and get to fucking some kids." Video link below: 18JanCh3_725-.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bVTcGq5Z9oOSAiOQcKYrmuK4TwoNmY1h/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bVTcGq5Z9oOSAiOQcKYrmuK4Two... //The major reason this has not been reported by the major news networks is right here. Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News, apparently a member of the Illuminati since the 1980's, along with ABC Nightly News lead anchor David Muir, stop over to the Porter studio in Buffalo on January 14th, 2019 at 500am. They both rape and kill about two dozen boys by 6:00am. Muir starts around 514am, then Holt about 536am. Multi-billionaire Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp & Fox Corporation, takes his turn after Holt. Video links below: 14JanCh3_500- 601.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i7NKepeyG_FfdQRrM7KsnFOZOOX3o7UL/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i7NKepeyG_FfdQRrM7KsnFOZOOX... 14JanCh2_530 -600.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NZzgN5ilI7ToroU5cfqMaL4o2u1RwidV/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NZzgN5ilI7ToroU5cfqMaL4o2u1... Adding to the (media protection) reason this is not picked up by the media, CBS & Viacom owner Sumner Redstone and Leslie Moonves rape boys following the President. 14JanCh3_700.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/10XDw6x3ldnnQiq7oIjpdYVENyXaB4aI0/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/10XDw6x3ldnnQiq7oIjpdYVENyXa... 14JanCh2_700- 800.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NS_e6AzEZ05wnfljkGMETGU5CWYKfRDp/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NS_e6AzEZ05wnfljkGMETGU5CWY... //Full 89 page PDF [updated 16Nov2019]: FBI_FinalDraft_26Jul2019_BSchlenker.pdf https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sj9EN_pHmicKS6rFQlmk67knMdJc9cGk/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sj9EN_pHmicKS6rFQlmk67knMdJ... \\This post will be censored when this account logs off, the posts are "shadow banned". They try to make it look like the post is live, but it is not. Here is an example. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zxS8JESoIg7uxRkUgdptMsF6SuJedYKz/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zxS8JESoIg7uxRkUgdptMsF6SuJ... \\@ Video of the Buffalo Police illegally seizing my apartment at 307 Summer without a warrant on behalf of child rapist Henry M. Porter of 100 Oakland on January 18, 2019. The day before, BPD Commissioner Byron Lockwood and US Attorney for WNY James Kennedy rape boys for Porter. Full audio of it here. \\Video links below. See pages 7-10 of the PDF below for more... • 18JanCh4_KnockToEnd.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N2mozGdPD7HMWELjRhvIZ94eBLjXEAVX/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N2mozGdPD7HMWELjRhvIZ94eBLj... Yes, it is the Buffalo Police. View from Ch3: • NVR@ch3@main.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JNMZn6JxYTCBULkC58AQtXa75hzjPVlr/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JNMZn6JxYTCBULkC58AQtXa75hz... • Transcript of the event: https://drive.google.com/file/d/192B7tZa3b23Ab0UkSLGqNuLBUrDqOaAr/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/192B7tZa3b23Ab0UkSLGqNuLBUrD... \\The (early) morning before, Henry Porter insists Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood, and US Attorney for the Western New York region James Kennedy, and FBI Supervisory Special Agent Andrew Abromowitz among others, rape and kill boys to confirm their membership in the “Illuminati”. Download the video, turn the volume all the way up and put head phones on. Note: there is not much to see in the video, the audio is picked up from another [illegal surveillance] system. Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood rapes and kills boys starting 3:25am. US Attorney for Western New York James Kennedy starts right after at about 3:30am. Both rape multiple boys to death on January 17, 2019. Erie County Social Services Special Invesigator Keith Pelky rapes four boys to death starting about 2:45am. FBI supervisory special agent Andrew Abromowitz at 2:53am onward. WGRZ Channel 2 News in Buffalo lead anchor Scott Levin begins about 3:00am. 17JanCh3_200-300.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uzXPvnyDz_tm25MbeW5oKseH-jrckFsS/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uzXPvnyDz_tm25MbeW5oKseH-jr... 17JanCh3_300-445.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gTDU4Eris8a3QO1llI3gCRmr11zrSdjk/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gTDU4Eris8a3QO1llI3gCRmr11z... 17JanCh4_230-430.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZoJNJwlTRlDf2PD-IV5jTAqnYPEWjFnC/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZoJNJwlTRlDf2PD-IV5jTAqnYPE... Erie County Commissioner of Social Services Marie Cannon, “preps” boys for rape by these men @2:53am. This means she performs oral sex on the boys’ penis and anus, as a child rapist like Henry Porter would, while trying to remove fecal matter from the boy prior to handing them over to be raped and subsequently murdered. These acts expected of female (full) members of the Illuminati. Elisha Burkart and her sister Gelisa join Marie in the duties here. \\Back on January 10, 2019, Porter enlisted the support of his paid off politicians, including the President of the United States, in a show of force to make an example of this tenant who went against his wishes. The Buffalo City Court clerks were paid and instructed to simply enter a judgment into the court system, thus bypassing the tenant's 5th amendment rights while the President is observing this happen. Trump requests a $138 million dollar bribe for a golf course to "ensure a smooth outcome". Excerpts of the dialogue and full audio below. Again, Download the video, turn the volume all the way up and put head phones on. Note: there is not much to see in the video, the audio is picked up from another [illegal surveillance] system. See page 47 in the PDF, which can be downloaded below. 10JanCh3_951_1033.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iSeGHDToFRoRdIht50Wii0i30mlw9INp/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iSeGHDToFRoRdIht50Wii0i30ml... 10JanCh2_1000_1033.avi https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RyFLV_MOYTe2LCl2Q9hT5T3_9ZJH4qvd/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RyFLV_MOYTe2LCl2Q9hT5T3_9ZJ... Excerpts of the dialogue: 1000 Kamala Harris - Matthew Porter: "Are you interested in participating?" Harris: "You'll have to speak with Senator Pelosi." MPorter: "We have. We're paying you $3 billion dollars. " Harris: "Ok count me in." 1004 Barack Obama - Matthew Porter: "...this guy was basically a bartender and doesn't know how things really work. We're gonna show him." Obama: "Well you already have me covered let me know what you need..." 1003 Donald Trump - Wants $138 million for a golf course at [Mar-a-Lago?] to ensure this goes smoothly. "Schlenker is gone....I believe everyone will be ok, that motherfucker has to go." 1004 Corey Ho gan - "Outrageous this guy wants another $138 million...we already gave him $4 billion" viewer comments: "I cannot believe Trump is here....he just acknowledged the [falsified] judgment..." "...Trump is giving Henry advice how to get around the judgment..." 1007 Andrew Cuomo: "Am I confident we could do this without the President involved? Absolutely not." 1007 MPorter: "It's embarrassing but we need the President in case he [Brian Schlenker] catches on it would go all the way to the Supreme Court." 1007 Michinewski(sp?): "This shit is getting too stupid to believe." Note: this is BPD3 from 18Jan. 1010 MPorter: "Kamala how many people do you think are with us [on this]?" Harris: "I don't know how many are on here?" MPorter: "About 350,000....we've had as much as three million...when Brian got the [petition] off the door 350,000 watched and 3 million logged on to see what happened." 1014 Matthew Porter comments the judgment has now been entered into the system... These events were excerpts from this 89 page PDF . It keeps getting censored, but with enough public awareness, they will eventually have to face justice. Please help get this around [update 16th Nov]: FBI_FinalDraft_26Jul2019_BSchlenker.pdf https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sj9EN_pHmicKS6rFQlmk67knMdJc9cGk/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Sj9EN_pHmicKS6rFQlmk67knMdJ...

chewz 7y ago

> Chatham House, a British think-tank, estimates that $582bn has been stolen from Nigeria alone since it won independence in 1960. [1] [1] https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/10/10/african-kleptocrats-are-finding-it-tougher-to-stash-cash-in-the-west https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/10/10/...

senorjazz 7y ago
Not just a developing country problem. Look at the money that cannot be account for during the Bush wars of the early 2000s, with Halliburton being given costs+profit contracts and being able to say without oversight what there costs where. Same for a lot of developed countries with the 2008 banking crisis with billions unaccountable

erikig 7y ago

Kudos to Mo Ibrahim for putting his money where his mouth is.

mrandish 7y ago

Here's a perverse aside, I suspect once you get much over $10k to hide, each 10x increase in the amount actually makes it easier, not harder. Reasoning: if you've got a small amount, transaction costs eat it up quickly and there's little incentive for others to get involved. If you've got $100m there are entire ecosystems of consultants offering to "help you put that money to work." Identifying the more "cooperative" ones willing to look the other way or sidestep certain barriers is probably not too hard. And with $100m to hide, if it costs $5m to get the job done, that may seem like a good deal. Back when I sold my startup to an F500 acquirer, within days of the acquisition hitting the news I started getting calls on my non-public, pretty closely guarded, mobile number from financial advisors, investment bankers and consultants. Everyone from Goldman Sachs on down. One of them pitched me on how I could "shelter" funds. I asked him how and he walked me through a byzantine scheme that seemed pretty shady - and I didn't even have anywhere close to "real" money compared to even a fledgling banana-republic despot.

vl 7y ago
> Identifying the more "cooperative" ones willing to look the other way or sidestep certain barriers is probably not too hard. No need to identify, just call Goldman Sachs or HSBC.
ct520 7y ago
150k+ range should get easier. Anything less fees still eat you up. At lower amount you basically be looking to mingle with entrepreneurs that have capital and are willing to exchange at a percent equal to their risk.
- MR4D 7y ago
  Less than 150K is cash or gold. Pretty easy to put coins in your pocket (or several pockets) with change. Carefully thought through, I'd bet you can put $100,000 into the change cup at the airport security line and nobody would have a clue. For instance, the Canadian Loonie [0], and the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin [1] have similar color the same face on one side. You can get more esoteric if you go with collector coins. Take a 1932 US Quarter, with a value up to $15,000. [2] I guarantee you could put ten of those in your pocket and nobody would notice! [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loonie#/media/File:Canadian_Dollar_-_obverse.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loonie#/media/File:Canadian_Do... [1] - https://www.walmart.com/ip/Canada-1-oz-Gold-Maple-Leaf-9999-Fine-Random-Year/740050376 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Canada-1-oz-Gold-Maple-Leaf-9999-... [2] - https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explorer/washington-quarters-1932-1998-pscid-38/1932-25c-ms-coinid-15790 https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explorer/washington-quarters-19...

slap 7y ago

> Yet for seven of the 12 years since the Ibrahim prize began, no worthy recipient has been identified. The last sentence was truncated.

bookofjoe 7y ago

http://archive.is/frnY9 http://archive.is/frnY9

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

campfireveteran 7y ago

If you have substantial liquid wealth, the best ways to hide it include art (portable/small objects with stable/increasing prices) and foreign real estate in desirable areas in municipalities with strong property rights.

repomies691 7y ago
How is art liquid? I don't know much about art but my gut feeling would be that it is very illiquid by default. Also very hard to value and difficult to know which pieces will actually have value 10 years from now.

wil421 7y ago

> Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese-British telecoms tycoon, has endowed a $5m prize each year for an African president who governs well and retires when his term is up. You can live quite well on $5m. Yet for seven of the 12 years since the Ibrahim prize began, no worthy recipient has been identified.

rolltiide 7y ago

This article is doing it wrong. It should be an instruction manual on laundering it. It instead lists how state actors messed up and defend the asset forfeitures in court. From my travelling amongst the supposed wealthy in various countries, some cultures are just less flashy and more private than others. The online lists of top 100 wealthiest people are 95% wrong. As in they only correctly list 5 people, in approximate order, and dont even have the names of the other 95.

unnouinceput 7y ago

Here's me expecting an intricate and convoluted article on how to split the billions in lower sums on different accounts and banks, use bitcoin and sorts, make investment funds and bogus charities (like US billionaires) and instead I get...this?

madiathomas 7y ago

This is the simple but not obvious way to hide a billion dollars. While you are still looting resources of your country, make sure you are friendly to United States of America and allow them to also loot. They won't touch you. No-one will go after your loot if the US is also benefiting from the looting.

madiathomas 7y ago

What is the difference between Mswati and the Queen of England? eSwatini also have a Prime Minister. Just like Britain. We can say the same thing about the Queen of England and other royals. He is living like a King because he is a King of eSwatini, not an elected leader. Just like the Queen of England.

dannykings 7y ago

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deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

lurker2823 7y ago

just ask the Biden's on how to do it