Blog
“Stripping” Leads to $350MM Fine for British Bank
Details are emerging of a massive effort by Iran to use the U.S. financial system to help finance Iranian nuclear and missile programs. Last Friday, one of Britain’s largest banks agreed to pay $350 million to settle charges that it helped the Iranian government (and also Sudan and Libya) disguise the origin of money flowing [...]
The State versus the Internet: Kentucky Starts a Trade War
There’s a war simmering, right now, that you may not have heard about. The object of the war is control of the Internet. In some ways, this war is similar to the deceitful “harmful tax competition” campaign that industrialized nations have been conducting against offshore jurisdictions for more than a decade. It involves the same [...]
Don’t Get Caught in a War with the Wrong Passport!
As fighting intensified in the Gaza Strip, Israel last Friday began allowing individuals possessing a foreign passport to leave the crowded Palestinian territory. Hundreds left before Israel’s ground forces invaded the Gaza Strip the next day. They were the fortunate ones. Ordinary Palestinians have few options to escape the war zone. Gaza is surrounded on [...]
You Have Near-Zero Expectation of Privacy in Your Cell Phone Records [Part I]
If you think that any of the information in your cell phone is private, think again. It’s not. The calling records on your cell phone have “no expectation of privacy,” according to a court decision issued by a federal court in Kansas. And under the court’s reasoning, it’s possible that other data stored on modern [...]
Avoid a Ponzi Scheme—and Get Sued!
The most important lesson of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme is that even the world’s most sophisticated investors—not to mention regulators—were asleep at the wheel. It underscores why you need to be skeptical of something that seems too good to be true, because it probably is. But there’s another, mostly overlooked, lesson as well. If [...]
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
If you ever feel compelled to help someone in an emergency situation, I have some free advice: think twice. You might get sued. Most states have so-called “Good Samaritan” laws that shield would-be rescuers from legal liability in emergencies. However, these laws vary widely from state to state. And they often have holes large enough [...]
Being Anonymous Online is Now a Crime
In today’s world of spyware, social networking services, and numerous other technological threats to privacy, it’s hard not to leave tracks on the Internet. But now, trying to use the Internet anonymously may be a crime. Exhibit 1 is Lori Drew. If you haven’t heard of her, that’s understandable. But in the online world, Lori [...]
Hidden Tax Dangers in Foreign Foundations
In recent years, offshore private interest foundations (OPIFs), mainly formed in Panama, have become popular asset protection and estate planning vehicles. However, if you establish this entity without expert tax advice, you could be in for a rude awakening from the IRS. The gist of the problem is that no legal framework for OPIFs exists [...]
Your U.S. Passport: A Terrorist Beacon
There’s no longer any doubt that if you use a U.S. passport to travel internationally, you may well become a terrorist target. The attacks last week in Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, proved that conclusively. The gunmen who carried out the attacks took dozens of hostages, and specifically singled out anyone with a U.S. or British [...]
Why Wasn’t Elliot Spitzer Prosecuted for Money Laundering?
About a year ago, former New York governor Elliot Spitzer made a series of cash withdrawals from his own bank account. The total amount he withdrew came to more than $15,000. Spitzer used the cash to pay a company called Emperors Club VIP to procure high-priced prostitutes. After Spitzer’s bank identified the withdrawals as “suspicious [...]