Ganesh Sahathevan

by Ganesh Sahathevan John Shewan is a tax and accounting veteran.  In April 2016 the Government Of New Zealand apparently reacting to  the Panama Papers expose,ordered an inquiry into its foreign trust regime. The inquiry was led by John Shewan (photo above) who submitted his report  in June. Commenting on his work he said: "There has been no direct evidence of illicit funds being hidden in New Zealand  foreign trusts, or of tax abuse". As previously reported on this blog: How did New Zealand's Shewan inquiry miss the Low family's 1MDB theft? More about Khadem Al Qubaisi's 1MDB related trust that NZ's Shewan Inquiry managed to miss:Evidence from bankers of funds stolen from 1MDB laundered via nightclub investments And now this story in the NZ Herald: NZ companies linked to $21b money laundering scheme ; which makes the work done  by John Shewan and his Shewan Inquiry unreliable , and raises  questions about the Government of New Zealand's not unlikely coll...

by Ganesh Sahathevan  Previously on this blog: New Zealand's Shewan Inquiry into foreign trusts led by its leading tax expert John Shewan appears to have  overlooked yet another NZ foreign trust  used to hide the billions stolen from Malaysia's 1MDB. In yet another detailed report on the Vasco Trust, established in New Zealand, Clare Rewcastle-Brown's Sarawak Report has published further details which again beg the question:  How did New Zealand's Shewan inquiry miss the Low family's 1MDB theft? This time Shewan seems to have missed a non-discretionary trust that is being used (or was used) to hide the origin of the stolen funds, AND avoid if not evade US taxes. Readers will recall that Shewan's final submission included this crucial finding: There has been no direct evidence of illicit funds being hidden in New Zealand foreign trusts, or of tax abuse . The trust was or is  ultimately controlled by Khadem Al Qubaisi,the former CEO of the Abu Dhabi sovereign weal...

by Ganesh Sahathevan  The world's largest hybrid commercial and military satellite was jointly launched in 2003 by Optus and the Australian Defence Forces. The Optus C1 is the Australian hotbird with 24 commercial Ku-band transponders. It sits at 156°E. The recent intervention in local politics by Singtel Optus raises questions about the Optus C1 and other arrangements that my be defence and intelligence sensitive. Such arrangements require strict neutrality in matters concerning local politics as a minimum, but that cannot now be said of Singtel Optus. References MAR 17 The consequences of Singtel Optus Chairman Paul O'Sullivan promoting same sex marriage in Australia (Hint: No one believes Singtel is not owned & controlled by the Government of Singapore)  by Ganesh Sahathevan Singtel 's  Optus subsidiary's  chairman,  Paul O'Sullivan  , was featured  in  The Australian ,March 17 2017 : O'Sullivan  has  little if any reputation as a...

by Ganesh Sahathevan Asia Times Online reported this morning  that China Construction Bank was among "a group of Chinese state-controlled  banks that  have allegedly processed hundreds of millions of US dollars from a vast money-laundering operation run by Russian criminals with links to the Russian government and the spy agency FSB." The paper said that documents obtained by  the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project  show that at least US$20 billion was moved out of Russia between 2010 and 2014 in a vast criminal operation called “The Global Laundromat”. It has been previously reported on this blog that CCB's presence in New Zealand is hard to understand,given the small , overbanked market, Nevertheless New Zealand does have a reputation as a safe haven for dirty money. Its Shewan Inquiry into offshore trusts ,led by the country's leading tax expert John Shewan managed to miss  evidence of trusts in the country used to conceal and invest funds ...