Shell-Companies

Shell Company Network Analysis Links Cryptocurrency to Kleptocracy Infrastructure

| Importance: 8/10

Comprehensive investigation reveals systematic connections between cryptocurrency exchanges, shell company structures, and oligarchic money laundering operations. Analysis exposes how platforms like BitMEX facilitate complex financial networks that enable sanctions evasion, cybercrime funding, and …

BitMEX Arthur Hayes Ben Delo Samuel Reed Gregory Dwyer +3 more kleptocracy-network crypto shell-companies money-laundering sanctions-evasion +1 more
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Conservative Influencer Lauren Chen and Husband Liam Donovan Incorporate Tenet Media in Tennessee

| Importance: 7/10

Conservative political commentator Lauren Chen (known online as “Roaming Millennial”) and her husband Liam Donovan officially incorporated Tenet Media as a Tennessee corporation on January 19, 2022. The company would later become the vehicle for a Russian influence operation funneling …

Lauren Chen Liam Donovan Tenet Media tenet-media russian-funding shell-companies conservative-media lauren-chen
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Pandora Papers Expose Hidden Wealth of Global Elite and Politicians

| Importance: 9/10

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released the Pandora Papers, the largest offshore data leak in history, containing 11.9 million files from 14 financial services companies across multiple jurisdictions. The investigation exposed the secret offshore affairs of 35 …

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists King Abdullah II of Jordan Andrej Babiš Sebastián Piñera Volodymyr Zelensky +3 more corruption offshore-finance tax-avoidance pandora-papers kleptocracy +2 more
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Google Moves $23B to Bermuda Tax Haven in Single Year

| Importance: 9/10

Dutch regulatory filings revealed that in 2017, Google transferred $23 billion (€19.9 billion) through its Netherlands shell company to its Bermuda-based entity—one of the largest single-year tax avoidance maneuvers in corporate history, allowing Google to avoid approximately $4 billion in taxes on …

Google Alphabet Sundar Pichai Dutch authorities (disclosure) Bermuda shell company google tax-avoidance bermuda offshore shell-companies +2 more
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Reuters finds Russians paid $98.4 million for Trump-branded Florida condos

| Importance: 8/10

Reuters investigation revealed at least 63 Russian nationals invested $98.4 million in Trump-branded properties in South Florida, primarily in Sunny Isles Beach. The buyers purchased units at Trump Grande, Trump Towers, and Trump Hollywood, with about one-third of all units owned through LLCs that …

Donald Trump Trump Organization Russian buyers Reuters russian-money real-estate money-laundering sunny-isles-beach shell-companies
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Panama Papers Expose Global Offshore Financial Networks

| Importance: 10/10

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published the Panama Papers, revealing how Mossack Fonseca helped wealthy individuals and public officials hide assets in offshore shell companies. The leak exposed over 214,000 offshore entities and implicated 12 current and former world …

Mossack Fonseca Vladimir Putin Petro Poroshenko Nawaz Sharif King Salman +1 more panama-papers offshore-finance tax-avoidance shell-companies financial-corruption
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Panama Papers Expose Global Offshore Financial Networks

| Importance: 10/10

The Panama Papers was a groundbreaking investigative journalism project coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2016. Based on 11.5 million leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm, the investigation exposed a complex global network of …

Mossack Fonseca Vladimir Putin Petro Poroshenko Nawaz Sharif King Salman +3 more panama-papers offshore-finance tax-avoidance shell-companies investigative-journalism +1 more
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Anonymous LLCs Enable $300B+ Annual Russian Money Flow into US Real Estate

| Importance: 9/10

By 2014, anonymous Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) and shell companies had become the primary infrastructure enabling Russian oligarchs and other kleptocrats to launder an estimated $300 billion or more annually into US real estate. Unlike most developed nations, the United States imposed no …

US Treasury FinCEN Russian Oligarchs US real estate industry money-laundering russian-oligarchs real-estate shell-companies fincen +3 more
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Trump SoHo money laundering operation - 77% shell company sales

| Importance: 8/10

At Trump SoHo (completed 2010), 77% of sales ($110 million) went to cash-paying shell companies. Property developed by Bayrock Group, whose former finance director Jody Kriss testified it was a “spectacularly corrupt money-laundering and tax evasion” operation. In 2013, Khrapunovs …

Trump Organization Bayrock Group Felix Sater Tevfik Arif Khrapunov family +1 more money-laundering russian-organized-crime shell-companies real-estate kazakhstan-bank-fraud +2 more
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Shell companies spend $890M on Trump condos during financial crisis

| Importance: 8/10

From 2008-2012, shell companies spent $890 million buying 823 Trump condos in cash – 25% of units sold. Delaware LLCs bought an additional 75 Trump condos for $129 million. More than 87% were in Trump-licensed buildings, with sales surging during Trump’s financial troubles when he …

Trump Organization Anonymous shell companies Delaware LLCs British Virgin Islands corporations Panama corporations money-laundering shell-companies financial-crisis real-estate delaware-llcs +2 more
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