Paradise Papers

[Gone_Fishin]

Liberal fundraisers held family millions in offshore trust, leaked documents reveal

A massive new leak of offshore financial records contains more than 5,000 documents that reveal how two generations of Liberal fundraisers amassed $60 million (U.S.) in a tax haven beyond the reach of tax collectors.


Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, right, chats with Stephen Bronfman, the party's chief fundraiser, at a barn party in St. Peters Bay, P.E.I., on Aug. 28, 2013. (ANDREW VAUGHAN / TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO)

By MARCO CHOWN OVED Foreign Affairs Reporter
ALEX BOUTILIER Ottawa Bureau Reporter
ROBERT CRIBB Investigative Reporter
Sun., Nov. 5, 2017



It was Labour Day weekend in 2012.

Canada’s future prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was vacationing with his family in the picturesque mountain village of Mont Tremblant, Que., with a lot on his mind.

After years of speculation, he had decided he was going to make a play for the country’s top political office.

With him that weekend was longtime family friend Stephen Bronfman, 53, a third-generation descendant of one of Canada’s wealthiest families that had founded such iconic brands as Seagram, the Montreal Expos and the Eaton Centre.

“(Trudeau) came to me and said, ‘You know, I’ve made a decision. I’m going to run for the leadership,’” Bronfman recalled in a 2013 interview. “I’d always told him, especially since he’d gotten in politics and was first elected, ‘Justin, anything I can do to help, just let me know.’”

The well-connected Bronfman, a known philanthropist and environmentalist, took the reins of the party fundraising machine in late 2013, significantly boosting annual donations.

“The goal is raise a lot of money and to help Justin become the next prime minister,” Bronfman said. “Simple, simple goal.”

Two years later, Trudeau and the Liberals swept into power, in part, on a promise to fight for the little guy, lower taxes on the middle class and raise them on the rich — a populist plank that remains a central theme for his government today.

“Our government has long known — indeed we got elected — on a promise to make sure that people were paying their fair share of taxes,” Trudeau said shortly after his election victory. “Tax avoidance, tax evasion is something we take very seriously.”

Two generations of Liberal fundraisers — Stephen Bronfman and his godfather, 88-year-old retired senator Leo Kolber — are tied together in a complex offshore structure that amassed $60 million (U.S.) in a tax haven beyond the reach of tax collectors in Canada, Israel and the U.S., a newly leaked trove of documents reveals.

Buried in the Paradise Papers, a massive leak to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which includes the Toronto Star and CBC/Radio-Canada, are more than 5,000 pages of internal records detailing how the Bronfmans and Kolbers invested in Israel through two offshore trust funds in the Cayman Islands.

It was a two-family affair: Stephen Bronfman personally lent millions to the Cayman trust that handled his family’s investments in Israel, run by Leo Kolber’s son, Jonathan, 55.

Offshore trusts are perfectly legal. Wealthy Canadians have long used them as estate-planning tools for moving wealth that has already been taxed in Canada to offshore jurisdictions with far lower — or even zero — taxation. If that wealth were left in Canada, tax would have to be paid on its investment returns every year.

Internal email correspondence and financial records in the Kolber trusts appear to show evidence of bogus records to hide payments, false invoicing and six-figure gifts to avoid paying tax, raising red flags for experts consulted by the Star and CBC/Radio-Canada.

To remedy tax concerns over the years, the Bronfman and Kolber advisers kept two sets of books, opened shell companies in tax havens including Nevada and the British Virgin Islands and created other offshore trusts, working the laws of three different countries to circumvent taxes, the records appear to show.

“This definitely merits an audit by the Canada Revenue Agency,” says Denis Meunier, former director general of compliance at the CRA.

“What strikes me is the multi-jurisdictional location of the trusts and implications for the tax authorities that are involved, creating over time, with changing legislation, a more complex arrangement. Whether in the end, all tax obligations for all jurisdictions have been met is a matter for tax authorities to decipher,” said Meunier, who also served as assistant director of financial analysis at Fintrac, Canada’s money-laundering watchdog.

snip

The story of the Kolber trusts also raises a larger question about potential conflict of interest at the intersection of wealth and political power at the highest levels in Canada.

Leo Kolber chaired the Senate’s powerful banking committee in the early 2000s while it was considering legislation to crack down on the types of offshore trusts in which he and his family were invested.

The proposed legislation languished for 14 years before a version of it finally passed in 2013.

snip

After taking a beating in the headlines over cash-for-access events, the Liberal party has reformed its fundraising rules.

But only months before announcing the party’s new rules, Leo Kolber held one last intimate dinner at his Montreal mansion for a prime minister named Trudeau. At $1,500 each, the ticket price was $50 less than the maximum individual political donation allowed by law.

“It’s going to be a great night as well as a wonderful networking opportunity for everyone,” wrote an organizer in an invitation email. “Keep in mind you get half your donation back when you file your taxes.”

Kolber’s co-host that night: Stephen Bronfman

https://www.thestar.com/news/paradise-p ... taxes.html

[The Green Barbarian]

Decision tree of Leftists - was this a bunch of rich guys hiding money and not paying their "fair share"?? No - ok walk away. Yes? Ok go ape poop and start screaming!! Oh wait - forgot to ask - where the rich guys working for the Conservatives or the Liberals? Conservatives?? Great - start screaming!!! Oh wait, it was a bunch of Justin Trudeau's cronies. Oh oh - ok start making excuses!!!

[Catsumi]

........

It just keeps moving on from bad to worse with this government.

My congrats to the investigators that uncovered this latest assault on whatever shred of dignity was left to JT and his merry band of thieves. Had they not overturned the nightsoil for us, we would still be mushrooms on the compost heap. Oh right, we are!

[maryjane48]

Brian Mulroney was on the board of Said Holdings, run by Syrian-born billionaire Wafic Said, who helped broker the biggest arms deal in British history. Through a lawyer, Mulroney said he considers Said "a good friend" and is "proud" to have served the company.

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4387338

Since some rightwing posters fail to be unbiased lets review. When this comes up all wexhear from rightwingers is how legal it all is and a good thing for canadians . But. If its someone they dont like then all of a,sudden it is crime haha . The hypocratic right has not let us down as their is a,thread already blaming our pm when other pm are. Neck deep in it also

[buckland]

........

It just keeps moving on from bad to worse with this government.

My congrats to the investigators that uncovered this latest assault on whatever shred of dignity was left to JT and his merry band of thieves. Had they not overturned the nightsoil for us, we would still be mushrooms on the compost heap. Oh right, we are!

Before I start congratulating the investigators, I would like to see the full list of people involved in this practice. you are quick at blaming only Justin for this but under the pile, I am sure there are plenty of people from other parties and their followers involved in this practice which is legal by the way. Remember Harper and KPMG Isle of Man fiasco?

[Gone_Fishin]

Decision tree of Leftists - was this a bunch of rich guys hiding money and not paying their "fair share"?? No - ok walk away. Yes? Ok go ape poop and start screaming!! Oh wait - forgot to ask - where the rich guys working for the Conservatives or the Liberals? Conservatives?? Great - start screaming!!! Oh wait, it was a bunch of Justin Trudeau's cronies. Oh oh - ok start making excuses!!!

Before I start congratulating the investigators, I would like to see the full list of people involved in this practice. you are quick at blaming only Justin for this but under the pile, I am sure there are plenty of people from other parties and their followers involved in this practice which is legal by the way. Remember Harper and KPMG Isle of Man fiasco?

Right on cue. The leftists fail to take personal responsibility for their choices every single time. Always looking to grasp at someone else to blame.

Well, it won't work this time. Trudeau's closest buds are up to their ears in poop, and sinking fast. I'm not sure what is "legal" about two sets of books and falsified invoices for tax returns. It's just disgusting how these left wing zealots think they can actually justify this malfeasance, and even more disgusting that they think others will believe their prevarication.

[Gone_Fishin]

duplicate

[jimmy4321]

There's at least 3000 names.

[Catsumi]

It was just said on the news that the huge funds these rich Canadian folk have managed to shelter from the taxman is Six Billion Dollars. Just imagine what we could have done with 6 B ....from new hospitals, better healthcare, etc.

Note that some of these funds were sheltered legally, but not all. Some were meant to be kept secret, away from the light of day. Away from taxation.

JT's closest pals, confidantes and advisors, who are insanely wealthy participate in the Paradise scheme; they are the people who influence what the taxman does to us.

Six billion bucks in lost taxes. I can't even begin to imagine how much that truly is to put it into perspective. How many terrorist payouts?

[bob vernon]

We've seen this for decades. A financial underworld where the greedy wealthy hoard their money and abuse our government. BOTH Liberal and Conservative governments had been complicit and even have participated. It's time we elected somebody else.

[jimmy4321]

If this IS legal, due to our government not closing financial loopholes.
How is this any different than Trump using the similar type tax avoidance schemes?

It's in the very nature of the rich not to take one for the team.

[Deean]

This doesn't surprise me! But didn't this come up just after the liberals were elected? I think they should publish the names of all of the tax evaders! As usual, it will probably we swept under the very lumpy carpet.

[Poindexter]

If this IS legal, due to our government not closing financial loopholes.
How is this any different than Trump using the similar type tax avoidance schemes?

It's in the very nature of the rich not to take one for the team.

The difference is that these wealthy Canadians already paid tax on the money sheltered aboard, where as Trump didn't pay any tax at all.

[maryjane48]

It was just said on the news that the huge funds these rich Canadian folk have managed to shelter from the taxman is Six Billion Dollars. Just imagine what we could have done with 6 B ....from new hospitals, better healthcare, etc.

Note that some of these funds were sheltered legally, but not all. Some were meant to be kept secret, away from the light of day. Away from taxation.

JT's closest pals, confidantes and advisors, who are insanely wealthy participate in the Paradise scheme; they are the people who influence what the taxman does to us.

Six billion bucks in lost taxes. I can't even begin to imagine how much that truly is to put it into perspective. How many terrorist payouts?

*removed* Mulruney is involved. As are many other of the conservative stripe. Infact should not the mods look at some the posts in this thread more closly as,they seem to run close to liable. None of this has been before a court of law.

[maryjane48]

Right on cue. The leftists fail to take personal responsibility for their choices every single time. Always looking to grasp at someone else to blame.

right on cue right proves why they wont be winning any elections . If you think the cons arnt involved your delusional