Pointing fingers at the U.S. for the 11.5 million document hack of Panama law firm of Mossack Fonseca, Russian President Vladimir Putin went KGB, using propaganda to whip up anti-American sentiment. Suspectws for a long time of squirreling away billions of dollars, Putin wasn’t named directly but guilt by association with the childhood friend, Russian cellist and Sergei Roldugin. Called a “philanthropist” by Putin for donating rare musical instruments to Russian state museums, Roldugin was named moving $2 billion through an offshore account at Panama City-based Mossack Fonseca. Also named in the biggest hack since Australian-born hacker Julian Assange released thousands of hacked or stolen documents in 2010 for WikiLeaks from Chelsea Manning, revealing classified material from the Afghan and Iraq Wars, diplomatic cables and torture at Guantanamo Bay.
Putin’s denials and accusations expose his political vulnerability at a time of Russia’s economic upheaval. “They are trying to destabilize us from within in order to make us more compliant,” said Putin, exposing far more than his involvement in offshore money laundering or tax evasion but his way to manipulating the Russian public. Fed a steady diet of anti-American propaganda, Putin reverts to KGB tactics when faced with career-ending corruption. If Russian state media were not so controlled by Putin, the public would be far more informed about his off-the-record wheeling-and-dealing. Obtained from an anonymous source to Germany’s Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in 2015, the embarrassed celebrities and politicians from numerous countries, including the U.S. Given to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists [ICU], the Panama Papers spare no one.
British Prime Minister David Cameron was exposed having an offshore Panamanian account, allegedly set up by his late father, Ian. Cameron’s spokeswoman Mauree Lipman told reporters offshoe accounts are a “private matter.” Fingered in an offshore account, Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunniaugsson resigned today, after denying any improprieties. “I would reject the premise or the assertion that we’re [U.S.] in any way involved in the actual leak of these documents,” said State Department spokesman Mark Toner. Apart from Putn’s close friend Sergei Rodulgin, the Panama Papers implicate family and close friends of some of the world’s most powerful elected officials. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, U.K Prime Minister David Cameron, China Premier Xi Jinging’s brother-n-law, son of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and children of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawsaz Sharif.
With over 240,000 offshore accounts, Panama’s Mossack Fonseca has no shortage of well-heeled clients, including Azerbaijani President Iham Aliyev, nephew of South African President Jacob Zuma, grandson of Kazakh President Nursultan Zazarbayev, personal secretary of Moroccan King Mohammed VI and “favorite contractor” of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, and numerous family and friends with offshore accounts in a broad cross-section of the United Nations, covering all continents. ICU journalists connected Putin’s close friend, cellist Sergei Roldugin with managing over $2 billion in offshore accounts. Putin insisted the Roldugin did nothing wrong, praising his friend for spending his own money collecting priceless musical instruments for Russian state museums. Putin’s correct that Roldugin did nothing illegal, managing Putin’s secret assets offshore.
Panama’s law firm Mossack Fonseca said it did nothing illegal providing offshore accounts for celebrities and world leaders. Mossack Fonseca insists they followed Panamanian and international law, blaming unscrupulous business managers, accounting and law firms for shady business practices and evading the law. With all the scandals with FIFA, they didn’t need more bad publicity with numerous officials or family named in Mossack Fonseca’s offshore tax schemes. Threatening to sue for defamation, Barcelona’s soccer star Lionel Messi was also named in the Panama Papers for tax evasion schemes. Whomever the celebrity, sports figure or politician named in the Panama Papers, none is higher profile than Putin, playing a key role in settling the Syrian crisis. Implicating one of Putin’s closest friends in a $2 billion money laundering scheme prompted Putin’s accusations.
Whatever revelations come from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm, they have nothing to do with the U.S. attempts to discredit Putin. Putin’s farfetched accusations play well to his domestic audience, so distrusting of the U.S. and European Union, they swallow anything Putin says, no matter how outrageous. “The events in Syria have demonstrated Russia’s capability to solve problems far away from its borders,” said Putin, confirming Moscow’s goal “to strengthen the Syrian statehood, it’s legitimate government bodies,” pitting the Kremlin directly against the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Diverting attention to Syria, Putin hopes Russians blame the Panama Papers money laundering and tax evasion scandal on the CIA. Ever the master of smoke-and-mirrors, Putin knows how to change the subject, point fingers at U.S. and keep his the Russian people in the dark.
