It was last Sunday that the Pandora Papers first saw the light of day, unmasking a complex and shady parallel global financial system that essentially feeds off and thrives on the world’s super-rich. If the Panama Papers of 2016 are anything to go by, it appears that this shadowy financial system that includes tax havens in various parts of the world continues to grow despite regular exposure of its clients, enabling the world’s super-rich – which not only includes individuals but also multinational entities – to stash away their assets and evade taxation in their respective countries.
As Frédéric Bastiat anticipated, the plunder spanning decades has provided a modicum of legitimacy to the offshore financial services sector, which is essentially custom-built for the accumulation of wealth and has led to the creation of its own rules and regulations where absolutely necessary, and was unregulated for the most part. The only thing that is yet lacking to make it “mainstream”, and therefore “acceptable”, is the moral code which is the basis for the Pandora, Panama, and other such exposures. It is, therefore, only a matter of time before that too is dispensed with, paving the way for glorification of this thievery. But until such degeneration sets in, a group of committed global journalists in the name and style of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and their media partners have made it their business to dissect the complex network and expose its inner workings. Their latest effort has resulted in a harvest of 12 million confidential financial records leaked from 14 different offshore firms.
Over the last decade, there have been four major exposures of the global elite as well as the not-so-elite making use of offshore financial systems to park their loot. This includes the Pandora Papers last week, Paradise Papers in 2017, Panama Papers in 2016, and Offshore Leaks in 2013, the cumulated value of which is mind-boggling to say the least. These are funds that have been deprived from the global financial system that feeds the poor, looks after healthcare, provides environmental protection and assistance to the economically challenged, etc.
Among those exposed in the Panama Papers in 2016 were a few dozen Sri Lankans. In a world where money talks, those names did not appear to bother the Inland Revenue Department, which is usually quite eager in hounding the not so wealthy, nor the Bribery Commission. Now we have the Pandora Papers, which, in similar fashion, has exposed the dealings of many more individuals – some of them past and present heads of state and lesser mortals who have systematically and collectively deprived their respective countries of billions of dollars in tax revenue. Among the names that have transpired so far in the Pandora Papers is that of former Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa.
The main attraction of the offshore banking industry is its “no questions asked” operating system that has enabled trillions of dollars to be safely stashed in various locations and available to be drawn as and when required by their owners. However, an issue arises when such black money is sought to be legitimately brought into a country, which would usually require sources to be divulged and applicable taxes to be paid. An alternative method is to launder such money so that these funds appear legitimate through quasi-legitimate means. The other method is to make use of tax amnesties granted by various governments.
The Government of Sri Lanka granted just such an amnesty last month, on 8 September to be exact, through passage of the Finance Act (Tax Amnesty) Bill in Parliament, which proposed to tax any amount of hitherto undisclosed wealth at just 1%. The main proponent of this controversial piece of legislation, the then State Minister of Money and Capital Market, is now the Governor of the Central Bank. As to who exactly made use of the offer is likely to be the subject of a Right to Information appeal in the future.
According to the Pandora Papers, Nirupama Rajapaksa’s undisclosed wealth has been estimated at $ 161 million. At the Central Bank-determined current exchange rate of Rs. 203 to the dollar, that works out to Rs. 32 billion on the conservative side. To put that in context, as per the Appropriation Bill for 2022 submitted to Parliament last week by Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, that figure is higher than the entire allocation for the Ministry of Transport for year 2022, which is approximately Rs. 31.2 billion. Even though Nirupama Rajapaksa has remained silent on the Pandora allegations, her husband Thirukumar Nadesan has vehemently denied wrongdoing and has already provided a statement to the Bribery Commission, following a directive from the President to the Commission to immediately inquire into the allegations and report back within a month.
Be that as it may, Sri Lanka is a country that has been grappling with the cancer of corruption for decades now. Leaders are routinely elected on the promise of eradicating corruption, only to find them outdoing their predecessors in that department. As unfortunate as it is, it has now come to a point where corruption in its rawest form is endemic at every stratum of society. To add to the misery, the economic woes brought about by the pandemic made a bad case worse. As the incarcerated Ranjan Ramanayake once famously pointed out, Sri Lanka has become a country where corruption begins with the birth certificate and ends with the death certificate.
President J.R. Jayewardene promised to usher in a “Dharmishta” society and ended up creating two wars, one in the North and another in the South. Subsequent leaders came into power promising to wipe out poverty but only ended up adding more names to their so-called poverty alleviation schemes such as Janasaviya, Samurdhi, etc. Today, it has come to a point where the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer, while the middle class is threatened with extinction. Where does the rot stop?
In the 1840s, French free market economist Bastiat, quoted above, observed: “When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his sense of morality or respect for the law.” A good 170-odd years later, this is the exact dilemma that the people in Sri Lanka as well as in many other places in the world seem to be facing.
In the contemporary context, Sri Lanka’s political horizon shows no signs of anyone resembling a homegrown Imran Khan who has transformed his corruption-ridden nation state to one that is receiving the respect and admiration it deserves from the global community. Given the absence of hope, it is unfair to find fault with the thousands of disillusioned, disappointed, and angry youths who are lining up outside the gates of the Department of Immigration and Emigration, patiently waiting for their passport to seek greener pastures elsewhere. It goes without saying that the country and its successive leaders have let down the youth who have shown that they do not have the patience of their parents to hang around while their wealth is being plundered right before their eyes. It is no one else but the people who faithfully and democratically elected their leaders who have to take responsibility for the state of the nation.
Sri Lankans should not lose their sense of morality or respect for the law owing to the actions of their leaders and corrupt officials. Instead, it is time that they asserted themselves and held to account those whom they elected and appointed to office. The first step in that direction will be to demand any future candidate seeking public office, from the pradeshiya sabha member to the executive president, irrespective of whether it is required by law or not, to first make available and publicise his or her declaration of assets and liabilities. At the end of the day, the root of all problems, personal or national, is money. The nation desperately needs this voluntary action from its politicians in order to obtain a little relief from its all-consuming cancer of corruption.The cancer of corruption
09 Oct 2021
The cancer of corruption
09 Oct 2021
It was last Sunday that the Pandora Papers first saw the light of day, unmasking a complex and shady parallel global financial system that essentially feeds off and thrives on the world’s super-rich. If the Panama Papers of 2016 are anything to go by, it appears that this shadowy financial system that includes tax havens in various parts of the world continues to grow despite regular exposure of its clients, enabling the world’s super-rich – which not only includes individuals but also multinational entities – to stash away their assets and evade taxation in their respective countries.
As Frédéric Bastiat anticipated, the plunder spanning decades has provided a modicum of legitimacy to the offshore financial services sector, which is essentially custom-built for the accumulation of wealth and has led to the creation of its own rules and regulations where absolutely necessary, and was unregulated for the most part. The only thing that is yet lacking to make it “mainstream”, and therefore “acceptable”, is the moral code which is the basis for the Pandora, Panama, and other such exposures. It is, therefore, only a matter of time before that too is dispensed with, paving the way for glorification of this thievery. But until such degeneration sets in, a group of committed global journalists in the name and style of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and their media partners have made it their business to dissect the complex network and expose its inner workings. Their latest effort has resulted in a harvest of 12 million confidential financial records leaked from 14 different offshore firms.
Over the last decade, there have been four major exposures of the global elite as well as the not-so-elite making use of offshore financial systems to park their loot. This includes the Pandora Papers last week, Paradise Papers in 2017, Panama Papers in 2016, and Offshore Leaks in 2013, the cumulated value of which is mind-boggling to say the least. These are funds that have been deprived from the global financial system that feeds the poor, looks after healthcare, provides environmental protection and assistance to the economically challenged, etc.
Among those exposed in the Panama Papers in 2016 were a few dozen Sri Lankans. In a world where money talks, those names did not appear to bother the Inland Revenue Department, which is usually quite eager in hounding the not so wealthy, nor the Bribery Commission. Now we have the Pandora Papers, which, in similar fashion, has exposed the dealings of many more individuals – some of them past and present heads of state and lesser mortals who have systematically and collectively deprived their respective countries of billions of dollars in tax revenue. Among the names that have transpired so far in the Pandora Papers is that of former Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa.
The main attraction of the offshore banking industry is its “no questions asked” operating system that has enabled trillions of dollars to be safely stashed in various locations and available to be drawn as and when required by their owners. However, an issue arises when such black money is sought to be legitimately brought into a country, which would usually require sources to be divulged and applicable taxes to be paid. An alternative method is to launder such money so that these funds appear legitimate through quasi-legitimate means. The other method is to make use of tax amnesties granted by various governments.
The Government of Sri Lanka granted just such an amnesty last month, on 8 September to be exact, through passage of the Finance Act (Tax Amnesty) Bill in Parliament, which proposed to tax any amount of hitherto undisclosed wealth at just 1%. The main proponent of this controversial piece of legislation, the then State Minister of Money and Capital Market, is now the Governor of the Central Bank. As to who exactly made use of the offer is likely to be the subject of a Right to Information appeal in the future.
According to the Pandora Papers, Nirupama Rajapaksa’s undisclosed wealth has been estimated at $ 161 million. At the Central Bank-determined current exchange rate of Rs. 203 to the dollar, that works out to Rs. 32 billion on the conservative side. To put that in context, as per the Appropriation Bill for 2022 submitted to Parliament last week by Minister of Finance Basil Rajapaksa, that figure is higher than the entire allocation for the Ministry of Transport for year 2022, which is approximately Rs. 31.2 billion. Even though Nirupama Rajapaksa has remained silent on the Pandora allegations, her husband Thirukumar Nadesan has vehemently denied wrongdoing and has already provided a statement to the Bribery Commission, following a directive from the President to the Commission to immediately inquire into the allegations and report back within a month.
Be that as it may, Sri Lanka is a country that has been grappling with the cancer of corruption for decades now. Leaders are routinely elected on the promise of eradicating corruption, only to find them outdoing their predecessors in that department. As unfortunate as it is, it has now come to a point where corruption in its rawest form is endemic at every stratum of society. To add to the misery, the economic woes brought about by the pandemic made a bad case worse. As the incarcerated Ranjan Ramanayake once famously pointed out, Sri Lanka has become a country where corruption begins with the birth certificate and ends with the death certificate.
President J.R. Jayewardene promised to usher in a “Dharmishta” society and ended up creating two wars, one in the North and another in the South. Subsequent leaders came into power promising to wipe out poverty but only ended up adding more names to their so-called poverty alleviation schemes such as Janasaviya, Samurdhi, etc. Today, it has come to a point where the rich have become richer and the poor have become poorer, while the middle class is threatened with extinction. Where does the rot stop?
In the 1840s, French free market economist Bastiat, quoted above, observed: “When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his sense of morality or respect for the law.” A good 170-odd years later, this is the exact dilemma that the people in Sri Lanka as well as in many other places in the world seem to be facing.
In the contemporary context, Sri Lanka’s political horizon shows no signs of anyone resembling a homegrown Imran Khan who has transformed his corruption-ridden nation state to one that is receiving the respect and admiration it deserves from the global community. Given the absence of hope, it is unfair to find fault with the thousands of disillusioned, disappointed, and angry youths who are lining up outside the gates of the Department of Immigration and Emigration, patiently waiting for their passport to seek greener pastures elsewhere. It goes without saying that the country and its successive leaders have let down the youth who have shown that they do not have the patience of their parents to hang around while their wealth is being plundered right before their eyes. It is no one else but the people who faithfully and democratically elected their leaders who have to take responsibility for the state of the nation.
Sri Lankans should not lose their sense of morality or respect for the law owing to the actions of their leaders and corrupt officials. Instead, it is time that they asserted themselves and held to account those whom they elected and appointed to office. The first step in that direction will be to demand any future candidate seeking public office, from the pradeshiya sabha member to the executive president, irrespective of whether it is required by law or not, to first make available and publicise his or her declaration of assets and liabilities. At the end of the day, the root of all problems, personal or national, is money. The nation desperately needs this voluntary action from its politicians in order to obtain a little relief from its all-consuming cancer of corruption.Kapruka
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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!