Russian money laundered through Ireland
Only in the course of one month after the
collapse of the Cypriot economy have Russian businessmen moved at least 6
billion euro through their Irish companies. By September, the sum of laundered
money using Irish companies will amount to no less than 20 billion euro, and by
the end of the year, the Irish scheme would have no less than 200 billion euro
laundered tax-free by Russian businessmen for their businesses.
Superficially, it may not seem like too big
a problem, as there is little involvement of Ireland in Russian tax fraud, as
well as generating some revenue form Ireland. We are trying to prove that, in
fact, that any Chinese take-away or Russian food store could bring more
economic aid to Ireland than some Russian businessman's multi-billion euro
tax-dodge operation. In addition, in 2 to 3 years, when the scheme is finished,
or is revealed, then the result could inflict damage to Ireland comparable to the
economic crisis in Cyprus.
The offshore Russian politics are
long-known and acknowledged by the Russian government, since they're exactly
the same schemes run by banks such as Sberbank and VTB, as well as the tax
avoidance systems used by Gazprom and Rosneft.