On the trail of the missing millions and the Dubai connection -
"HUNDREDS of millions of dollars disappeared from MFS company accounts in a 12-month period, the NSW Supreme Court heard yesterday.
Barrister Dominic O'Sullivan showed Mr Kennedy the accounts of various MFS companies, one of which had net assets of $138m at the end of 2007 but by June 2008 had zero assets.
"Do you have any information about why that might be the case?" Mr O'Sullivan said.
"Absolutely not," Mr Kennedy replied.
Another company had $139m cash in the bank in 2007, which later disappeared. Mr Kennedy said he did not know where the money went."
And just in time this article in today's SMH:
ATO turns focus on foreign accounts of at least 100,000 customers. http://www.smh.com.au/business/ato-...-at-least-100000-customers-20100414-se36.html
PETER MARTIN ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT
April 15, 2010
THE Tax Office has ramped up pressure on Australians with undeclared accounts in tax havens by gazetting orders allowing it to question 57 Australian institutions about the behaviour of at least 100,000 customers.
The orders allow the Tax Office to ask institutions including Westpac, Mastercard and Citibank Australia about customers who have merely made inquiries about setting up overseas accounts.
''Sometimes the bank will have an operation in a tax haven and put their customers in touch; other times they will refer their customers to foreign institutions with which they have arrangements,'' assistant commissioner Malcolm Allen told the Herald.
''We will ask for those records, approach the customers and say, 'at one stage you were interested in opening an account in this country, what did you end up doing?'''
Most of the institutions on the list have agreed to hand the information to the Tax Office rather than challenge the order.
The order also empowers the office to ask for details of a broader range of transfers than those routinely reported to Austrac, including transfers by credit card and cheques.
''We have asked for this information in the past, but generally only in specific cases. This is a more strategic operation,'' Mr Allen said.
''We will be seeking records about anyone who has ever made such inquiries between July 2005 and June 2009.''
Among the 48 so-called secrecy jurisdictions and countries of interest covered by the order are Malta, Cyprus,
the Cayman Islands, Britain and New Zealand, which are ''often used as conduits to offshore jurisdictions of interest to the Tax Office'', Mr Allen said.
The Tax Commissioner, Michael D'Ascenzo, stressed there was ''nothing wrong with holding an offshore account or investing overseas as long as you pay any Australian tax due''.
''Our aim is to identify people who may be deliberately trying to hide income or assets offshore. I urge them to come to us before we come to them.''
An amnesty-like arrangement announced in November gives Australians with undeclared overseas accounts until June 30 to come forward in return for reduced penalties and the chance of an assurance they will not face criminal investigation.
Mr Allen said: ''They come in on a no-names basis, and on the basis of the facts they have given us we will tell them whether or not we would be looking at initiating a criminal investigation.
''With that advice from us they can then come forward and make that disclosure in the knowledge that that is not going to happen.''
Since November about 150 taxpayers have come forward, declaring foreign accounts worth $18 million. ''But the experience with similar initiatives offshore is that most people make those disclosures towards the end of the period. It takes a while to think about what to do, get information together and talk to advisers; generally about 70 days,'' Mr Allen said.
''If people are going to take up the offer by June 30 they need to be thinking about it now,'' he said, stressing that the ''no-names'' offer of anonymous advice would end then too.