At 01:00 PM 8/21/97 -0700, Tim May wrote:
Interestingly, many of the strategies for moving assets offshore, to offshore banks and money havens, is not so much to evade taxes as to "protect assets." Protect them from ransom/extortion demands of the _legal profession_ sort, e.g., "deep pockets" lawsuits. For example, somebody finds out that J. Random Cypherpunk is financially well off--perhaps from the increasing number of online credit report records, etc.--and decides to have a convenient "fall" on his property. He then sues for some large amount, either covered by Homeowner's Insurance, or more.
In addition to famous deep pockets attacks on big corporations, for example the woman who supposedly lost her psychic powers as a result of a CAT scan, or the silicone lawsuits, there is also a significant business suing private individuals. One particular vicious scam is the famous child molestation accusation. You privately agree you molested your child and pay $50 000 for "therapy", and provided you pay and cooperate your admission will be kept quiet, or you are charged with ritual child abuse involving upside down crucifixes and the like.
(Don't anybody waste their or my time with penny ante ideas for getting small amounts of money out of the country.)
Use the beef futures tactic: Somebody placed a bet on beef going up. If it goes up, it was Tim's offshore corporation that bet on it. If it goes down, it was Tim that bet on it. Gee, it seems that Tim has had a run of bad luck in his gambling on the futures market. --------------------------------------------------------------------- | We have the right to defend ourselves | http://www.jim.com/jamesd/ and our property, because of the kind | of animals that we are. True law | James A. Donald derives from this right, not from the | arbitrary power of the state. | jamesd@echeque.com