-
The man formerly in charge of anti-money laundering has
been named in the so-called “Paradise Papers” leak of documents
stolen from an offshore law firm. -
Lord Sassoon served as President of the UK’s Financial
Action Task Force between 2007 and 2008, which combats money
laundering and terrorist financing. -
Sassoon was one beneficiary of a family trust worth
millions and registered to an offshore secrecy jurisdiction. He
says the UK tax authorities were aware of this, and he has not
benefited from the trust in years.
LONDON — The man formerly in charge of anti-money laundering in
the UK has been named in the Paradise Papers leak as a
beneficiary of an offshore trust.
According to documents found in the
International Consortium of Journalists’ (ICIJ) Paradise Papers
database, James Meyers Sassoon, who served as President of
the UK’s Financial Action Task Force between 2007 and 2008, is
the beneficiary of a Cayman Island trust fund called DCR
Herschorn Settlement.
On Sunday, more than 13 million documents that detail the
complex financial arrangements of some of the world’s richest
individuals were leaked. The documents, dubbed the “Paradise
Papers,” were
stolen from offshore law firm Appleby in a cyber attack last
year, and shared with the ICIJ.
As President of the Task Force, Sassoon was in charge of
combating money laundering and terrorist financing. He has also
been a defender of legal tax avoidance (as opposed to illegal
evasion), having said in 2010 that minimizing tax payments
“is perfectly reasonable.”
Sassoon, now a member of the House of Lords, was also the
Treasury commercial secretary from 2010 to 2013, and was
responsible for overseeing economic productivity and industrial
strategy.
The fund was allegedly established by Sassoon’s grandmother
several decades ago, and originally operated under Bahamian law,
(the Bahamas are also considered an offshore secrecy
jurisdiction). Documents show the trust owns Orchard Limited, an
investment holding company registered in the Bahamas, which held
$124 million in 2002, according to financial statements. By 2007
it was holding $236 million, and the same year distributed $8
million to beneficiaries, records show.
By 2002, the trust had employed “Big Four” accountancy firm
Deloitte to advise it on tax matters.
In 2008, documents show, a fax from Sassoon’s father to an
Appleby administrator showed Deloitte warned that UK taxpayers
could be liable for UK taxes on more than $14 million of the
funds if they were withdrawn.
Sassoon told the ICIJ the trust fund had been established by his
grandmother 60 years ago for multiple family beneficiaries,
including non-UK residents. He said it also included non-UK
assets not liable for UK taxes. Given this, and that the trust
had been established offshore to begin with, Sassoon told the
ICIJ there was “no question of assets having been ‘moved
offshore.'”
He said UK tax authorities were aware of the settlement and its
management company. “Where UK domiciled individuals have received
any benefit from the settlement, that has been disclosed in the
normal way and any tax due has been paid,” Sassoon told the ICIJ.
“I have not received any benefit from the trust for more than 25
years.” He also said he had disclosed his potential interest in
the trust when he joined the Treasury in 2002.
Appleby has
denied allegations of wrongdoing, and said it does not
tolerate “illegal behaviour.”