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Romney, the multimillionaire front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has disclosed numerous offshore investments. His financial filings included at least six Cayman-based funds, worth between $7 million and $32 million, run by Bain Capital, the private equity powerhouse he once led. More than a dozen other funds based in the Caymans and Bermuda showed up on his 2010 federal tax returns. His campaign says he pays the same taxes he would if they were based in the United States. Romney also had a UBS bank account in Switzerland, but it was closed in 2010 as he prepared to run for president. Step 4: Consider other motives. Some people want to hide wealth from spouses or business partners; doctors worry about malpractice suits; others think creditors or the government might try to seize their assets. Wealthy residents of oppressive countries may feel safer with their savings elsewhere. Dictators, fearing revolt, often do, too. Step 5: Choose a country. Switzerland's famous "numbered accounts" aren't as clandestine as they're portrayed in spy movies but do cater to the rich and ensure only a few bank executives know a client's name. Hong Kong has its own version
-- "chop accounts," identified by a symbol. Congressional investigators counted 50 places that can be considered tax havens or financial hideaways. Tax havens usually boast: Little or no income tax; Laws that make it a crime for banks to reveal account holders' names; A history of failing to cooperate with other nations' tax collectors. Step 6: Open an account. Law-abiding customers who can't travel to an offshore bank can usually set up an account by mail with little or no minimum deposit. For tax evaders and those playing the angles, a network of accountants, lawyers and bankers is ready to set up shell companies and phony trusts to hide behind. They can get creative. Former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld told investigators he helped a billionaire client withdraw his funds in the form of diamonds. Birkenfeld flew to America with the diamonds hidden in his luggage, inside a tube of toothpaste.
[Associated
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