Ostensibly, they were paying for sham "consultancy
services".
The epidemic hasn't skipped even staid Ottawa. Its Chief Electoral
Officer told Sun Media last September that he is "concerned" about
millions stashed away by Liberal candidates. Sundry ministers who
coveted the prime minister's job, have raised funds covertly and
probably illegally.
On April 11, UPI reported that Spain's second-largest bank, Banco
Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), held nearly $200 million hidden in
secret offshore accounts, "which were allegedly used to manipulate
politicians, pay off the 'revolutionary tax' to ETA - the Basque
terrorist organization - and open the door for business deals,
according to news reports."
The money may have gone to luminaries such as Venezuela's Hugo
Chavez, Peru's Alberto Fujomori and Vladimiro Montesinos. The bank's
board members received fat, tax-free, "pensions" from the illegal
accounts opened in 1987 - a total of more than $20 million.
Latin American drug money launderers - from Puerto Rico to Colombia
- may have worked through these funds and the bank's clandestine
entities in the Cayman Islands and Jersey. The current Spanish
Secretary of State for the Treasury has been the bank's tax advisor
between 1992-7.
The "Financial Times" reported in June 2000 that, in anticipation of
new international measures to curb corruption, "leading European
arms manufacturers" resorted to the creation of off-shore slush
funds.
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