{"id":855672,"date":"2021-10-07T07:58:44","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T11:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=855672"},"modified":"2021-10-07T08:30:29","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T12:30:29","slug":"lawmakers-introducing-legislation-targeting-enablers-of-international-corruption-after-pandora-papers-findings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawmakers-introducing-legislation-targeting-enablers-of-international-corruption-after-pandora-papers-findings\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers Introducing Legislation Targeting Enablers of International Corruption After Pandora Papers Findings"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flawmakers-introducing-legislation-targeting-enablers-of-international-corruption-after-pandora-papers-findings%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=855672&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A bipartisan group of lawmakers is set to introduce new legislation aimed at stopping enablers of international <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-corruption\">corruption<\/a> in response to the findings highlighted in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-pandora-papers\">Pandora Papers<\/a> investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The Establishing New Authorities for Business Laundering and Enabling Risks to Security (ENABLERS) Act would make it harder for \u201ckleptocrats\u201d across the globe to launder money in the\u00a0United States, according to Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.).<\/p>\n<p>The bill (<a href=\"https:\/\/malinowski.house.gov\/sites\/malinowski.house.gov\/files\/ENABLERS%20Act%20FOR%20INTRO_SIGNED.pdf\">pdf<\/a>) would amend the 51-year-old Bank Secrecy Act by enabling the Treasury Department to impose stronger due\u00a0diligence requirements on the\u00a0source of funds for investment advisers, art dealers, attorneys involved in financial activity, company service providers, accountants, PR firms, and third-party payment providers.<\/p>\n<p>Such a\u00a0due\u00a0diligence requirement could be something as simple as\u00a0asking if suspicious funds are the proceeds from a crime.<\/p>\n<p>It would also remove an exemption that has been in place since 2002 that means\u00a0real-estate professionals, sellers of luxury cars, ships, and aircraft do not have to have\u00a0anti-money laundering\u00a0programs in place.<\/p>\n<p>In a joint statement issued on Oct. 6, lawmakers said the act would \u201censure that the United States never again facilitates the corruption and dictatorship we claim to oppose by giving kleptocrats and criminals a safe haven for the money they steal from their people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn turn, it would protect Americans from inflated real estate prices, job loss, human trafficking, and influence peddling\u201d they added.<\/p>\n<p>The bill will likely be introduced on Friday and, if passed,\u00a0the\u00a0Treasury\u00a0Department would have until\u00a0Dec. 31, 2023 to ensure it has imposed\u00a0stronger due\u00a0diligence requirements. All enablers subject to the amendment must also have programs in place by June 30, 2024, regardless of whether or not Treasury has publicly declared the rule.<\/p>\n<p>However, it is likely to face opposition from the multiple industries it affects.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4033091\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/10\/05\/Britain-Pandora-Papers-1-1200x800.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4033091\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Britain-Pandora-Papers-1-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"the property is linked to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>An exterior view of 56\u201360 Conduit Street, the property linked to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a new report dubbed the Pandora Papers, in the Mayfair district of London, on Oct. 4, 2021. (Matt Dunham\/AP Photo)<\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4030905\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/10\/04\/Former-British-Prime-Minister-Tony-Blair--1200x800.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4030905\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Former-British-Prime-Minister-Tony-Blair-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is shown ahead of a meeting at the EU Charlemagne building in Brussels, on Nov. 6, 2019. (Stephanie Lecocq\/Pool via AP)<\/figure>\n<p>In Thursday\u2019s statement, Lawmakers pointed to the recent Pandora Papers, which highlighted how\u00a0world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires, and others have used offshore accounts to shield assets collectively worth trillions of dollars over the past quarter-century.<\/p>\n<p>The papers, revealed on Oct. 4, contain nearly\u00a012 million leaked\u00a0documents revealing the offshore accounts of well-known political figures, amounting\u00a0to 2.94 terabytes of data of confidential information. The data has been drawn from 14 different sources.<\/p>\n<p>The more than 330 current and former politicians identified as beneficiaries of the secret accounts include Jordan\u2019s King Abdullah II, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ecuador\u2019s President Guillermo Lasso, and associates of both Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Pandora Papers reveal how corruption undermines democracy. All around the world, countries are being looted and the most vulnerable people victimized by their elites,\u201d Cohen said\u00a0in the statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese kleptocrats then launder that money to the West where they enjoy the high life\u2014spending the money on luxury cars, penthouses, jets, and opulent parties. Some\u00a0also spend it on intervening in our democracy, gaining influence in our politics and elites and working to undermine the rule of law. In order to fight corruption, we must curb the enablers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The papers also found that\u00a0Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politician Feng Qiya used an offshore company and enablers to trade U.S. stocks with $2 million worth of illicit funds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerican adversaries ranging from China to Iran to Russia have taken advantage of the U.S. enablers of kleptocracy\u2014unscrupulous lawyers, accountants, and others, to push their dirty money into our system, attempting to undermine our republic from within,\u201dsaid Wilson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we are serious about fighting dictatorship, we need U.S. professionals to do the most basic due diligence\u2014no American should be accepting money from Chinese Communist Party operatives, Iranian mullahs, Russian oligarchs, or others. The ENABLERS Act is a critical national security measure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ENABLERS Act is one of several bipartisan measures being introduced by Washington to combat corruption.<\/p>\n<p>Several other pieces of legislation, including the\u00a0Justice for Victims of Kleptocracy Act, the\u00a0Foreign Corruption Accountability Act,\u00a0the\u00a0Combating Global Corruption Act, and the\u00a0Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention Act, were recently added into the House\u2019s national defense bill.<\/p>\n<p><em>Reuters contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ttl7dayERL_WEB_KatabellaRoberts.jpg\" alt=\"Katabella Roberts\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"names\">\n<p>Katabella Roberts<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Katabella Roberts is a reporter currently based in Turkey. She covers news and business for The Epoch Times, focusing primarily on the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bipartisan group of lawmakers is set to introduce new legislation aimed at stopping enablers of international corruption in response to the findings highlighted in the Pandora Papers investigation. The &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-855672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}