Im interested to hear from anyone who may be able to answer this 'hypothetical' question. If you set up an IBC in an offshore jurisdiction for the purposes of trading, how is it possible to initially transfer funds into the IBC bank account from your country of residence without leaving a paper trail connecting you to the IBC? I'm led to believe that is achieved by channeling the funds through a pass through company in a third country that will not on face value appear to be suspicious. Is this the best way? Can anyone suggest how others may have done this? Thanks, Runningbear
Old trader/new user here...sorry for the fluff..but saw your name and was wondering if your the same"bear who I have talked to on the yahoo EBAY stock message board. Chris.
Yes, a pass through account in a country with good bank secrecy is one way. But this still leaves a paper trail that can be traced. The best way is still to deposit cash...
I understand that cash is the best method but that presents a problem in itself given that their are limits on the amount you can carry out of a country without arousing suspision. Runningbear
You're supposed to document that you're taking more than a certain amount of cash out of the country ($10K I think). But as long as the cash is legit, there's nothing illegal about it. Taking a million bucks out (even if legit) would probably cause at least a cursory investigation to see if you were trying to hide assets offshore, but $30-50K probably wouldn't - especially if you were enroute (at least initially) to the Bahamas or some other gambling center. Alternatively, you coul decide to ignore the reporting, over a period of time convert sets of ten $100 bills into $1000 bills and then stash the comparatively small and easy to transport bills in your pocket and cross the border. Plus, taking cash out of the country isn't watched nearly as closely as bringing cash in. If you're so inclined, you could pretty easily shove $50K in your pocket, hop a plane for Mexico City (connect to where ever you want from there), and it's unlikely anyone will even look at you twice. There also used to be a loophole involving foreign currency transfers. Not sure if it's been closed. But even though a bank would have to report a wire transfer out of country for more than $10K, you used to be able to do a foreign currency transaction through one currency dealer. You could write them a normal (unremarkable and unreported) check in almost any amount to buy say Swiss Francs and then have them deliver the currency to an offshore account without the transaction being reported. They've probably closed that hole, but you might want to check it out.
couldn't you transfer the money into a bearer bond in your home country, then fly and deposit that bond in the other country??
I think you guys are rocket scientists talking about money laundering in an unsecure forum. Are you that ignorant?
even it it was legal it would be kind of stupid to take a large amount of cash and deposit it into another country without a paper trail. if it was stolen you couldnt even make a claim for it. it is not legal to take more than 10k in cash out of the country without filing paperwork on it. they are very strict on this because of drug traffic laws. i assume you are trying to avoid us taxes with an offshore account. that is not legal either if you are a us citizen. it seems like a lot of risk to take to avoid taxes.