Special Report: A little house of secrets on the Great Plains

Hey let’s take all regulations off business and trust their integrity and goodwill! Oh wait we did.

Perhaps @SenCarlLevin could introduce his ‘Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act’ through the back-door.

First, have the Federal authorities apply the principles of the law in Washington DC (which I understand they control). Then make it a requirement that any company applying for work with the Federal government is registered in a state that complies to the same degree with the law as it applies in DC.

Any company registered in a state that doesn’t comply would not get Federal work. This could be extended to sub-contractors.

The US Federal authorities have to set an example for the rest of the world to follow. A system that seems designed to help the criminal classes is not such a good example.

Okay … so which came first, the corporation or the income tax?

What’s a “shelf company”?? For god’s sake proof read not spell check your articles. With so many errors and misstatements Reuters sometimes reads as a high school newspaper…

More evidence of why we need MORE regulation of businesses instead of less. They do not care about the overall health of the economy and people that allow them to make money. Anything in the name of making money.

Hey Reuters, how many of those 2,000 corporations can raise my taxes, put me in jail, or send our heroes into Libya without a mission???

The so-called writers of the article (Kelly Carr and Brian Grow) seem to imply that ‘shelf’ or PO Box corporations are run by criminals and anyone who doesn’t operate out of shiny glass buildings is “crooked”.

I would remind these ‘journalists’ that the biggest swindlers usually operate from some of the biggest buildings with plenty of ‘suites’:

AIG
Enron
Madoff
Congress
Wall Street
Federal Reserve

Yes corporations are out of control and it isn’t likely that we are going to directly do anything about the downside abuse. On the other hand corporations are a useful tool in the real economy. That is why I like the idea of shifting taxation onto unearned incomes and values created by community and off the earned incomes from real productive activity in the real economy. The abuse of corporations is for the purpose of protecting what is not earned from taxation as well as hiding what is earned from a predatory and dysfunctional tax system. Earned incomes should not be taxed anyway so untaxing them would take a major reason for corporate abuse out of the picture. I understand that unearned incomes constitute 30-40% of GNP no matter how you measure it so there is more than enough value in the economy the taxation of which would be adequate to fund al levels of governments as well as producing no disincentives to what people do or invest in the real economy. After effectively taxing unearned incomes corporations would either have to do something productive or croak. Go to the root cause and be effective or deal with myriads of symptoms and forever be frustrated. It’s our choice.

I am embarrassed at people’s understanding of corporations here. Corporations like Exxon, Walmart, and most of the other 500 largest are owned by people like you and me.

If the government stopped taxing corporations all together, and just taxed individuals, our motto would be “what depression.”

When you tax a corporation, you are only taxing the people that buy from said companies. Stop taxing corporations, and corporations would not leave this country or search for tax shelters.

It is just plain dumb that we try to get a penny from them. It takes a person spending their entire life trying to be a politician, to not understand this.

@74LS08 – About 2 seconds of investigation would answer your question. For God’s sake – exercise some initiative. A shelf corporation or shelf company is a company or corporation that has had no activity. It was created and left with no activity – metaphorically put on the “shelf”.

Sounds like a Dick Cheney enclave for crooks like himself!

Much ado about nothing.

We need to eliminate the ENTIRE income tax code, eliminate the IRS and go to the FairTax. This would END all of this crap. I wonder how many of those politicians decrying this problem have themselves gotten tax breaks for their corporations in their districts. Especially the ones that contribute to their election campaigns. I’m just a blue collar worker, but even I can see that going to the FairTax would be a huge improvement and lead to true prosperity for America! Get the power back to the people instead of the politicians who curry favor with big business through special tax breaks.

We have one of the weakest business regulatory structures in the world. The US has become synonymous with corruption. And this is being promoted and protected by the Republicans who are constantly crying out for fewer regulations and less oversight. This is particularly outrageous since we are still crawling out from under our recent economic collapse caused by…what? Deregulation and a lack of oversight.

This also exposes the ridiculous fallacy that the media has a liberal bias. If the media, which is mostly owned by large corporations, was really liberal, then they’d be all over this story and, more importantly, they’d educate the public on the real effects of deregulation and oversight. They don’t. As important as this issue is, as big of a role that deregulation had on our economic collapse, as great of a threat that deregulation poses to our economic future, the news media mysteriously avoids this topic altogether. Welcome to the world of rightwing ideology.

And to think that the Republicans are fighting tooth and nail to keep Elizabeth Warren from leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Does anyone still question the need for such an agency? Shouldn’t consumers have any protection at all?

This is also the kind of thing that sprouts up like weeds as we continue to “cut spending!!!” The hopelessly Koolaid-drunk rightwing minions, who believe whatever they are told to believe, don’t even consider the consequences to all the spending cuts. Yes, we need to cut spending, but it definitely DOES matter what is cut and this business corruption issue further underscores the importance and need to balance spending cuts with revenue increases. We should except NO cuts until we know what is being cut and how it effects us.

But corruption is exactly what the Republicans are fighting to protect. As always with the Republicans, it hurts the Middle Class and benefits the corporate class.

I strongly applaud Reuters for a most excellent investigative research piece. Nice work!

74LS08: There are “shelf” companies AND “shell” companies. It’s not a typo.

Kelly and Brian (journalist?)

—Among its offerings is a variety of shell known as a “shelf” company, which comes with years of regulatory filings behind it, lending a greater feeling of solidity.—-

Do you guys proof your work? What school had the dishonor of your attendance and giving you your degrees?

@USAPragmatist – NO, “we” don’t need MORE regulation. We need less regulation and simpler regulation that is enforced across the board. The regulation we have is too complex and filled with loopholes paid for by lobbyists. We need to close loopholes and simplify our regulatory process since as it is, you need to be a corporate lawyer to understand any of it. Simplify regulations, simplify the tax code. Simple = no one slips through the cracks.

So in essence 2000+ ‘people’ live there… Don’t they have zoning laws?

Shelf companies were explained in the article. Quote is below-

“A growing niche in the shell business is shelf corporations. Like paper-only shells, which enable the secrecy-minded to hide real ownership of assets, shelf companies are set up by firms like Wyoming Corporate Services, then left “on the shelf” to season for years.”

I have three different Wyoming corporations and LLCs. It’s real simple to tell you why. It’s cheap and easy. Took about 15 minutes and cost about $100. Way easier and cheaper than incorporating in Nebraska, (where I live). All the big boys incorporate in Delaware for similar reasons. There is a competition for the business. Wyoming wins because they provide the best arrangement. Reuters doesn’t get it. It isn’t a criminal enterprise. You got to have an in-state resident agent. That is what the little house is all about. It’s the same in every state. non-resident corps have to have a registered agent. Long story – long on hype. Just the facts next time

Regardless of the fact that our supreme court considers corporations to be on a par with human beings, these entities are only concerned with the bottom line, not paying taxes, and allegiance to no country. It’s too bad the supreme court finds it necessary to have so much allegiance to them. I think those who need protection aren’t corporations, they are the victims of corporations.

Perhaps if those morons in DC would lower the corporate tax rate we wouldn’t have this issue. We have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world. That is not really conducive to encouraging businesses to not try and hide their money, much less individuals.

Those idiots in DC are killing us with their taxes, they think that they know better than we do how to spend our money.

If BIG GOVERNMENT wasn’t so regulative, restrictive, and anti-business, then companies would not be forced to play cat and mouse. Given the choice between Big Government and Big Business, I choose Big Business as the lesser of evils.Just look at the former eastern block as case and point!

Pay no attention to that little man behind the curtain!
The government has only itself to blame. Legislators and the regulators they empower impose on corporations what they feel is an unconscionable degree of control. Businessmen, being intelligent and adaptable human beings, can get very creative in not only circumventing or evading the rules, but in making such services available (for a profit) oto other businessmen with the same problem.

@grinchinchili – “The US has become synonymous with corruption”??? Compared with whom? Check your facts or have you and your lefty comrades completely given up on facts for propaganda? This article has nothing to do with leftist media – which it is, and admittedly so. The media is egregiously lazy, so don’t expect any in-depth reporting. If they did, they’d expose all sorts of political corruption that gets swept under the rug. Your excessively left slanted opinions and name-calling exposes you for who you are. Pot/kettle with the Kool-Aid rant. The left is greatly responsible for our economic situation today with the Community Reinvestment Act being the driving force for sub-prime lending and the ensuing housing bubble and eventual collapse. Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Franklin Raines – you want to talk corruption? How about Obama’s $1.5T budget that he subsequently locked into place? WE DO NEED TO CUT SPENDING. Wealth redistribution through government kills us. Tax and spend – that’s all the left knows. Denial of our fiscal problems and casting blame on political rivals won’t cut it anymore. Entitlements and gov’t bureaucracy are going to have to be cut. More simple laws and taxes will reduce the gov’t intervention we need to keep order and fiscal discipline. Simplify not multiply.

Time to overturn Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific.

O.k. what are the chances that Darth Cheney and his posse of Carlyle Reptiles are under any given rock one might turn over in this garden of evil? Now this is a story worthy of further investigation. Well done T/R.

There are several means of committing fraud and it is nothing new. They made me serve twice in Turkey for military and they want to make me undergo that once again and they always disturb home. It is not fair and not even legal to contact a foreign party although there could be foreign ties to this.

Typical Reuters slanted hit piece.

The reporter (or more likely the editor) has a template: here is a pro-business model, let’s find something to criticize about it. Let’s find the dirt.

So, out of hundreds (or thousands) of corporations registered here they cherry pick a few owned by criminals.

The real story here is why are legitimate business people forced to incorporate in a state that is not their home state?

For years Delaware has been a haven for US businessmen seeking incorporation. Why? Because in other states the rules, regulations, laws, taxes, compliance requirements, reporting rules, etc. have made doing business in these states untenable.

The rules are made by politicians, in the guise of protecting the public, who, in the main, are wholly incapable themselves of starting or running a business.

The real story here are governments (state and local), that enforce oppressive, police state, laws on people attempting to start, maintain, or expand businesses.

You want to close down these ‘shell corporations’, then shut down about 60% of the state and local compliance and policing departments. Fire about 40% of state, non-teaching, non-uniformed police, employees. Slash business taxes. Decrease mandated reporting rules (paperwork), cut the phony “environmental” restrictions and compliance nonsense required of most businesses. You do this, and these shell corporations havens dry up.

Yes, if anyone (individual, or under the umbrella of a corporation) is a criminal, robs, hurts people, etc. grab ‘em and throw them in prison (a real prison, not a country-club, white collar prison). Throw them in for a LONG time. But, don’t presume that all business people are crooks before they do anything to suggest it.

Anyway, Reuters is a liberal (probably marxist, anti-American, anti-West) news organization. This story is a classic example.

To The chairman:
You left out 3, in fact the 3 you left out have caused more disturbances than all of the rest combined.
Guess who these are?
Ginny
Fanny
and
Social Security Admin

@cidav8r…to quote you “WE DO NEED TO CUT SPENDING. Wealth redistribution through government kills us. Tax and spend – that’s all the left knows. ” Of course we need to cut spending, the Dems have offered 2 Trillion in spending cuts in negotiations,
BUT we also have to increase REVENUE, the GOP has balked at $600 million in closing of tax loopholes like a credit for private jets. And who was the last President to have a balanced budget, Mr Clinton, so I guess the left knows a lot more then just how to tax and spend.

You also mentioned we need simpler and more effective regulations, I couldn’t agree more, because of corporate lobbying interests regulations have been watered down and made so confusing that it has become ineffective. I guess I should have reworded my statement, instead of more regulations, we need more effective regulation. So I agree with you on that.

The IRS appears to have recently clamped down, “Daily Limit of EINs
Due to a high volume of requests for EINs, the IRS will begin limiting the number of EINs assigned per day to a responsible party. Effective April 11, 2011, a responsible party will be limited to five (5) EINs in one business day. This limit is in effect whether you apply online, by phone, fax or mail.”
http://goo.gl/Q3DsN

So, what’s new about business using the regulations in place to do business. This is a non-story. If you want to know ownership of a corporation contact the Sec. of State. All the records are there.
This is why FBI agents are heavy with lawyers and accountants.

cidav8r: What is it, besides FOX News and Rush, that makes you believe that we need less regulations, that American companies are already too regulated? Because right now American companies are making record profits, so how can you really justify the claim that American businesses are over-regulated? Can’t be hurting them too much.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/economy/24econ.html

Of course, corporations are going to claim that they’re over-regulated. That has always been the case, and always will be. They, with the help of the Republicans, are working toward zero regulations, and zero taxes. And, of course, zero patriotism (except in their commercials).

And why on earth would the news media be liberal since the major news outlets are corporate owned and Republicans are the party that fights for less corporate over-sight, less regulation, and less taxes? That doesn’t make sense. Why do you think the news media never talks about the consequences of deregulation and reducing over-sight but we hear about the need for deregulation all the time? In business, making money is always the bottom line the corporations will see to it that their news outlets help them make money.

Certainly you can find a few examples of liberal media, like MSNBC, but at least they don’t hesitate to criticize Obama and the Democrats. They do it all the time. Obama and the Dems even complain about it from time to time. But the mainstream news media is liberal myth is nonsense and just a little thinking on the matter will show you the silliness in the charge.

Don’t expect me to defend Obama and the Democrats. They feed at the same corporate troughs as the Republicans do. But the fact remains that the Republicans are the ones advocating fewer regulations and less oversight on American businesses and that’s the last thing we need. I suggest you reread this article carefully. This article is an example of the news media doing its job. You are absolutely right to say that there isn’t enough investigative reporting going on. But this article is an example of the rare occasion when the news media does its job.

But corporate and investor fraud is on the rise. The SEC, FDA, EPA and the IRS are so underfunded and understaffed that companies know that there’s little anyone can do if a company decides to commit a fraudulent act. And Republicans are working hard to increase that trend. And there are consequences, but the “liberal” media never talks about those consequences. Truth in advertising? Please. Why worry about the truth when there are profits to be made and no friggin’ bureaucrat to counter your claims. The Republicans are pushing us toward anarchy, where there is no government and no over-sight and no regulations. But don’t think there would be no control. Corporations are already taking care of that. Why do you think they own our government?
http://seekingalpha.com/article/157536-private-prisons-a-reliable-american-growth-industry

Wyoming= Dick Cheyney

Where is the politician screaming about the fact we are fighting in not one, not two, but three countries right now.
We are sending money hand over fist to other countries and yet our country is falling apart. We have kids who come out of school barely abel to reas, write, spell, or know anything about the world around them and it’s history. We have people working longer hours for less money, and millions of us have no health care. Our land air and water are becoming polluted, and we are still not near becoming less reliant on fossil fuels.
Our infrastucture is falling apart, and no one seems to give a crap.
This is the real crime.

Hmmm… I don’t see this house on the Shell Tours map that starts in Hollywood and routes its way to the eastern seaboard on a black, tinted glass luxury tour bus.

I mean, there are tons of houses on the Shell Tours route across the U.S., but this one has evaded their radar…

This is an easy one. The FBI should quietly work with postal authorities to monitor incoming mail to this house, in order to gather intel to build a case. So long as the Post Office — that’s being used as a conduit for organized crime in this case, I think — cooperates with law enforcement, their attorneys can’t prove mail was intercepted and examined.

This is a war. The FBI needs to take extreme measures. Don’t just leave the heroes of the FBI to the X-Files and other Hollywood fantasies… make it happen!

All’s fair in love and war, to borrow a famous tagline from the 1960′s.

Remember that our state gave the world Dick Cheney

This is flim-flam journalism that plays up to widespread lack of understanding of corporate law in the US. The authors accept as true the sales statements of the Wyoming promoters that a corporation will make you immune from the legal consequences of illegal acts (not true), that having an attorney involved will make information about corporation privileged (not true), that it is impossible to trace ownership of a corporation when illegal acts are committed (not true). No state requires a corporation to have any substantial assets or to make a public record of who its owners are.

Great story, backed up with some really good legwork. We’ve been tracking some of this activity as we’ve been importing companies into http://OpenCorporates.com (Wyoming’s one of those we’ve imported all the companies for), but this story has definitely bumped up surfacing the agent details (which we’ve got) in our priorities, for Wyoming and other states.

Ok, let’s cut the B.S. Its not just “evil” corporations that are registered here, many of them are just small businesses. There are also plenty of environmentalist companies listed at that address as well, like FaunaSafe, Greenin7, BlueGreenBioMass, so the left is taking advantage of it too. Heck, even the debt into wealth guy, John Commuta, is listed there. Its true Wyoming has less regulation, but all that means is that its easier to get a business started here, not that its illegal. Is that a bad thing? Don’t we want to promote the entrepreneurial spirit that is America? Don’t lump all these businesses into the same category as “offshore accounts” and “tax evaders.” Sure, there may have been a few bad eggs, but isn’t that true in everything. That’s like saying, “oh, Blagojevich was found guilty on corruption charges, I guess all politicians must be doing something illegal.” Hehe, ok, maybe that’s a bad example! lol

Gee, I wonder why the US Government, and many State Governments are in dire straights? No doubt because taxes are too high.
Oh wait, some people aren’t paying their fair share? And 30% of the companies in the S&P 500 don’t pay ANY income tax. You think that might be part of the problem? Naw, more tax cuts for the millionaires will fix everything.

“Somalia has slightly higher standards than Wyoming and Nevada.”
FREE ENTERPRISE – Republican Heaven
“Just imagine the possibilities”…

This is why Thomas Jefferson thought corporations should have to be approved by Congress on a case-by-case basis, and should only last one year each. They’re a scam to help the officers dodge personal responsibility. Their is no basis in capitalism for incorporation.

I don’t know any shelf companies that come with any filings beyond the initial articles that incorporate the entity. Tax filiings? Pure fiction. I don’t know any agents that open bank accounts. That is criminal and those agents should be shut down. As for the attorney, he may provide a smoke-screen, but if the authorities need the information, they know where to find it.

Does American business really need more deregualtion? And just think, thanks to Citizens United all these “corporations” can donate money to political campaigns without any disclosure from the receipients.

And you ask why there are 2000 companies registered at this address? Because Wyoming Corporate Services is their registered agent. The Corporate Trust Company office in Wilmington, Delaware has nearly 30,000 companies at their address! There is absolutely nothing illegal or abnormal about this.

The writer forgot to mention that both Bush Family and Cheney families have shell companies in Bahamas.

This is the reason why the country is bankrupt, because all the rich and powerful no longer pay taxes. Why pay taxes when the IRS has no idea what you own?
America has always been the hypocrite who cries out about the lamb devouring the wolf. As much the cry is false, when repeated many times, people begin to believe the lie as the truth.

US is very hypocritical. They start all dirty business games first. When others learn about it, and want to participate, US declares war on it. Like the war on drugs, war on terror. What country is the biggest user of illegal drugs in the world? It is the US. What country has the biggest government sponsored terrorism? US again!

The Congress will never agree on any law that require business transparency because the bribery squad, commonly known as lobbyist, will write checks to these criminal politician to block it from becoming law. And because the way commerce functions from state to state, some states will not allow the Federal government to make laws they don’t like. Such is the way things are in this country of ours mistakenly called United States of America. It should be renamed as Disjointed States of Amnesia.

Why don’t you all go educate yourselves, and find out about aged/shelf/shell corporations; if any of you were one of the thousands of victims which have had their retirements stolen by one of these cretins you might not be so skeptical about this article.

An aged/shelf corporation is not a corporation at all; it is a shell-company created to either hide assets or hide a lack of assets in order to gain credit. Superior Gold Group, LLC was a shelf corporation that stole the retirement savings of over 110 retirees. When Superior Gold Group started having court ordered judgement’s weighed against them for fraud, breach of contract, wire-transfer fraud, Superior morphed into a new aged/shelf corporation, renamed Superior Equity Group. Superior Gold Group utilized the same asset protection company both times to structure their corporate-vehicle of deceit. When man can learn to ethically regulate their business environment; then perhaps regulations would not be required!

damn liberal media…

Proof once again that we live in a nation just as corrupt as any other if not worse. This couldn’t exist if it wasn’t for our elected officials who made it all possible. If this is going on in a sleepy little town that most couldn’t even find on a map, imagine what’s going on everywhere else? Does the corruption ever stop? What a great nation – we use to live in.

“I built this corporation up the old fashioned way: By making a phone call to some stripper in Cheyenne yesterday and giving her $200 through paypal.”