Image: VeracityStew.com
This week Vanity Fair reveals the lengths to which the candidate who “believes in America” hedges his bets against his own country. These findings provide one more set of reasons why America needs to see Mitt Romney’s tax returns. Information revealed thus far continues to raise more questions than answers. One must admit – secrecy, evasiveness and defiant non-disclosure feed the appearance of unethical behavior and shady backroom dealings. In addition to Iranian oil investments previously revealed by the Stew, we now add Vanity Fair’s findings to our growing list of grievances against candidate Mitt Romney.
| INVESTMENTS | WORTH | LOCATION |
| Interests in 12 out of 138 Bain Capital Funds | $30 million | Cayman Islands |
| Monetary Assets | $3 million | Swiss Bank Account |
| Assets | Value: not disclosed | Bermuda |
| Assets | Value: not disclosed | Luxembourg |
| Assets | Value: not disclosed | Cayman Islands |
If the details of his assets are not vague enough, try connecting the dots with Mitt’s business holdings and investments. Vanity Fair reports that the filing for Mitt Romney’s first $37 million Bain Capital Fund of 1984, gives rare insight into how companies like Bain provide a channel for secrecy-shrouded foreign money to enter the United States.
One foreign investor, of $2 million, was the newspaper tycoon, tax evader, and fraudster Robert Maxwell, who loot[ed] his company’s pension fund. The Bain filing also names Eduardo Poma, a member of one of the “14 families” oligarchy that has controlled most of El Salvador’s wealth for decades; oddly, Poma is listed as sharing a Miami address with two anonymous companies that invested $1.5 million between them. The filings also show a Geneva-based trustee overseeing a trust that invested $2.5 million, a Bahamas corporation that put in $3 million, and three corporations in the tax haven of Panama, historically a favored destination for Latin-American dirty money—“one of the filthiest money-laundering sinks in the world,” as a U.S. Customs official once put it.
How is the American public to judge the integrity of this candidate if we cannot examine the details of his business dealings? “Blind trust” may be a fine financial arrangement for Romney, but it is hardly the feeling we wish to bestow upon the man currently vying for the title of POTUS. Take a look:
| BUSINESS & BUSINESS INVESTMENTS | WORTH | LOCATION |
| Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd. | Owner: W. Mitt Romney (worth unknown) |
Bermuda Founded 1997; transferred to Ann Romney’s blind trust 2003 |
| Solamere Founders Fund | $10 million invested | Ann Romney blind trust |
| Elliott Associates, L.P., hedge fund | “Over $1 million” invested | vague listing on 2010 Presidential Candidate financial disclosure |
| 23 other business investments | “Over $1 million” invested in each | vague listing on 2010 Presidential Candidate financial disclosure |
Mitt Romney might not see anything wrong with this fuzzy financial picture, but many Americans do. And since he is not the one voting for us, but rather expects us to offer him a job, we demand to inspect his credentials. Send us your resume, Mitt – in keeping with your daddy’s modus operandi, show us the last 12 years of your tax returns. What have you got to lose?
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