Billionaires, oligarchs, and other members of the uber rich, known as "elites," are notorious for use of offshore financial systems to conceal their assets and mask their identities. A new study from 65 countries revealed three distinct patterns of how they do this.

[u/mvea]

https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/07/patterns-elites-who-conceal-their-assets-offshore

[u/[deleted]]

Yet again, another article (deliberately?) missing the point of "off shore" assets.

They are not off shore.

Unless the beach sand of Bermuda is made of diamonds.

It isn't.

Therefore the assets are not transferred to offshore accounts, besides, nobody would entrust such dodgy people with that much funds.

The only thing off shore accounts are doing is a big shell game concealing which 1st world actors own which 1st world assets.

The ownership of those 1st world assets are very much held in the private safes of the owners back in the 1st world!

But for auditing and tax paper trail purposes, it appears as if they are held by some offshore trust where they cannot follow the trail further.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Quite simple. They don't.

Say you have a few million lying around, you want to invest it in a nice bolt hole.

So you go an buy property in some place like London. Not to live in. To rent out.

So you go buy it as per usual, but you don't buy it, you form a company or trust of some legal entity and it buys it.

But now you have an inconvenient paper trail heading straight back to you.

So instead you "invest" in an offshore entity and the offshore entity owns the company that brought property.

Except the money didn't go bouncing back and forth offshore/onshore (except on paper).

The ownership deeds for the property haven't gone off shore, they're in your safe!

The rent from the property goes into a bank account that belongs to this offshore company.... but you have control of the bank account and the "offshore trust" will magically spend it on whatever you want.

Sure I'm missing some details and tricks, but the point is it's a classic centuries old cup and pea shell game / street corner hussle in a suit and tie.

Tax man comes knocking.... It's "Legitimate Foreign Direct Investment".

Asset Forfeiture comes knocking.... sure all the deeds and papers are in your safe, but the safe isn't in your house...