Underground K n ow l e d g e Hidden Offshore & Privacy Secrets
Lance Spicer
Trident Press
Copyright Lance Spicer 1999-2004 This book is copyright. All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by Trident Press Pty Limited PO Box 3068, Bangor NSW 2234 Australia Email:
[email protected]
Web Site: www.tridentpress.com.au ISBN 0 958606 064 This Edition November 2004 Australian Produced and Manufactured Disclaimer The material in this book is of the nature of general comment only, and neither purports nor intends to give any accounting, legal, tax or investment advice. Readers should not act on the basis of any matter in this book without first considering, and if appropriate taking, professional advice with due regard to their own particular circumstances. The author and publisher expressly disclaim all and any liability to any person or organisation, whether a purchaser of this book or not, in respect of anything, and of the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done by any such person in reliance, whether whole or partial, upon the whole or any part of the contents of this book. In no way is it the intention of the author or the publisher to encourage readers to evade tax or any lawful responsibility that they may have. The author and the publisher will not accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions. Always seek professional advice from a Licensed Investment Adviser or Solicitor prior to acting upon any information in this book.
Introduction to Lance Spicer Lance Spicer was born in Sydney NSW in 1960. He worked for 16 years as an accountant, financial executive and consultant to several major Australian and foreign corporations including Australian and foreign banks. In 1990, his expertise was called upon to assist in the investigation of missing assets as a result of the Qintex collapse. Before “semi-retiring” he was the financial controller of a major listed property and tourism group. In recent years, he has become a professional investor in addition to writing 25 books on various subjects such as investment, financial privacy, small business and the share market. Twelve of Lance’s books have now attained “best seller” status with books having been sold in over 75 countries around the world. Lance is a regular feature writer in magazines such as Australian Business and Money Making Opportunities, Exposure and Small Business & Home Based Income. In addition, he has spoken at several international and local seminars on issues of taxation, investment and privacy. His books have been featured on ABC Television’s LateLine program and discussed on radio in the USA and in Australia. Lance’s biography has recently been included in the Millennium Edition of Who’s Who in the World.
Underground Knowledge
T abl e of C on te nt s Warning
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Just Leave us in Peace
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Introduction
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Chapter 1 – Freedom & Liberty
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Chapter 2 – Privacy
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Chapter 3 – Security
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Chapter 4 – Money
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Chapter 5 - Special Destinations 96 Chapter 6 – Strategies & Tricks of the Trade 133 Chapter 7 – Technology
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Chapter 8 – Desire for Privacy – A Crime?
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Index
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Trident Press Catalogue
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Warning! This book contains certain confidential information that could easily be subject to abuse or misuse. The author and the publisher do not condone, encourage, endorse or recommend the use of any of these methods as a means to defraud or violate the rights of any individual or organisation. The reader is therefore encouraged to be diligent in applying this information to specific situations. The author and the publisher are not engaged in rendering any legal or investment advice and strongly suggest that you seek assistance from an appropriately qualified professional such as a solicitor or investment adviser. The author and publisher hereby disclaim any personal losses or liabilities caused by the use or misuse of this book and any material contained herein. This book is presented for academic study, research and legal uses only.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets
Just Leave Us In Peace! If governments really wanted to do what was right for the people, they’d just leave us alone. So, governments leave us alone! Let us go about our business of achieving, employing, producing, investing and - excuse me for saying it – making money. Most people have not broken any laws, nor do they intend to. All most of us are looking for is happiness, decency and success Those aren’t such bad things to aim for are they? Governments have become so intrusive it’s laughable. But you can understand their motive, Governments don’t want you to succeed. If everybody succeeds, there’s no need for government to interfere with our lives. And all this twaddle about government giving us things! Clearly, what they give us they buy with our money. …….interference will continue until finally, people can dominate governments. Then we won’t need them. Until such time, expect lots of interference. John Laws Sydney Radio Announcer The Sunday Telegraph, March 28, 1999
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Introduction Is it the struggle between good and evil? Are the politicians and bureaucrats really trying to control our lives and deny us the freedoms we expect? Or is it that our daily lives are so busy and hectic that we have become cynical and tired? Are we looking for conspiracies that aren’t really there? Do these alleged conspiracies against us involve withholding valuable information? Is there really information our governments would prefer we didn’t have? What can they do if we find out? And what will we find out? Is this “withheld” information worth knowing in the first place? Each reader of this book will have their own answers to this range of questions and it will probably be a reflection of their experiences in life. Some people go through life totally oblivious to the fact that people in power know more than they do, own more than they do, get more than they do and probably have a better life than they do. These people just don’t care. Why should they? Their lives are mapped out for them. It’s all so very predictable, isn’t it? Go to school, try to get a good education, try to get a good job, try very hard to make a good living, achieve an adequate living but it does take most of their working lives to achieve adequacy, retire and die. Is this life? Well, I’ve probably been overly simplistic, but there are a lot of people that feel this way, and what do they do about it? Nothing. “No time!” “To busy” “Who has time for that?”, they say. Unfortunately, these people make up 99% of the population. Too busy just getting by to enjoy their lives. What of the other 1%? Ah……. They’re the rich people, people in positions of power, and a small and growing group of people that have what the rich and powerful have……..Knowledge. The only difference between the “battlers” and the rich and powerful is knowledge and time. To attain knowledge, you must first
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets have time. Time to think and reflect, time to read, time to research, and time to understand and implement valuable knowledge. Making the time and doing something about improving your life is the first step to joining the ranks of the “1%”. Do you really think that the rich and powerful are that much smarter than you? If at all? Or are they simply more knowledgeable, are they “in the know”, so to speak? The answer is Yes. So what should you do? You should take the time to learn and find out the knowledge that has been denied you all this time for any number of reasons, time being the main offender. What is this knowledge? What do the “1%” know that you don’t? There’s plenty. They know about how to make more money than anybody else by finding better investments and paying less tax than you. They know about freedom and where to go to get it. They understand government, laws and bureaucracy and the loopholes, sometimes designed for their use. They know how to protect their privacy, you will never find out what they own or where it is. They know what individual sovereignty is and are never intimidated because they understand their rights. They understand technology and use it to their advantage. They are unconcerned with government interference, because they are either above it or perpetrating it. The benefits the “1%” enjoy are significant. More money, more freedom, more time to enjoy life and less worry….a lot less worry. To join them, find out what they know, simple as that. Find their contacts, learn their methods, adopt their attitude and this will inevitably lead you to their success and the benefits that follow. Francis Bacon stated in 1597 that, “knowledge itself is power”. How right he was. Four hundred years later in the “Information Age” we understand knowledge is almost everything. It controls wealth, and wealth can provide freedom. Freedom provides happiness and well being. Without knowledge, it is hardly likely you will attain many goals in life. Sure, many people are happy and content with their lot and that’s fine, but I would say this, these people either have not seen what the “1%” are up to or they have just “given up”. They have thrown their collective hands in the air and said, “Ah…Stuff it, I give up! It’s all too hard”. It’s true I know people like that, nice people, but defeatist! It’s not necessary, it’s not that hard, particularly when someone does all the research and writes a book that contains some of this information.
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Underground Knowledge Some people may consider this book a little “close to the edge” and “why would anyone want privacy to this extent?” or possibly, “if people want to disappear they must be up to no good!” Well, that’s not the case. People want to disappear for a lot of reasons: ♦ They may be fed up with life in the fast paced times we live and just want to be left alone. ♦ They are sick of people bothering them or wanting to sell them something. ♦ They may have a vindictive spouse that will just not leave them be and who employs private detectives to track them down. ♦ They may fear the government and bureaucrats, maybe not now, but who knows what the future may bring. ♦ There may be people, ex-friends or family that will just not get out of your life. ♦ Or possibly like me, you had good reason to disappear (for a while anyway). I had a nasty experience with a particular Japanese company that had executives that were participating in dubious activities. I had the misfortune of uncovering their activities and reporting them. Threats came and I disappeared. Thankfully, after a nice long talk to the Queensland Criminal Justice Commission I am free to resume my life and those horrid little Yakusa criminals are back in Japan. So, as you can see, “disappearing” can be beneficial. While this book doesn’t contain all the information you will need, it does provide a good start and coupled with my other books as well as those from other “alternative” authors, the road to financial and personal freedom will be made just that little bit easier. Underground Knowledge will take you on a journey through issues, concepts, products, services and methods that the “1%” have been using for years. It will introduce you to places where true freedom exists and where it is very affordable. Libertarian concepts will be explained, ways to improve your privacy, how to reduce you profile and avoid nosy bureaucrats and others wanting your personal information for their own advantage. Secret ways to use offshore locations for profit and privacy. Products and services that provide privacy and profit. There will also be
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets some news and stories that will amuse and shock, but also enlighten, so I hope you enjoy, Underground Knowledge. Lance Spicer November 2004
"It was the concept of individual rights that had given birth to a free society. It was with the destruction of individual rights that the destruction of freedom had to begin." "A collectivist tyranny dare not enslave a country by an outright confiscation of its values, material or moral. It has to be done by a process of internal corruption. Just as in the material realm the plundering of a country's wealth is accomplished by inflating the currency - so today, one may witness the process of inflation being applied to the realm of rights. The process entails such a growth of newly promulgated 'rights' that people do not notice the fact that the meaning of the concept is being reversed. Just as bad money drives out good money, so these 'printing press rights' negate authentic rights." -Ayn Rand, Author of Atlas Shrugged
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Chapter 1 Freedom & Liberty What is freedom and liberty anyway? Is it the right to do what we want, when we want, as long as we don’t break any laws? Most people would agree. I have no problem with that, but what of these “laws”? Are they laws that you or I have approved, or are they laws introduced by politicians and bureaucrats that have been imposed without our knowledge or consent? It seems to me there are a lot of laws introduced by parliaments around the country that aren’t necessarily in the best interests of the people the politicians are supposed to be representing. In addition to laws we don’t want, what about giving money away to people and countries very few Australians approve of. We are disgusted every day by this carry on, aren’t we? What about Senator Mal Colston? He rorted the system, effectively stole money from you and I and got off because he was ill. In addition, he received $1.5 million in the cosy little superannuation scheme the politicians have introduced for themselves. What if you rorted the system, stole money, would you get off? No, course not! What about the recent legislation introduced to censor the Internet in Australia. The government can now order Internet Service Providers to remove offensive or banned material from the Internet by not allowing you or I to access it. Fair enough I suppose, there’s some pretty rotten stuff out there that we would prefer our kids didn’t see, but that should be our role as parents, or an independent regulator’s role, not the government’s role. Now this legislation is in place, the government could, if it wanted to, start restricting access to other sites on the Internet not necessarily distasteful. For instance, radical political views on Nazis? That’s ok to ban isn’t it? What about the views of historian David Irving
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets who claimed the Holocaust was all hype? That’s ok to ban as well, isn’t it? David Irving isn’t allowed in the country anyway. While we are at it, why not Pauline Hanson, she isn’t popular with Liberal or Labour, let’s censor her site. Out goes Pauline, that’s ok isn’t it. What about the Shooters Party? They’re a bunch of Rednecks according to the government with “offensive” views on the Port Arthur massacre, let’s ban them, ok? In fact all radical “offensive” views on the Internet should be banned, shouldn’t they? Let’s ban my views, your views….everybody that doesn’t agree with the government should be banned! Yes, the government can ban anybody it likes from the most powerful information medium in the world if it wishes. Now it’s unlikely they would get away with banning high profile political parties without public backlash, but they could get rid of other stuff, if they haven’t already. What about unauthorised investment information, freedom information, second passports, tax haven information, tax minimisation techniques etc? Will that disappear soon? The government certainly doesn’t want you to know about it. They have the right to remove it if they wish, we gave them that power. Maybe some sites have already disappeared from your view because the government doesn’t want you to see the information, who knows? Are you still feeling as free as you were 5 minutes ago or are you becoming a bit concerned about your rights, you know….. the assumption that you can do what you like, when you like? “It was the concept of individual rights that had given birth to a free society. It was with the destruction of individual rights that the destruction of freedom had to begin.” “A collectivist tyranny dare not enslave a country by an outright confiscation of its values, material or morals. It has to be done by a process of internal corruption. Just as in the material realm the plundering of a country's wealth is accomplished by inflating the currency - so today, one may witness the process of inflation being applied to the realm of rights. The process entails such a growth of newly promulgated 'rights' that people do not notice the fact that the meaning of the concept is being reversed. Just as bad money drives out good money, so these 'printing press rights' negate authentic rights.” Ayn Rand wrote those words, they say it all! Without constant vigilance, freedom and liberty, as we know it, will be further eroded by the onset of these laws and regulations, political correctness and
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Underground Knowledge censorship. Consider ASIO’s new powers, they can tap your phone, monitor your home, request all personal details be provided by other government departments, even request private companies to provide information on you. Still feel a sense of freedom and liberty? What about Prime Minister John Howard’s back down on his promised Privacy Legislation in 1996? Why did he do this? Was there a hidden agenda? Have you ever heard of Echelon? The communications surveillance system run by the Australian Government and America’s NSA, to monitor all your communications. I will reveal more about this sinister system in another chapter. Did you know we don’t even have a Bill of Rights? Our basic human rights are only protected by International Law, not Australian law. Did you know government departments like the ASIC and ATO can force you to provide evidence and documents in relation to yourself or others under the threat of imprisonment? Did you know you are powerless to stop them entering your home to seize your records? Have I convinced you yet? Our freedoms are under attack in a very quiet under handed way. Governments worldwide seem to like the idea that innocent people suffer at the hands of poor legislation. They believe that anyone that achieves success through hard work has done so, in order to provide income in the form of tax to those in our society that produce nothing, but simply sponge off others. I refer to politicians and their bureaucracies among others. They make laws that inhibit liberty and freedom, simply because allowing such freedom denies them maximum power and ability to extract tax. The tax is extracted to provide them with their over inflated incomes, gold passes, government cars, overseas travel, and million dollar superannuation payouts. Every time you read it in the newspaper, don’t you get cranky? What to do?………It’s very hard to work out. Do you work towards changing the system back to what it was meant to be? Do you escape from the current trend and put a strategy in place that will restore some of your freedoms and liberties? Do you do a bit of both? That’s entirely up to you. Have you ever heard of Ayn Rand? I’ve quoted her a couple of times already. She was a Russian expatriate who fled her country to live in the United States after the Russian Revolution. Ayn was a great writer who believed in individual freedom and the right of the individual above all else. She believed the individual had the right to do anything they wished as long as their actions did not transgress the rights of others. In
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets 1957, she wrote a ground breaking novel, “Atlas Shrugged”. In this novel, she explained how things in the world we live in today would be. Even before political correctness and socialism were “fashionable”, she predicted that they would diminish individual rights. The heroes in her book were capitalists, hard working and efficient. These people were constantly under attack from workers who wanted more money and less work (sound familiar?), as well as politicians who were hell bent on wealth redistribution by introducing laws that were non-sensical and antibusiness. The government introduced quotas, levies, taxes, rules and regulations that stifled creativity and removed incentive for capitalists to even exist. Now, that would never happen in real life would it? In the end, it was the capitalists that went on strike and formed their own community away from the interference of government. Ayn once stated, "The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man's rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man's self-defense, and, as such, may resort to force only against those who start the use of force. The only proper functions of a government are: the police, to protect you from criminals; the army, to protect you from foreign invaders; and the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breach or fraud by others, and to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law." "Now what happens in a case of a disagreement between two men about an undertaking in which both are involved? In a free society, men are not forced to deal with one another. They do so only by voluntary agreement and, when a time element is involved, by contract. If a contract is broken by the arbitrary decision of one man, it may cause a disastrous financial injury to the other - and the victim would have no recourse except to seize the offender's property as compensation. But here again, the use of force cannot be left to the decision of private individuals. And this leads to one of the most important and most complex functions of the government: the function of an arbiter who settles disputes among men according to objective laws." Most people would agree that is precisely the role of government, not what our lot are getting involved in. I suppose my point is you can do a similar thing, you can stop playing their game. You can stop being a “patsy” of the government, getting told what to do and when to do it. You can employ a range of strategies that will free up that stranglehold you are currently feeling, courtesy of the bureaucrats and politicians. Contrary to what people may
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Underground Knowledge tell you or have you believe, you do have choices and there are solutions, but before you start you have to work on your attitude.
Attitude It's My Life! It certainly is and it’s not a rehearsal so you have to get it right. Many people go through life doing what people expect them to do, doing what they’re told when they’re told. The bureaucrats say jump and guess what they do? They jump. This is nonsense. If you want to live a life free of the turmoil and frustration only bureaucrats and politicians can bring, you must be proactive. It’s your life, and you can do anything you like with it. Being unconventional is not a crime. Once you have this attitude straight in your head, then a lot follows automatically. If it's your life, then you can do with it what you wish, provided you don't interfere with other people (don't forget, their lives belong to them also). No one has the right to tell me what to do! That's right. If it's your life, then you cannot be told how to live it. There is no valid external authority that exists that can tell you how to live your life, provided you don't infringe on other people's right to do likewise. I say “valid” authority because, as you very well know, there are all sorts of assumed authorities that would like to control you. In fact, most other people would like to control you (although they wouldn't admit to it). This control is exercised by people operating as a collective, society, church, community, family, and of course the biggest controller of them all, government. Although your friendly neighbour may not overtly try and control what you do with your life, this same neighbour may very well subscribe to political policies and processes that do control it. This form of social control is endemic. One form of control is taxation and other costs, duties, fines, levies and excises the government takes from you. Some believe that taxation is the blatant theft of your hard-earned money, I’m not quite as hard on this matter. I do believe some form of taxation is necessary to provide the services society requires and help the less fortunate in our society. However, there is a limit to benevolence. Huge
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets bureaucracies, politician rorts, corrupt police, foreign aid giveaways to countries like China who clearly don’t need it nor appreciate it, the list goes on. The governments in this country are not doing such a good job with our taxes, that you should volunteer to give them more than they are entitled. The money does a better job being in your pocket for the benefit of your family. Enter the concept of legal tax minimisation. This is where you arrange your affairs in such a way that you can reduce the amount of tax you pay. You break no laws, commit no crime, hurt nobody, but the government and some in our society make you feel guilty, implying that you are a “tax dodger” or “tax cheat”, the bleating hordes that are the “politically correct thought police” describe you as greedy, thoughtless, evil, wrong doing, callous and without social conscience. These people are usually those that have profited from your past over-contributions to their miserable whining lives. What right do they have in trying to make you feel guilty about your money. That's right, your money, you earned it. They probably earn little themselves, but receive a great deal from the productive people in society. This is social conditioning. It’s the same social conditioning that you feel when you pass a police radar trap at 55kmh in a 60kmh zone. You still feel nervous and guilty even though you’ve done nothing wrong. The police deliberately try to intimidate, as do most government departments. They don’t have enough staff to impose their will, so they fool you by intimidation. The Australian Tax Office obtain compliance by way of threat to prosecute if you don’t do what they want. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission intimidate the same way (unless you go after them as I did in which case they apologise and say they were just doing their job…..yeah right). I should clarify that last statement by saying, that it was only one small group within the ASIC that were out of control with “bureaucratic power”, but I believe this group of power mad “book burning fascists” has been placed back on their “leashes”. Hopefully, they will remain there. Most government departments “have their way with you” (that turn of phrase was deliberate) by the use of intimidation. A person that is truly free is not intimidated nor does he or she feel guilty when they do what’s right morally, for themselves and their family, I certainly don’t. I don’t break the law, but I certainly don’t go along and do everything they want me to do. We are all sovereign individuals with inherent rights to pursue our lives as we see fit without the intimidation of lesser beings in the form
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Underground Knowledge of politicians and bureaucrats. Those people that couldn’t make it in the “real” world. At the end of the day what I do with my life is my business. What I do with my money is my business and not up for discussion with government departments. They certainly didn’t help me earn it…. on the contrary. It's My Money! It certainly is, which means you can do with it what you choose. Which means you can invest it in anything you like, anywhere you like. The government would have you believe that investment offshore is illegal or wrong in some way, but it’s not. There are no restrictions where you put your money. Any thoughts to the contrary you may have are also part of the social conditioning I was talking about. The bureaucracy would have you believe it is also risky because they aren’t there to protect your interests, that’s a load of old rubbish. They do take themselves seriously don’t they? Investing outside of Australia is risky they say, therefore investing in the United States or Europe is not recommended because they are “risky”. I don’t think so. If anywhere is risky, it’s here! Look at the mob we have running the place! What’s more is the fact that the returns available in domestic investments have been very poor when compared to those offshore. So, by ignoring offshore investment opportunities, you are passing up real opportunities to enhance your wealth and by doing so, give yourself more options in life. Many experienced investors have been earning the bulk of their money offshore for years. Sure, they may choose to live here in Australia, but they don’t have to if they don’t want to. By equipping themselves with knowledge on how to live in one place, earn from another, have assets in yet another, they have true freedom to go where they please, when they please and if they get fed up with what’s going on in one place, simply shift the assets or themselves elsewhere. They simply rise above all the nonsense, guilt, politics, conformity and suit themselves. They don’t hurt anyone, offend anybody or diminish the rights of others. These people simply live their lives on a global scale. This is one of the benefits of globalisation. If you have the right information and contacts you can earn what you like, go where you like, do what you like and when.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets You will discover as you read through this book, you are being monitored more than you realise, but there are solutions, there are places you can go and enjoy the freedom you may be seeking, and all at an affordable price too.
The World Passport I bet you didn’t even realise there was such a thing. The World Passport is a 40 page document printed in 7 languages: English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese and Esperanto (an international language). Each passport is numbered, each page contains the World Citizen logo. It looks like a normal passport. The whole concept was introduced by an American named Garry Davis in 1953. He formed the World Government of World Citizens to represent sovereign individuals. They state one of their primary goals is world peace. To achieve this they are attempting to break down the national barriers that they believe create conflict in the first place. There are currently nearly 1,000,000 people that are world citizens. The World Government is administered by an agency called the World Service Authority which is a District of Colombia, USA, company. It the World Service Authority that issues the passports. According to their documentation, “The World Passport represents the inalienable human right of freedom of travel anywhere in the world. In modern times, the passport has become a symbol of national sovereignty and control by each nation state. That control works both for citizens within a nation and all others outside. All nations thus collude in the system of control of travel rather than its freedom. If freedom of travel is one of the essential marks of the liberated human being, as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, then the very acceptance of a national passport is the mark of the slave, serf or subject. The World Passport is therefore a meaningful symbol and sometimes powerful tool for the implementation of the fundamental human right of freedom of travel. By its very existence it challenges the exclusive assumption of sovereignty of the nation-state system. It is designed however to conform to nation-state requirements for travel documents. It does not, however, indicate the nationality of its bearer, only his/her birthplace. It is therefore a neutral, apolitical document of identity and potential travel document.
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Underground Knowledge A passport gains credibility only by its acceptance by authorities other than the issuing agent. The World Passport in this respect has a track record of over 40 years acceptance since it was first issued. Today over 140 countries have “visaed” it on a case-by-case basis”. They state that they draw their authority to grant World Citizenship and passports and the like from International Law. More specifically, by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations, December 10, 1948, and in part by the Stockholm Declaration of 1972 which includes ecological rights. The World Government has been organised into eleven different areas or “commissions” to deal with different aspects of human activity. They are Communications, Cultural, Design-Science, Economics, Education, Forestry, Health, Judicial, Industrial Cybernetics, Space, and Women. They are headed by some fairly eminent people: Communications - Emre Brookes Cultural - Marcel Marceau; Deputy: Katherine Dunham. Honorary: Lord Menuhin (recently deceased). Environment - James Lovelock; Deputy: Edward Goldsmith. Design-Science - Wm. Perk Forestry - Badi Lenz Education - Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati Health - Michio Kushi Judicial - Francis Boyle Space - Dr. Carol Sue Rosin Women - Georgia Lloyd They have even established their own court. A provisionary World Court of Human Rights was founded by the General Assembly of WGWC delegates on June 10, 1972 at Sausheim, H.R., France. Dr. Luis Kutner was appointed Chief Justice pro tem. Subsequently, a provisionary Statute was drafted by the Commission for International Due Process of Law. Dr. Kutner has since resigned. Francis Boyle has been subsequently appointed as Coordinator for the World Judicial Commission. Its task is to continue the evolution of the World Court of Human Rights.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets By obtaining World Citizenship and a World Passport doesn’t mean that you need to surrender your current citizenship. They state that national citizenship in exclusive whereas world citizenship is inclusive. The two citizenships can be complimentary. The bottom line is you can still remain an Australian (or whatever) citizen but with world citizenship your rights will be guaranteed under International Law in a far more direct way. It costs US$30 to register as a citizen plus US$30 annual assessment. For this you will receive a World Citizen Card in 7 languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Esperanto) confirming that you are a registered citizen of the World Government of World Citizens. The card is wallet-sized, numbered and laminated. Also, the World Service Authority includes a form letter (in the 7 languages) to be addressed by you (optional) to your local Head of Government informing him/her of your new global status. In legal terms, this is known as “constructive notice.” The World Citizen Card is your global political identification. Whenever you are called upon to identify yourself politically or nationally, you should first show this card. In addition, the World Service Authority can issue The World Passport (that we discussed earlier), for US$45 which will last 3 years. For a 5 year validity period, US$75. For an 8 year validity period, US$100. A leather cover “World Donor Passport” is issued free to contributors of US$400 to the World Refugee Fund. This fund issues passports to refugees in camps unable to pay the issuance fees. The validity period for the “World Donor Passport” is 15 years with renewal of 3, 5, or 8 years. The World Identity Card is US$15, the World Birth Certificate is US$15, the World Marriage Certificate US$30, the World Political Asylum Card US$10 and the World Press Card (for members of the World Media Association) for US$30. Why should anyone accept this passport when you are travelling? First, it identifies the individual as a sovereign with the right to freedom of travel, a right agreed to in principle by all Member States of the United Nations (Ref., art 56, UN Charter). Second, it represents this right in a
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Underground Knowledge form already acceptable to all nations, i.e., a passport. Therefore all nations must consider it. Thirdly, as a growing number of individuals, especially refugees and stateless persons, accept and use it, national authorities are obliged to accept it both for motives of principle and necessity. Already over 140 countries including the US, UK and Australia have accepted this passport. The World Service Authority has on file photocopies of visas, entry, residence and exit, from over 140 nations stamped on its passports sent by actual bearers. These are case by case, or de facto acceptance. A few nations, Togo, Mauritania, Ecuador, Zambia, Tanzania, Burkina Faso have accepted the WSA passport without question. Some of you are probably thinking by now, “Hey this is great I won’t have to pay tax anymore because I will be a citizen of the world”. Wrong, the WSA specifically states that taxes still have to be paid. What are the real benefits of World Citizenship and the passport. Firstly, I suppose if you were considering a camouflage passport, this is a lot better, because it’s legitimate. If you were considering travel on a second passport, this is certainly a cheaper alternative but may prove to be difficult to use in some countries, but possibly worth trying. It can be used as identification anywhere in the world. It also loosens the grip that bureaucracies have on sovereign individuals all over the world, and that can only be a good thing. World Service Authority Suite 205 1012 14th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005 Tel: (202) 638-2662 Fax: (202) 638-0638 Website: www.worldservice.org World Service Authority 8th World District #108 4-5-2 Numabukuro Nakano-Ku Tokyo 165, Japan Tel: (81) (33) 319-5170 Fax: (81) (33) 319-5127
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Finding Freedom by Living and Investing Offshore More and more people these days are considering living at least part of the year overseas and in some cases becoming a full time traveller, sometimes known as a PT or Perpetual Traveller. A PT is a person that doesn’t actually become a full time resident of anywhere in particular and therefore doesn’t pay tax anywhere. They simply move before their status as a tax paying resident occurs. A PT by definition, is a non-conformist in a highly regulated, highly taxed, first world society. Therefore, a PT must adapt in a special way. “How do I get myself and my family a material lifestyle that's better than anyone else, or at least better than average?” Merely asking this question would be offensive to a socialist who wants all people to be “equal”. The answer for a PT is not difficult. If it can’t be achieved here, they will move to where it can be achieved. They tend to think outside the square. The world's communities are heading in a myriad of different directions – all at the same time. This is where the PT concept comes into play. By identifying several countries where your lifestyle is suited or your lifestyle is enhanced allows you to have greater freedom and gives you options, options many others who don’t think outside the square have. As a PT, you can expand your place of living options to virtually any locality. Australian PTs live invisibly in New Zealand and visa versa. Any Europeans can live indefinitely and invisibly in any other European country. The PT, being perceived by bureaucrats (if perceived at all), as a Passing Through tourist who minds his own business, keeps a low profile, and avoids trouble. To be a successful PT, your status and PT life should be your most closely guarded secret. You should remember though, most people are not PT material. Over half are directly or indirectly employed or supported by the government. They wouldn't go for a PT style existence even if they could.
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Underground Knowledge Generally, the people best suited to this lifestyle, are successful, are investors possibly, have the kids off their hands, enjoy adventure and travel and are usually over 45. One clear requirement for PT freedom and mobility is either to have a net worth that enables you to live off your assets, or a portable occupation that allows you to earn money without licenses, permits, or a permanent place of business. What’s life like living out of a suitcase? Well simply you don’t. You own homes just like everybody else, you just have more than one, that’s all. You can still keep your friends, visit relatives etc but only for shorter periods. You divide your time between two or more countries. Some PT’s like to live in perpetual summer, so they simply move from one hemisphere to the other at different times of the year. Many writers have proffered theories on how to go about being a PT, but none better than WG Hill. He came up with the “5 Flags” policy. Flag 1 A passport and citizenship base that will allow unhindered travel virtually anywhere in the world, often visa free. He recommends: Australia, Canada, Italy and Brazil Flag 2 A business base or source of income. This is where you make your money. It may be where you have a business or it may be where your stockbroker resides and your money is invested. Hill recommends: London, New York and Tokyo but also feels that Zurich, Milan, Singapore and Frankfurt will do the trick. Flag 3 Residence and Domicile. Ideally a tax haven of some description or at least a destination that allows residents to live cheaply and government harassment free. This is the place where you would spend a great deal of time having a break from travel. You may even have residency in these countries or even second citizenship. He suggests Monaco, Campione, Andorra, Bermuda and the Channel Islands. I will have a look at some of these places as well as a few of my own a little later.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Flag 4 Asset Management location. This is where the ownership of your assets may be controlled, property, bank accounts, companies, trusts etc. Recommended are, Liechtenstein, Isle of Man, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Channel Islands. Flag 5 Playgrounds. These are places you spend a fair bit of time enjoying life and they can be anywhere in the world. But you never stay too long, because if you do, you will have to start paying tax as a resident. A continuous stay of 90 days may qualify as residency, 180 days in some countries (Australia is one of these), so check this out first. How about this for a scenario. You carry Australian citizenship and passport but you are not a taxpaying resident as you have left Australia for good only to return a couple of times a year to see friends and family. You stay a couple of months each time, but you can stay up to six months in a twelve month period* (Flag 1). You have most of your money invested through a New York stockbroker in stocks and bonds. You also trade stocks and derivatives on-line through New York. This is how you earn a living. (Flag 2). You have a home in Campione where you spend a fair bit of time, trading the markets. This is where you have all your personal effects, you call it “home” (Flag 3). All your investments and assets are owned by a Liechtenstein company (Flag 4). Six to nine months of the year you are either in Australia visiting or travelling through Europe, North America or anywhere else (Flag 5). It sounds nice doesn’t it? But there are pitfalls. Bringing up families can be a problem. Constant travel can get to you after a while. So, you probably need to have the kids off your hands and love travel. Of course you can compromise and do something in between being a full PT and a full resident taxpayer. As you read through the following chapters you will see what I mean. * You can stay 182 days in Australia within a twelve month period and not be classified as a resident as long as you don’t intend to live here. It is a good idea to be able to prove that you have a permanent home in another country. One of the things you will need, or will certainly come in handy is a second citizenship and passport and that’s what we’ll look at next.
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Underground Knowledge Second Citizenship and Passports Do you really need a second passport? If you are going to be a successful Perpetual Traveller you do. As I said earlier, you may wish to cease paying as much tax and have that tax saving pay for your lifestyle and that lifestyle may include spending time in your home country because this is where your family and friends are, but if you spend too much time here, the authorities may deem that you are in fact a resident again. If this was the case they could start taxing you not only on your resident income, but your income worldwide! So, the solution is to reenter your home country as a bona-fide legal foreign national tourist. When you do this you enter say, Australia as a foreign tourist and definitely not somebody likely to pay tax. The British and Americans have been doing this for years. Over 600,000 UK British passport holders have done just that, applied for a second citizenship and re-entered Britain as a foreigner, you can count many rock stars and actors among this number. ♦ Of course this is only one use for a second passport, consider these advantages: ♦ You are overseas, and you lose or have your passport stolen, your plane leaves that day, what do you do? Normally you would be delayed, but you have another passport – Problem solved. ♦ For some reason you are in a country that has just confiscated your passport, you want to get out and get out quickly, luckily you have another passport. ♦ You want to travel quickly but your normal passport requires a visa to travel to a particular country and you have just been told by the consular officials it will take 3 weeks, you need to travel the day after tomorrow. What do you do? Second passport may solve the problem if it has visa free compatibility. ♦ You’re travelling in a country that doesn’t like Australians and somebody demands your passport, you obviously don’t give them the Australian one do you? ♦ If for instance, you wish to leave a country but feel your home passport or the passport you entered the country on will be a problem if presented at customs, use your second passport.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets ♦ You need ID that will prove who you are, but won’t show your true nationality – the second passport can be used to put people off the trail. ♦ Laws change and they make it more difficult for Ex-Pats to return home for any length of time without becoming residents and paying tax – the second “foreign” passport comes into play – Again, problem solved. ♦ In addition, you can add the possibility of: Government oppression, litigious family or spouse, fiscal upheaval or oppression, civil commotion etc. ♦ You may need to be a citizen of another country to invest in it, take Rupert Murdoch for example. The solution, second passport. You may wish to buy a holiday home but can only do so if you are a citizen of the country or possibly a neighbouring one. As you can see, there are a number of uses for a second passport and they all aren’t immediately obvious at first. To further illustrate my point have a read of these true case histories of people who would have benefited from possessing a second passport: ♦ The "happily married" couple (or so they thought) whose spouse after fifteen years of marriage is now attempting to take him/her to the cleaners, and grab ninety per cent of their joint assets. ♦ The American mistakenly accused of being an alimony and tax dodger who has had his passport confiscated, so he cannot leave the country even though he has ample assets stashed away in an offshore nest egg. ♦ The law abiding Scandinavian who has been told he risks having his application for a new passport refused for alleged tax offences - even though he has paid more than fifty per cent of his income over to the state over the past five years. ♦ An Israeli woman still haunted by memories of the time when she genuinely feared she was facing summary execution during the hijacking of a plane.
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Underground Knowledge ♦ A Dutch citizen who took a routine business trip to a fundamentalist Islamic Republic that turned into a nightmare when his passport was confiscated until his company agreed to outrageous economic and other demands. ♦ A French investor who established a factory providing employment in an African country, only for corrupt politicians and officials to force him to “sell” the company he had worked years to establish, and at a giveaway price. He was illegally stripped of his passport until he agreed to sign the sales contract, virtually giving away a life's work. The next consideration in obtaining a second passport is to find one which allows as much visa free travel as possible. Without a doubt, the best one is the Irish Passport. It allows you travel almost anywhere without a visa, most importantly, Europe (see the chapter, Special Places). The Australian passport you probably have is also highly regarded by the offshore industry, so you’re lucky to have one. Others that are quite good are those from other British Commonwealth nations such as Dominica, and St Kitts. They allow visa free travel in almost half the countries in the world. However, there are passports I’m told that do create hassles. You are more likely to have your baggage and person checked if you carry a passport from the following countries: Russia, China, Iran, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia or Yugoslavia, Slovenia, any former Soviet country, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Uganda, Zaire, Haiti, Rwanda, Liberia. If you carry any one of these passports, get another one. You will never have peace going across borders until you do. You can find out more by contacting: Travel Information Manual TIM Subscriptions Dept www.iata.org For US$200 you can subscribe to this monthly publication for a year. It describes which countries need visas for what passports etc. It covers all issues to do with international travel. It is used widely by airlines and travel agents.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets The following people can help you with legitimate and legal second citizenships and passports. You will also find more information on residency and citizenships in the chapter, Special Destinations. Contacts: Dr Woody Stanley Tel: 55-22-2667-1106 Fax: 55-22-2667-1801 Mobile 55-21-9958-9770. www.henleyglobal.com Marshall Langer Shutts and Bowen 43 Upper Grosvenor St London W1X 9PG UK Ph: 0011 44 171 493 4840 David S Lesperance, Barrister 84 King St West, Suite 202 Dundas , Ontario L9H 1T9, Canada
Underground Tip Interesting to note, that if you pay an extra fee to the companies on page 23, they can arrange through their official agents to provide you with a legal deed poll name change that can appear on your new passport. It will be a name change only issued in the country that the passport is issued in. This is often done for people from countries who are subjected to possible terrorism like Israelis, Americans and some Arab countries. This is completely legal and provides you with a passport in a different name. It also allows you to legally open bank accounts in that new name, register companies in that new name etc. But make sure you never, ever carry both passports at the same time, because if you do and you get checked you will have a hell of a time explaining the different names.
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Underground Knowledge The Story of Two Cows Just to lighten up a bit and hopefully give you a laugh I thought I would include this little comparison of political ideologies and philosophies. Pure Communism Communism is where you have two cows, your neighbours help you take care of them, and you share the milk. Soviet Communism Soviet Communism is where you take care of the two cows but the government takes all the milk. Cambodian Communism In Cambodian Communism, the government takes care of both your cows and shoots you. Fascism With Fascism, the government takes both cows, hires you to care for them, and sells you the milk. Thatcherism In the case of Thatcherism, you get sold shares in both cows and then the government abolishes free school milk. The EEC While under EEC bureaucracy, it pays you not to milk the cows, they take both, shoot one, milk the other and pours the milk down the drain, and then requires you to fill out forms to account for the missing cows. Tony Blair’s New Labour This is where the government sells you a stake in both cows and then shoots them both and refuses to let you eat them because the beef is still on the bone.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Surrealism Surrealism is where you have two penguins, one of which is killed by a falling wardrobe, and the government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
Did you know that…….. 53% of all taxes and revenues collected by the Australian Government were in the form of personal income tax. 24% of all taxes and revenues collected by the Australian Government were in the form of sales, products and service taxes 18% of all taxes and revenues collected by the Australian Government were in the form of local company and superannuation fund taxes. 4% of all taxes and revenues collected by the Australian Government were in the form of fines, FBT, property taxes. Less than 1% is collected from foreign corporations and nonresidents. How does that make you feel? Foreign corporations pay virtually no tax here at all. They repatriate their profits by charging their Australian subsidiaries management fees, interest on back to back loans, “above the line” dividends, recharges of expenses etc. One way or another the tax payable is reduced by creative accounting. If they have to pay tax, it’s better they pay it in their home country as this gives them leverage with their own government. Most American, British and Japanese companies are patriotic, and who would blame them. The problem isn’t them, it’s us, our government doesn’t impose more restrictive practices on their accounting (as they do with resident companies) so not to upset our trading partners. Anyway, the only people suffering are the Australian public who contribute 53% of all tax collected…..who cares? My source of all this information? The Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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Chapter 2 Privacy The modern socialist state is premised on this pre-supposition: that all things belong to the state, but a portion of this state owned capital is temporarily leased to private individuals and organisations. This view of the state has influenced much of modern economic theory. The free market constitutional view of the state is that it is under legal constraints, that the citizen is the sovereign of the legal order, and whatever authority which citizens have not formally delegated to the state, belongs to them. The battle over the rights of privacy should be seen in light of these two incompatible views of man and the state. It is a battle over the definition of what constitutes criminal behaviour. – Dr Gary North Dr North was quite right. Privacy is a right that we all believe we should have and when you ask politicians whether we have a right to privacy they agree wholeheartedly…..in front of the cameras anyway. The situation is totally different behind doors. The politicians and bureaucrats do their level best to undo our right to privacy and deny us laws to protect that right. Prime Minister John Howard refuses to enact privacy legislation repeatedly, privacy legislation he promised before coming to power in 1996. Politicians duck and weave when you ask about a bill of rights, dismissing the whole thing as unnecessary. Unnecessary for whom? Them or us? The Bill of Rights was one of the first things the United States enacted when they declared their independence from Britain. They understood tyranny and the need to protect citizens rights against tyranny. What of Australia? No privacy rights, no bill of rights, not even a valid constitution (some believe)! This brings us the question, “What can we do about it?” There are two things we can do, and should do. The first is badger the politicians senseless into providing a bill of rights and privacy
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets legislation. The second is to live a private life. This worries the bureaucrats more than putting politicians under pressure. When we protest against injustice, we are working within the frame work the politicians allow us under democracy, but when we short circuit the system by outsmarting the system, we diminish their power to control us. How can they control us if we don’t play their game. There is nothing more pathetic than a politician or bureaucrat without power or control. Poor thing! This chapter will show you ways to beat the system and regain your privacy and peace of mind and also expose what the government is up to in the war against your privacy.
The Global Surveillance System - Echelon Have you seen the movie “Enemy of the State” with Will Smith and Gene Hackman? If you haven’t, I suggest you do. It exposes exactly what Echelon and surveillance systems can really do. It is the story of a man (Will Smith), who stumbles into a situation where he is involved with a witness to a political assassination within the US. The assassination is carried out by another politician and his bureaucrat connections with the National Security Agency. The witness slips a computer disk that contains film of the murder into a shopping bag that Will Smith is carrying without Smith knowing it. Shortly after the witness is killed in an accident as he was being pursued by the government agents. The agents then suspect Smith has the disk and go after him. He has no idea why he’s being pursued and seeks the help of maverick ex-CIA agent Gene Hackman. This is where it gets interesting as the “bad guys” try to track down Smith and Hackman. They use Echelon, satellites, bugs, phone taps, bank records…all sorts of things to trace them. I won’t tell you how it ends, but it’s fascinating to see the array of equipment they have at their disposal. All nonsense….never happen? What gives you that impression? Have you seen the new laws recently enacted by the government to provide ASIO with new powers. They can bug your phone, your computer, your car, your home and even you and your children without any recourse from you. They can confiscate your computer, intercept your mail, intercept couriers, bank account information, taxation records, everything about you. You are powerless. Don’t believe me? Get a copy of the new legislation for yourself, ASIO Legislation Amendment Bill 1999.
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Underground Knowledge In the name of protecting the “national security”, the Bill gives ASIO far reaching powers to retrieve and alter information from any computer or computer system, including an Internet service provider, regardless of any state or federal law. ASIO officers will be empowered to seize data obtained by “remote access”, commonly referred to as hacking, or by direct physical access to a computer system under an entry and search warrant. They will be authorised to crack and modify password control systems and encryption programs, opening the way for the sabotage of web sites, e-mail facilities and internal communications systems. The explanatory memorandum circulated by Attorney-General Daryl Williams states: "The computer provisions permit the Minister to authorise ASIO to add, delete or alter data for the purpose of gaining access to data in a target computer and to do things that are reasonably necessary to conceal that anything has been done under the warrant. This would include modifying access control and encryption systems." It all makes you wonder doesn’t it? The Echelon system is operated and coordinated by the US National Security Agency (NSA) and probably the CIA, and is a system used to intercept e-mails, fax and telephone communications carried by the world’s communications networks. It is the result of the UKUSA Signals Intelligence Agreement of 1948. It is not used for military purposes, only civilian purposes such as intercepting communications sent and received by governments, businesses and individuals. During the cold war however, it was used to monitor and gather information and communications entering and leaving the USSR. Since 1971, the US have been using specially converted nuclear submarines to attach monitoring pods to underwater telecommunications cables all over the world. In this way, Echelon can monitor all your phone calls, faxes and most importantly, the Internet. The Federal Cabinet has approved the monitoring of Australian’s private telecommunications in “specified circumstances”. They class “specified” as a “serious criminal offence” investigation. Could transferring funds offshore be regarded as “serious”? Who knows? Echelon is not designed to eavesdrop on individual communications but to indiscriminately gather large quantities of information using computers to sort the individual pieces of information of
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets interest to the intelligence analysts. The thousands of simultaneous messages are read in “real time” as they pour into the station, hour after hour, day after day, as the computer finds intelligence needles in telecommunications haystacks. This means every phone call you make, every fax you send and every email sent is gathered by the super computers of Echelon, there’s no doubt about that at all! It’s simply whether your message is read by a “spook” or not is the only question – so much for privacy! A chain of monitoring stations has been established around the world with, you guessed it, 4 in Australia. Each station is called a “Dictionary”. There is one in Canberra, one at Kojarena, near Geraldton in Western Australia, one at Pine Gap and one at Shoal Bay, near Darwin and they are all operated by the Australian Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) with the NSA and the CIA. The head office of the DSD is in Canberra housed in “Building M” on Russell Drive. Built in 1992, this building is regarded as the most secret building in Australia. Information is collected and deciphered from Australian communication interception stations in Northern and Western Australia, plus civilian, diplomatic and military sources. Communications are analysed by huge computers in the buildings heavily serviced and secured basement and sub-basement. As you will see if you visit the building, it is surrounded by an electrified, double-layered high security fence. It is also enveloped with a radio frequency interference screen, and the windows are also specially treated, making it virtually impossible for listening devices to penetrate. It also has darkened windows at the back of the building as a security measure. The countries involved in the network are the USA using its National Security Agency, CIA and FBI, the UK using its Government Communications HQ, New Zealand using the Government Communications Security Bureau, Canada using the Communications Security Establishment and of course our DSD. The network can track communications via Intelsat satellites and other satellites, communications from microwave towers and radio as well as land based communications such as telephones and faxes. The information is sorted by entering keywords into the system and the computers identify and sort the communications of interest for the analysts to examine. The keywords could include things such as names,
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Underground Knowledge organisations, companies, phone or fax numbers, e-mail addresses, subjects, ships and government offices. Each “dictionary” is separated into four digit numbers such as “9876”. This number may refer to somebody’s name or a subject. Each country has it’s own set of code numbers to collect information. Each “base” or station is called a Dictionary. Each Dictionary has its own code numbers and the information is exchanged between dictionaries on a needs and relevant basis. The Dictionary at Pine Gap is believed to collect information on Indian and Pacific Ocean Intelsats. The Dictionary at Darwin targets Indonesian satellites as well as other communication sources. Each morning the specially “trained” signals intelligence analysts in Washington, Ottawa, Cheltenham in the UK, Canberra, and Wellington log on at their computer terminals and enter the Dictionary system. After keying in their security passwords, they reach a directory that lists the different categories of intercept available in the data bases, each with a four-digit code. For instance, 1911 might be Japanese diplomatic cables from Latin America (handled by the Canadian CSE), 3848 might be political communications from and about Nigeria, and 8182 might be any messages about distribution of encryption technology. They select their subject category, get a “search result” showing how many messages have been caught in the Echelon net on that subject, and then the day's work begins. Analysts scroll through screen after screen of intercepted faxes, e-mail messages, etc. and, whenever a message appears worth reporting on, they select it from the rest to work on. If it is not in English, it is translated and then written into the standard format of intelligence reports produced anywhere within the UKUSA network either in entirety as a “report,” or as a summary or “gist.” The search lists are organised into the same categories, referred to by the four digit numbers. Each agency decides its own categories according to its responsibilities for producing intelligence for the network. The agency then works out about 10 to 50 keywords for selection in each category. The keywords include such things as names of people, ships, organisations, country names, and subject names. They also include the known telex and fax numbers and Internet addresses of any individuals, businesses, organisations, and government offices that are targets. These are generally written as part of the message text and so are easily recognised by the Dictionary computers.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets According to reported sources, the use of the system is predominately to track terrorism, weapons proliferation and economic intelligence. The question would obviously be, could Echelon be used to track private organisations or individuals? Who knows, but there are reports that they have tracked Amnesty International and charitable organisations such as Christian Aid. The easiest way Echelon picks up communications is by people who don’t use encryption when sending e-mail which is the reason why (probably) that the US wants to ban very powerful cryptology. However, part of the DSD is devoted to cracking PGP and encryption so this may not be as good as people think it is. There are of course laws stopping governments from spying on their own citizens, except in Australia of course. So what some of the countries do, is ask another country in the group to spy on their citizens for them and then trade the data. Technically, it may be legal but I wonder what the United Nations would have to say about it if a complaint was made? Echelon’s very existence raises doubts about your personal privacy and your freedom. Could it be used in a more sinister way along the lines of Orwell’s “1984”? It makes you think doesn’t it? Sure it may be used primarily to stop drugs, terrorism, arms proliferation and for military and economic reasons, but it doesn’t mean it’s not being used against citizens, how do we know? In 1991, a former British GCHQ official spoke anonymously to Granada Television's World in Action about the agency's abuses of power. He told the program about an anonymous red brick building at 8 Palmer Street, London, where GCHQ secretly intercepts every telex which passes into, out of, or through London, feeding them into powerful computers with a program known as a “Dictionary.” The operation, he explained, is staffed by carefully vetted British Telecom people: “It's nothing to do with national security. It's because it's not legal to take every single telex. And they take everything: the embassies, all the business deals, even the birthday greetings, they take everything. They feed it into the Dictionary.” What the documentary did not reveal is that Dictionary is not just a British system; it is UKUSA-wide.
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Underground Knowledge Similarly, British researcher Duncan Campbell has described how the US Menwith Hill station in Britain taps directly into the British Telecom microwave network, which has actually been designed with several major microwave links converging on an isolated tower connected underground into the station. There are up to 30 joint US and Australian facilities on Australian soil but none get the conspiracy theorists going more than Pine Gap. As we mentioned earlier, there is a lot of evidence that Echelon (the communications surveillance system) is in full operation there, but what else? There are claims that the Australian government doesn’t know what’s going on there, but I think this is nonsense. I think the government knows exactly what’s going on, it’s just convenient and easy to act as if they don’t know. If we thought they really knew, we would put more pressure on them to tell us, and they don’t want to. I suspect if they did tell us, we would have a national “dummy spit” over the surveillance activities that are possibly being conducted under the Echelon system and other intelligence gathering activities. There is absolutely no doubt that Pine Gap is one of the most important US bases in the world. The general claim is it’s necessary for defence purposes. Its name would indicate this, “Joint Defence Space Research Facility”, what does this mean? I’d say Pine Gap started life as a defence facility, possibly purely interested in defence issues such as monitoring satellites, gathering information on foreign powers etc, but since the end of the cold war and the chances of major regional conflicts have just about disappeared, the need for Pine Gap as a military installation has reduced. These days, Pine Gap and bases like it may have a greater role in tracking down terrorism, drug trafficking, weapons proliferation and crime generally. I don’t have a problem with any of this, in fact if this is what they are doing, I applaud its existence. The only problem I have with it, is we just don’t know. Define crime? Crime could be all the things we abhor, or it could be crimes against the state, what could that include? It may include being associated with a certain organisation that the government does not approve of or being critical of government actions or being critical of certain politicians. This is where problems begin in my opinion. Just say you are a member of a church
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets group that sends money to North Korea for food and medical aid and you are actively involved in the group and you are part of the fundraising committee. North Korea and the west don’t get along and view each other with suspicion don’t they? Is it possible the government could possibly view you as a subversive communist propping up a regime by sending money via a church charity to have that money go to hostile government agencies? Do you think your church group or even you personally could come under surveillance or scrutiny? You would never know would you? You did nothing more than have concern for starving children and you may be totally opposed to the North Korean government, but it’s funny how governments get things all twisted up. I know, I have been the subject of government bureaucrats thinking I was something I’m not. There have been some fairly interesting stories come out about Pine Gap. It has been reported by the media that the computer room measures 5,600 square metres. This is the size of 30 average houses! As you well know, computer technology has improved to such an extent that in an area that size you could place literally thousands of computers containing millions of megabytes of information. Could this be true and what information are they storing? As a defence site that is important to the defence of the US (as has been reported by the US Government) you would imagine that it was, and possibly still is, a nuclear target. All facilities such as this in the US have most of their facilities underground. So one can assume there is much more underground than you can see from the air. It has been reported that under Pine Gap is a huge underground facility that has been described as “an underground city”. There have also been reports over time of a vast amount of supplies and furniture being delivered by US Air Force Galaxy and Starlifter aircraft to Alice Springs airport. Certainly more than you would have imagined needed based on what you see on the surface. It would be nice to know what’s going on, and if they can’t tell us because there are defence considerations, they should at least give us (Australians) written guarantees that no surveillance is being performed on Australian citizens as this is clearly in contradiction to the United Nations Human Rights treaty our government has entered into. I suspect they will never do this.
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Underground Knowledge Some time ago I was sent some very interesting information. It was a list of words I’m told are some of the key words used in Echelon’s dictionaries. I’m told, if you don’t use any of these words or phrases in any communications you will be totally free of interception and interference. Sometimes, it’s not practical not to use some of the words listed, so what I suggest you do if you are keen on your privacy, leave a space or a “.” In the middle of each word and they won’t pick it up. 20 26 32 36 51 69 127 226 310 312 414 510 701 707 737 747 757 767 777 800 868 877 888 1071 1071 1911 1984 1997 2010 3210 3848 5926 8182 20755 $ $@
Dictionary Digicash DITSA diwn DJC DNR DODIG DOE DOE Dolch domestic disruption DONCAF dort DPSD DRA DREC DREO DRM DSCS DSD DSD DSNET1 DSNET2 DSNET3 DSS DST DT Duress DUVDEVAN DynCorp E.O.D. E.T. E911 e95 EADA
l0ck LABLINK Lacrosse ladylove lamma Lanceros Lander Larson LASINT LATA LBSD LDMX LEASAT Lebed LEETAC Leitrim Leuken-Baden Lexis-Nexis LF LHI LHR LIF Link 16 LITE LLC LLNL loch lock picking Locks Loin LRTS LUK Lynch M.A.R.E. M.P.R.I. M-14
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S.E.T. Team S/Key S511 SAAM SABC SABENA SACLANT SACLANTCEN SACS STU-III SADCC SADF SADMS SADRS SADT SAFE SAI SALDV Salsa SAMCOMM SAMF SAMU SAO SAP SAPM SAPT SAR SARA SARD Sardine sardine SARL SART SAS SASCOM SASP SASR
Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets & () *& .ch .li .tc .tm : ^ ^? ^X ~ += 1* 1080H 11Emc Choe 15kg 192.47.242.7 1ee 20755-6000 22nd SAS 2600 Magazine 2c 2E781 2EME REP 355 ML 355ml 3B2 3M 3P-HV 50BMG 50MZ 52 52 N - 03 03 W 5ESS 64 Vauxhall Cross 7NL SBS 9705 Samford Road ABC Abdurahmon AC ACC Active X ADIU
EAM eavesdropping E-Bomb e-cash ECCM Echelon Edens EDI edition EG&G Egret EIP EKMC EKMS Electron Electronic Surveillance Elvis embassy emc Emerson emm Encryption Enemy of the State Enforcers enigma EO EOD EODC EODG EODN EPL erco Ermes ERR ERV ESN Espionage ETA Etacs eternity server EUB EuroFed Europol Evaluation
M5 M72750 Mace Macintosh Firewalls Macintosh Internet Security Macintosh Security Mafia Magdeyev mailbomb Majic Manfurov mania Mantis Maple MARE market Marx Mary Masuda Mavricks Mayfly MB MCI MD2 MD4 MD5 MDA Medco mega MEII MEMEX Menwith Merlin Merv Met meta Meta-hackers MEU/SOC Mexico MF MI-17 MI5 MI6
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SASSTIXS SATCOMA Satellite Satellite imagery SATKA SAW Sayeret Golani Sayeret Mat'Kal Sayeret Tzanhanim SBI SBIRS SBS SBU SBU SC SCCN Schengen schloss SCIF screws Scud Scully SDF SDI SDIS SE SEAL SEAL Team 3 Sears Tower SecDef Secert Service secops Secure Secure Internet Connections secure shell Security Security Consulting SEIDM SEL SEMTEX Sergeyev SERT SETA
Underground Knowledge Adriatic advise advisors afsatcom AFSPC AG Agfa AGT. AMME AHPCRC AIEWS AIMSX airframe Aladdin Albright Alex Alica Alouette AMEMB Amherst AMW Analyzer anarchy ANC ANDVT Angela Anonymous ANZUS AOL AOL TOS ARC Archives Area51 argus Armani Arnett ARPA Artichoke ASDIC ASIC ASIO ASIO ASIS ASIS ASLET ASO ASPIC
Event Security evil executive Exon Shell explicit F-22 Faber Face fake FALN fangs FARC FAS Fax Fax encryption FBI FBI FBIS FCA FCIC FDM Fernspah Fetish FID filofax FINCEN finks Finksburg MD FIPS140-1 Firefly Firewalls FIS FIS fish fissionable FKS Flame FLAME Flashbangs FLETC Flintlock FLiR Flu FMS football forcast
MID/KL Middleman Military Military Intelligence MILSATCOM mindwar Minox MIR Misawa MISSI MIT MITI MITM mixmaster MJ-12 MKDELTA MKNAOMI MKSEARCH MKULTRA MOD mol Mole monarchist Monica Montenegro moore Morgan Morse Morwenstow MOSAIC Mossberg MP5k MP5K-SD MSCJ MSEE MSNBC MSW muezzin M-x spook MYK N5P6 N9 NAAP NABS NACSE
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Sex SFPD SGC SGDN SGI SHA Shaldag SHAPE Shayet-13 shelter Shelton SHF SHF/DOD Shipiro SHS Siemens SIG SIGDASYS SIGDEV SIGS sigvoice siliconpimp SIN SIRC SISDE SISMI site SITOR SIW Skytel SL-1 SLI SLIP Small Pox Smith smuggle sneakers sniper SNS SNT snuffle snullen SO13 Society SONANGOL SORO
Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets assasinate Asset AST ASTS ASU ASVC ASWS AT AT&T Atlas Audiotel Aum Austin AUTODIN AVN b B.D.M. B61-11 B61-7 b9 Bach Badger Baldwin bank Baranyi basement BATF BBE BCCI bce beanpole BECCA Becker beef Belknap Bellcore bemd benelux Bess bet Beyond Hope BfV BIOL BIOLWPN bird dog BITNET
Force force forschung Fort Meade Forte Fortezza FOUO Fox fraud freedom Freeh fritz froglegs FSB FSK Ft. Meade FTS2000 Fukuyama Furby FX FXR GAFE Gamma garbage Gatt GCHQ gchq.gov.uk GEBA GEO GEODSS GEOS Geraldton GGL GIGN GII Gist Global Glock Glock GOE Goldman Golf Goodwin Gorelick gorilla Gorizont
NACSI NADDIS NADIS NAIA NAIAG NAICC nailbomb NARF NASA Nash NATIA National Information NATOA NAVCM NAVCOMPARS NAVELEXSYSS ECENGCEN NAVSVS NAVWAN NAVWCWPNS NAWAS NB NCCS NCSA NCTS Nerd NESP NFLIS niche NIJ Nike NIMA ninja NIOG N-ISDN nitrate nkvd NLSP NMI NMIC NMS no|d NOCS noise nonac
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Soros sorot SORT South Africa SP4 Spall Speakeasy speedbump Spetznaz Sphinx spies SPINTCOM Spoke spook spook words spookwords sport Spyderco squib SRI ssa SSCI SSL ssor ST1 stakeout Standford Stanley STARLAN Starr STE STEEPLEBUSH Stego STEP Stephanie Steve STTC SUAEWICS SUBACS submiss subversives Sugar Grove Summercon SUN Sundevil supercomputer
Underground Knowledge black-bag Blackbird BLACKER blackjack Blacklisted 411 Blackmednet Blacknet Black-Ops Blenheim Bletchley Park blocks blow out Blowfish Blowpipe BLU BLU-114/B BLU-97 A/B Bluebird BMDO BNC BND Bob bootleg BOP BOSS BOSS botux BRGE BRIGAND BRLO Broadside BROMURE bronze BSS BTM Bubba Bubba the Love Sponge BUDS Bugs Bunny bullion burhop burned Burns buzzer BVD
GOSIP GOTS government GPMG GQ360 Gray Data Gripan grom GRS GRU GSA GSG-9 GSGI GSM GSS gtegsc guest Gulf Guppy H&K H.N.P. Hackers HAHO Halcon Halibut HALO HAMASMOIS Harvard hate HERF pipebomb HF HIC High Security Hillal Hindawi hit word hitword Hitwords Hmong HoHoCon Hollyhock honor hope HPCC HRM
NORAD nowhere nowhere.ch NRC NRL NRO NSA NSA/CSS NSADS NSAS NSCT NSDD NSDM NSES NSG NSIRL NSLEP NSO NSOF NSP NSRB NSS NSV NSWC NSWG NSWT NSY NTIS NTT NTTC nuclear number key NVD NZC-332 O O/S OADR OAU OC-12 OC3 Offensive Offensive Information Warfare OIR Oratory
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SUPIR SUR SURSAT SURVIAC SUSLO SUW SVN SVR SWAT sweep sweeping SWS T Branch T2S2 TA SAS Tac TACSAT Taiwan Tajik Talent Tangimoana Beach Tarawa tax TDM. SUKLO TDR TDYC TECS tekka telex Telex TELINT TEMPEST Templar Templeton Terrorism Defensive Information Tess Texas TEXTA. ELF THAAD the The Artful Dodger The Hague
Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets BX BZ c C2W C3I C4I Cable & Wireless CALCM Canine CANSLO Capricorn Cap-Stun captain cards Case CATO CAVE CBM CBNRC CBOT CCC CCS CCSC CCSQ CCSS CDA CdC CDC cdi CDMA Centro Ceridian CESID CFC CFD chaining chameleon man Chan Chatter Chelsea Chicago Crust Chicago Posse Chobetsu chosen CIA
HRT HTCIA humint Hutsul I&A IACIS IB iButton ICE ID IDB IDEA IDF IDP ie.org IFO IG illuminati imapct IMF import Indigo industrial industrial espionage Information Information Security Information Terrorism Information Warfare InfoSec INFOSEC Infowar Infrastructure Ingram Mac-10 INI INR INS INSCOM Intelligence Interception Internet Intiso Investigation
Ortega orthodox osco Oscor OSS OTAN OTAR OTAT OTCIXS OTP Oz. P415 P99 PA598D28 PABX Pacini package Panama Paperclip PARASAR PARKHILL Parvus passwd Passwords Patel Pathfinders PBX PCMT PCS peapod PECSENC Peering PEM penrep Perl-RSA Pesec PFS PGP PGP 2.6.2. PGP 5.0i PGP 5.1 PGP 5.53 Phon-e phones PI Pine Gap
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Threat Ti TIE Tie-fighter tiger Time TLAM toad Toeffler toffee Toffler Tokyo Tomlinson Tony Poe Tools top secret Toth TRANSEC TRD TRDL Trump TRV TRW TSCI TSCM TUSA TWA TWA Type I Type II Tyrell Tzvrif UDT UFO Ufologico Nazionale UHF UKUSA ULF unclassified UNCPCJ Undercover Underground Unit 5707 Unit 669 unix
Underground Knowledge CIA-DST CICAP CID CIDA CIM CIO CipherTAC2000 CIS CISD CISE CISSP CISU Clandestine clone CMS CMW CNCIS cocaine cocaine COCOT Coderpunks codes Cohiba Colonel Comirex Commecen Competitor Compsec Compsec 97 Computer Terrorism condor Consul contacts CONUS Cornflower Corporate Security COS COSMOS COSMOS-2224 cospo.osis.gov COSTIND Counter Terrorism
Ionosphere IRA IRIDF Iris IS ISA ISACA ISADC ISAF ISB ISCS ISDS ISEC ISEP ISEP ISFR ISG ISG ISI ISM ISN ISPE ISPR ISR ISS ISSAA ISS-ADP ISSC ISSO ISSO ISSSP ISTA ISWG ITSDN IW IWG IWIS IWO IWWSVCS J2 J-6 jack JANET Jasmine JASON JASSM
pink pirg Pixar piz PKK PLA Planet-1 Platform Playboy plutonium PMSP POCSAG Pod Police Porno Pornstars PPP PPS president press-release Pretoria PRF primacord PRIME Privacy Propaganda PSAC Pseudonyms Psyops PTT QRR qrss quarter quiche r00t R1 racal rack radint RAID rail rail gun rain ram Rand Corporation
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Unix Security UNSCOM UOP USACIL USAFA USCG USCODE USCOI USDOJ USP USS Banner USSS UT/RUS utopia UTU UXO UXO Uzi Uziel Vale van Vanuatu varon VBS veggie Verisign VFCT VGPL VHF VIA Vinnell VIP VIP Protection Virii virtual virus Visa/BCC VLF VLSI VNET VOA W W3 Wackendude Wackenhutt Waihopai
Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Security Counterintellige nce Counterterroris m Covert Video Cowboy CP CQB CQB CRA credit card Crowell cryptanalysis Crypto AG crypto-anarchy CSC CSE csim csystems CTP CTP CTU CTU CUD CUN curly CUSI cybercash Cypherpunks d D-11 Daisy Dake data havens data-haven Dateline DATTA DC6 DCJFTF DCSS DDIS DDN DDP DDPS DDR&E
JAVA jaws JCE JCET JDF JERTO Jiang Zemin JIC JICA JICC JICS jihad JITEM joe Johohonbu JOTS JPL JRA JRB JRSC JSOFC3IP JSOTF J-Star JTF Juile Juiliett Class Submarine JUWTF jya.com K3 Kamumaruha KEDO keebler Keyer Keyhole keywords KG-84C Kh-11 Kilderkin Kilo Class Kiwi Kiwis KLM KMI Koancho Kosiura
Rapid Reaction Razor rb RCMP RDI RDI Real Rebels Rebollo Recce RECCEX Recon Recondo Red Cell Redheads Rednoise Reflection Regli Remailers ReMOB Reno RENS replay Reprieve resta Retinal Fetish Rewson RFI RFX RG RHL rhost rhosts rip RIT rita Rivera RL rogue Rojdykarna Rolm Ronco Roswell RPC RRF rs9512c
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walburn WANK warez WAS WASS watchers Weekly World News wetsu WHCA White White House white noise Whitewater WID WID William Gates Wilma WINGS Wipeout WIR wire transfer WISDIM wojo World Domination WORM WQC WSA WSP Wu WWABNCP wwics WWSP WWSV X400 XM XS4ALL Xu Yongyue Yakima Yankee Yobie York Yucca Mountain Yukon Z
Underground Knowledge Dead DEADBEEF debugging Defcon DefCon V Defcon VI Defense Information Warfare Delta Delta DERA DES DEVGRP DF DIA
Kosovo Kourou Kvashnin Kwajalein KWR-46 KWT-46 KY KY-75 Kyudanki KYV-5
RSA RSO RSOC RSP rsta Rubin RUOP rusers RX-7 S.A.I.C.
Z-150T Z-200 Z7 ZARK Zen Zimmerwald zip zipgun ZL31 ZNI1 zone
Don’t think for a moment that the Echelon system can’t be abused by these organisations, it can and probably will be, if they haven’t already. There is such a high degree of secrecy about Echelon that it’s almost impossible to make the organisations involved accountable for their actions. Only the government and the Inspector General of Security and Intelligence have the right to impose an investigation as to any breaches of protocol and a citizen’s privacy, and what do you think they would find in an investigation? Nothing, they are investigating themselves! We have no hope, none at all!
What the Government Won’t Tell You! Australians are being denied access to government information. Why? What are they hiding? Are they simply hiding information that would be potentially economically damaging to their constituencies? No….when have they cared about their constituencies? They are concerned they will get caught out by an increasingly skeptical and aware public. Australians understand that their politicians have a tendency to be corrupt after some time in power. They deny us our privacy legislation, sure, but when it comes to them….they impose laws to protect their corruption or what ever they are up to. It’s just not good enough!
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets The growing trend of denying public access to information is of particular concern in Victoria and NSW. The new impetus for official secrecy, a feature of Australian government since Victorian legislation first gagged public servants in 1867, is the trend to outsourcing and privatisation. Victoria is the most secretive State, largely due to the Kennett Government's privatisation program and its determination to stifle public criticism. However, official secrecy is not restricted to Victoria. In NSW, the upper house has been backed by the courts in its efforts to force the Carr Government to give parliament information on the Sydney water supply contamination. Simply a case of Carr covering up incompetence and “protecting his mates” one may think. In Queensland, amendments to the Freedom of Information law by the former Goss government make it possible for the Cabinet to hide any document from public scrutiny. This makes Queensland, where there is only one house of parliament, potentially more secretive than any other State. In South Australia, the Olsen Government in 1999 gagged the police from speaking about their work to anyone outside the force. In Western Australia, in 1999 Auditor-General Des Pearson complained he was forced on legal advice to limit the extent of a report to parliament on an outsourcing contract. If this is what’s going on in the states, what is happening at a federal level? Why has the government restricted information on the Whitlam sacking, Port Arthur, Harold Holt’s disappearance etc? Will we ever find out how much surveillance is being conducted on us? What will we find when the files are finally opened under the Freedom of Information Act after 30 years? The answer? ….not much I’m afraid, the interesting information has already been destroyed, I’d bet.
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Underground Knowledge Is Someone Bugging You? While you are wondering what Echelon may or may not be doing to your privacy, or lack of it, I thought I may raise a few personal issues, personal privacy issues that is. Private detectives, government agencies, “nutters” may be watching and listening to everything you do. Half the battle is understanding what you are up against and what they can do to you. Apart from the enormous capacity for Echelon to intrude into every part of your life, the “spooks” and “kooks” have other tricks and surprises. The “Hook” Have you ever had your friends tell you they can never get through to you because you are always on the phone? And have you ever thought, “I wasn’t on the phone”. They constantly complain that you were, or your phone was off the hook. You check your phone and there never appears to be anything wrong. Well, you could be “hooked”. While it is highly unlikely, it could happen. “Hooking” is an old trick. Somebody, it could be anybody, installs an almost undetectable computer chip in your telephone. The chip enables the people who installed it to send a signal down your line without you knowing it. The chip allows the phone to be a microphone and transmitter while the phone is on the hook. It transmits all conversations held in the vicinity of the phone. While it’s transmitting the phone is “engaged” and anybody ringing in, can’t get through. When you pick up the phone, the transmission is disconnected and the phone works normally. If you are ever worried this may have happened to you, replace the phone or pull it to pieces and investigate. The Bug We all know about bugs in light fittings, furniture, clocks, walls etc, but new technology has introduced the “parasite”. This new bug is connected to your power cables in the house. They can use the electricity running through the cables to transmit conversations held in any room in the house that has power access. I can’t explain exactly how they do it, but I’m assured they can. If you suspect (now don’t get paranoid on me now!) that you may have one of these in your house there are ways to detect it and get rid of it. You need a Non-Linear Junction Detector. The
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets NLJD uses microwaves to detect transmissions. You can obtain one from the supplier listed below. The Laser Gun Will it never end? They can now use lasers to invade your privacy. They simply point the gun at the appropriate window and they can instantly listen in to your conversations. Even if you have blinds and curtains, they can listen in. One method that can foil these “snoops” is to purchase a Window Vibrator. This small device attaches to the window and vibrates the glass gently causing the laser to deflect and distort, thus upsetting the transmission. Available from the suppliers below. Well as you can see, if you were the sort of person somebody was really interested in, you would have a devil of a time protecting your privacy in your own home. Contacts: The Surveillance Technology Group 62 South Audley St London W1 UK Ph: 0011 44 171 629 0223 The Spyshops Corporate HQ: 280 N.E. 4st. Miami, Fl. 33132 Phone: 0011 1 305 374-4779 Fax: 0015 1 305 374-5405 Broward HQ: 600 W. Oakland Park Blvd. Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. 33311 Phone: 0011 1 954 563-1779 Fax: 0015 1 954 563-7774 On the Net : www.spyshops.com
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Underground Knowledge The Shredder – A Valuable Tool A $300 shredder could turn out to be the best thing you ever bought if you have the ability of hindsight. Many people get caught out when it’s too late. They screw up sensitive documents and letters, and throw them in the bin. From the bin, they go out with the weekly rubbish or if you’re a good person, recycling. This is a big mistake, you should shred everything. Unwanted letters, faxes, printouts off your computer, notes, advertising material, everything. An experienced “snoop” can tell a lot about your habits, your finances, your secrets and your business from going through your rubbish. Don’t let it happen. Shred everything!
Underground Tip There is currently a lot of talk about Australia’s constitutional problems and their effect on the lawfulness of taxation. There are groups out there promoting this line, one in particular is very high profile, and while it appears they do have a valid argument which is supported by mountains of evidence and lawyers and barristers, keep this in mind: By taking the necessary legal action to challenge this situation, you are becoming High profile, not Low profile. One of the main purposes of this book is to show you how to disappear, taking on the government in an issue that is undoubtedly more serious than just about anything that has happened in this country, is hardly conducive to privacy.
The Story of Bodhan Koziy Bodhan Koziy was a Nazi war criminal and had been identified in the US and Canada as being a person who had committed atrocities. When the investigation agencies finally got onto his trail they were faced with the fact that they were running about nine months behind him. When investigators started looking for him, they began with his neighbours who said he had mentioned going to Albuquerque or Toronto or possibly Costa Rica. One of the neighbours also noted that he had also sold some furniture as well as appliances such as his refrigerator.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets This indicated to the investigators that he was obviously leaving the state. They checked with the newspapers and sure enough he had placed ads to sell household goods. The investigators thought he still may have had enough things to move to use a removalist and this was confirmed by neighbours who had seen the truck take away boxes etc. Unfortunately, they couldn’t remember the name of the truck. This didn’t create a problem at all, the investigators simply rang every firm until they found the one that had moved Koziy. Sure enough, they found that he had in fact moved to Albuquerque, well his goods had gone there anyway. As it turned out they went into storage. On further investigation, it was discovered that Koziy’s son lived there. When questioned he refused to say where his father was, he knew, he just claimed he didn’t know. So, fearing that that they may have been put off the trail, they requested credit card information be provided by all the usual companies, Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Bingo! He had an American Express card. Plane tickets had been purchased. They then requested the travel agent to produce his details and it was discovered that he was travelling Albuquerque- Toronto – Costa Rica. During this time they had also requested all his driving and insurance records. They discovered he had a minor insurance claim for a traffic accident. This accident occurred when another driver had been driving Koziy’s car. The drivers name was G. Morelli. This turned out to be his married daughter. Her phone records were requested and it was discovered that several phone calls to Costa Rica had been made from her phone. The calls were traced to 3 hotels in the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose. The investigators then traveled to Costa Rica. They interviewed some of the staff and found that Koziy had rented a car in one of the hotels. The car had been driven about 90 km’s according to the rental documents and then returned the next day. They then suspected that he was in a 45km radius of the hotel. They were now only a matter of weeks behind him by this stage. The investigators then checked with the local airport security and viewed recent video tapes of the foreign nationals as they come through customs (common at most international airports). This confirmed when he had arrived and the fact the fact that he had not left the country.
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Underground Knowledge The investigators spoke to the local telephone company and requested for the details of residential phone connections made since the date of his arrival. It turned out there had been nearly 100, but none in the name of Bodhan Koziy. He had obviously used an alias. The investigators then rang his daughter and said to her that they would offer him a “no prosecution” deal if he helped them with the investigation of other on the run war criminals. They new Koziy was too smart for that, but also realised a worried daughter would surely ring him and let him know the “good news”. Sure enough, that night she rang him. They now knew which of the new telephone services in Cost Rica was his. That night he was arrested and deported. Where did he go wrong? If it were you being pursued, what would you have done differently? This is where Koziy mucked up: ♦ He told neighbours where he was going – never tell your neighbours anything ♦ He sold goods from his own home and in addition advertised – he should have asked a second hand dealer to buy them and take them away ♦ He used a listed removalist that could be easily traced – he should have moved the stuff himself or used casual help to help him load the truck ♦ Charging travel items like tickets to his credit card – he should have paid cash ♦ His daughter making calls from her own phone – she should have used a phone card from a public telephone. ♦ He rented a car from the hotel he was making calls from, and possibly staying in ♦ He shouldn’t have had a phone connected so soon after moving there, if at all. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
The “Red Herring” Address The best one I know of is the “Country Road” theory. You choose some minor country road and give everybody a roadside delivery address. It could be something like “J Smith, Name of Property such as
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets “Avonlee”, “Smith Rd”, “Smithville”. Once that is done, race out to Smith Rd at Smithville and erect Mail Box with the name “Avonlee” emblazoned upon it. Make sure it’s placed among a group of other rural mailboxes at the corner of two roads. You can have mail sent there, ask people to drop off mail, packages and even have couriers drop off things there. Once a week, you clear the mail. Eventually, you take your mail box elsewhere as the neighbours will become suspicious when they can’t work out who or where you are. If you think someone is following you, this can be an ideal way of putting someone off the track. They will think you have moved to the country. Alternatively, you can simply ask for your all mail to be sent care of a Post Office and you can pick it up there. This way you don’t give out your actual address when having parcels delivered. Another option is the private mailbox offered by Mail Boxes Etc. These can be very handy because they give the impression of a street address. Another little trick is to have mail sent to one post office box and the remailed to another one. Anybody trying to work out where you are will have a merry old time trying to work this one out.
You live in Sydney, but want people to think you live in Perth This is a classic little trick. You live in one place but want all your mail to be postmarked in a totally different place. The procedure is to send a large envelope with all your mail (which may include bills, letters etc) stamped and addressed to another post office (where you want it to be postmarked). Inside the envelope, which is addressed to the post office manager, include a polite note asking for the stamped “ready to go mail” to be processed. This will be done as a matter of course. Everybody receiving your mail will be absolutely certain that you are actually where the mail was postmarked.
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Underground Knowledge Underground Tip Have Caller ID displays put on your phone. That way you don’t caught out by unwelcome callers. Available at Dick Smith and Tandy Electronics. Keep in mind that others can have Caller ID displays when you call up. Silent lines stop some of these devices, but certain agencies can still read your number. Use a phone card and a public telephone in a remote spot. Airports, shopping centres and hotels are often videotaped.
Personal Telephone Number – Try and find me now! A Personal Telephone Number is not connected to any particular phone or destination, it’s connected to you. It is a unique number that automatically redirects your calls to wherever you are in the world. That could be at home, work, your mobile, a message service or any place you desire, and the caller has no idea you are not where they have called. They may think you’re home in the next suburb but in actual fact you’re in a restaurant in Campione d’Italia. I’m told it’s almost impossible to track you down, regardless of who’s trying☺ Contact: The Personal Number Company (part of Vodaphone) Ph: 0011 44 7000 70 70 70 Http: www.personal-number.co.uk
The Telephone – Friend or Foe? One of the ways you are constantly imposed upon is through the phone. Perpetual Travelers and people that want absolute privacy don’t have one or if they do it’s one of the personal number phones described above. I realise this isn’t always practical, so I have put together a few tips that will increase your telephone privacy: ♦ Always opt for a silent line for your home phone
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets ♦ Have a copy of the Telecommunications Act by the phone so you can quote the bit about annoying phone calls and threaten to report them under the Act if they call again. I have used this, it works. ♦ Don’t answer the phone yourself, let the answering machine take the call. Your close friends will know you do this and get used to it. ♦ Don’t announce your name or number in the message. ♦ Install a calling number display so you can see who’s ringing if you do answer the phone. ♦ Make all sensitive calls from a public telephone. ♦ Don’t use hotel phones as they keep records of each call just in case there is a bill dispute. Plus they are jolly expensive. ♦ Don’t get carried away and start using scramblers that you can purchase in the USA, they attract a lot of attention if the phone company stumbles across its use when they are doing maintenance. It will almost certainly be reported.
Underground Tip Every call you make these days, can be itemised on your account, even local ones. So be careful who you ring.
Is this the end of privacy? "Remember, they are always watching you. Use cash when you can. Do not give your phone number, social-security number or address, unless you absolutely have to. Do not fill in questionnaires or respond to telemarketers. Demand that credit and data-marketing firms produce all information they have on you, correct errors and remove you from marketing lists. Check your medical records often. If you suspect a government agency has a file on you, demand to see it. Block caller ID on your phone, and keep your number unlisted. Never use electronic tollbooths on roads. Never leave your mobile phone on - your movements can be traced. Do not use store credit or discount cards. If you must use the Internet, encrypt your e-mail, reject all "cookies" and never give your real name when registering at websites. Better still, use somebody else's computer. At work, assume that calls, voice mail, e-mail and computer use are all monitored. – The Economist Magazine
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Underground Knowledge Anonymiser – Private Internet access Whenever you visit a Website unprotected, you not only expose yourself to risk of privacy invasion, you provide information about yourself, that can include your viewing habits, your search terms, your geographical location, your address, phone number, employment details, your credit card numbers, and more. Many of these Websites keep logs of this information compiling dossiers on their users as well. Even if you trust the intent and integrity of the people behind the site you're visiting, in most cases, your information is still at risk to security invasion. Anonymizer .com protects not only your websurfing, but also your email. It well looking into. They have a wide range of products available, suitable for everybody. Here’s just a sample of their services: Anonymizer Surfing Browse the Web through Anonymizer.com's premium or free service using an intermediary to prevent unauthorized parties from gathering your personal information. Anonymizer Email This free service allows you to send email and post your opinion without being spammed, or identified. SSH/SecureCRT A SSH/SecureCRT account establishes a encrypted connection from our server to you. The SSH/SecureCRT account includes an email address and two megabytes of web publishing space. Contact: http://www.anonymizer.com
Private Email Just while we are on the subject of computers and email etc, there is another company that is quite good. Check out ZipLip.Com You can send secure, secure email in just four easy steps:
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Step 1: You go to ZipLip.com, compose the message, and send it. Your message is stored in encrypted format on their servers. Step 2: ZipLip sends your recipient an email notifying them that your message that is waiting for them. Step 3: Your recipient comes to ZipLip.com and picks up the message. Step 4: Your message is deleted from the ZipLip server after it has been read. The ZipLip Benefits are that you have encrypted transmission ZipLip uses advanced SSL encryption techniques based on Verisign certificates to prevent your message from being checked or intercepted. Your message is not stored anywhere - ZipLip maintains the only viable copy of your message and they delete the message once it has been read. Even ZipLip.com can't read your message. When you protect your ZipLip mail with a password, your message and the password is stored in an encrypted format, which even we cannot read. Only when your recipient supplies the right password is your message encrypted and delivered. There is no need to sign up or give away personal information. They don’t want to know who you are. ZipLip can send you an email with the exact date and time that your recipient read your message. So you don't ever have to be left wondering if your important message got through. It lets you protect your message with a password and your recipient will be allowed to read the message only if they enter the password. No one but your recipient can read your message. You can send a message by going to: http://www.ZipLip.com and click on “Compose mail”. Fill out the email form as you would for a normal email and click on the “Send” button. It’s that simple! ZipLip, the name says it all!
The only Secret Code that can’t be Broken! Are you concerned that somebody is intercepting your mail, your email, reading your faxes or tapping your phone? If you are worried and the information you are passing is sensitive or you just want privacy, or
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Underground Knowledge possibly you might be like me and just want to play with somebody’s mind, you can employ the almost uncrackable “Book Code”. Here is a sample of the book code: 102-23-4 20-3-8 24-87-9 100-34-24. Can you work it out? Each series of 3 numbers represents a word, so above we have four words. The numbers refer to a location within a certain book. For example, “102” is the page number, “23” is the line number and “4” is the fourth word from the left. The trick is the two (or more) people communicating have the same book. It could be a travel book, it could be the Complete Works of Shakespeare, but whatever it is, it becomes your code book. It sits innocently on a shelf until you send or receive a coded message. Simple and very effective at maintaining privacy from “snoops”.
Underground Tip Did you know when you have your mobile phone on, you can be tracked? Well you can! As you travel from area to area your phone picks up the signal from the next transmitter in your area. It is possible for the phone companies to be able track your movements as your mobile moves from area to area. The solution is to only switch your phone on when you need to make a call. Your friends will know you leave your phone turned off or tell them that you will switch it on at certain times only.
Your Computer could be your Enemy Have you ever wondered why people’s computers are often confiscated in government investigations? Well, they reveal more than you expect. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
They can recover files you thought had been erased. They can recover files you thought were overwritten. They can recover files created without your knowledge. They can recover remnants of the Windows Swap file. They can recover names of Internet sites you visited. They can recover your old email messages.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets In addition, files are setup every time you print a document. This file self deletes when the job is finished but recovery software can recover the file. If you would like to know what software the authorities use to find out what’s on your computer, get a copy of the software they use and see what is actually still on your computer after you have deleted your files. The software is Expert Witness and can be downloaded from http://www.guidancesoftware.com I have found the best way to get rid of at least some of this stuff on your computer is to “defragment” your hard drive regularly using the System Agent on Windows 95 or 98.
Careful….Don’t fill out that Warranty Card! Have you ever heard the old saying, “If he put is head in an oven would you too”. It refers to doing something silly just because someone else did it or you were told to do it. Well, this applies to warranty cards. You fill them out diligently because you think you have to. Nonsense, your warranty is activated by your sales docket or receipt, not the warranty card. This is just an easy way to get people to submit information to companies so they can use it “against” you later. A case in point. Large US computer chip manufacturer, Intel is going to embed all its chips with identification numbers so the computer can be tracked as it surfs the Internet. The company and the authorities will be able to see what sites you visit, the only thing needed is the name of purchaser of the computer. They can only find that out if you submit the warranty card. Also, never give your real name or address on those sales dockets that require you to complete your details. While I’m on the subject, never, ever complete those on line registration forms with your real details. Even use a false email address. You will be pestered and spammed (receive junk email) into oblivion. Also, these sites may submit information about you to an organisation that can tie your details up with your computer chip number and therefore know who you are.
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Underground Knowledge What’s on Your Computer? Next time you upgrade your computer, give a thought to what happens to your old one. Naturally, you would trash all your personal and business related files, but is that enough? No. Even when files are socalled trashed, they still remain on your hard drive. And there are plenty of utilities that can recover such trashed material for the benefit of prying eyes. To be completely sure your old hard drive is as clean as possible, you need to take a few extra steps, and ensure a complete wiping of your disk. This is made all the easier by software products designed to clean it up. “Shredder” is available from http://www.infraworks.com at a cost of US$99, and also a free demo is available for download, which is fully functional. Infraworks also sell a light version of Shredder at US$35. They also sell software called “Sanitizer” which is designed to totally wipe hard drives. This is the ideal solution for companies who are upgrading their computers and want to ensure that not a trace of their company information is retrievable in the future. There is also “BestCrypt” and “BCWipe” which you can get from http://www.jetico.com.
Erasing the Past Eraser is a free advanced security tool, which allows you to completely remove sensitive data from your hard drive by overwriting it several times with carefully selected patterns. This is especially important if you intend to sell or otherwise dispose of your existing computer. New features include completely rewritten on demand eraser, drag and drop or paste directly from Explorer, integrated scheduler for common tasks and more. Eraser consists of several utilities designed to securely remove sensitive data from your hard drive. Get it at: http://www.iki.fi/st/eraser
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets The Internet The Australian government and the ATO want to control Australian usage of the Internet. But how will they do it? The Taxation Examiner reported in its newsletter that the government intended to: ♦ Require all taxpayers to include electronic contact information on their tax return ♦ Monitor electronic commerce developments in the banking and finance sector ♦ Test taxpayers compliance in respect of accounts maintained offshore ♦ Registration of web shops and those who operate or host web shops ♦ Introducing legislation and a technical framework to monitor all Internet traffic ♦ Recording Internet addresses of all Australian based computers ♦ Obtaining access to foreign credit card transaction details ♦ Monitoring production and marketing strategies used by industries replacing physical goods with online services such as music CDs, movie videos etc. Do you feel put upon yet? Can you feel your freedoms and privacy slipping away? The bureaucrats should be stopped from this infringement on people’s personal lives. They claim it’s all in the name of tax collection, but nobody in the computer industry I have spoken to believes that for a moment. This is all about control of the internet and controlling our lives. In addition, the Australian Senate has approved a bill that would bring in restrictive content legislation aimed at the internet. This would be an extension of existing broadcasting rules which regulate content in the media by way of a ratings system, to evaluate material involving violence, sex, drugs, language etc. Currently the law applies to film and video only, but with this bill would also apply to internet. The authorities have been examining ways of controlling what Australians can view on the internet for quite some time and the laws approved are similar to those in Singapore where the government orders Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to remove access to undesirable sites. A frightening thought for service providers! In effect,
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Underground Knowledge the government would require ISPs to act as censors, and be threatened with shutdown, if they didn't fulfill this unchosen public watchdog role. “The government has turned Australia into the global village idiot”, according to Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) spokesperson Danny Yee. He went on to say, “This Bill is a direct attack on freedom of speech, even though surveys and polls show that most Australians don't want more censorship.” Who determines what is undesirable? Which politician would you trust to respect your right to freedom and privacy? Electronic Frontiers Australia has organised protests against this pending legislation, and more info on this is available from: http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/stop.html
PGP and Encryption PGP allows people to exchange computer files or messages with a degree of privacy. It ensures that only the person intended to receive the information can read it by using a method of authentication. PGP utilises powerful Public Key Cryptology. PGP or encryption works by the sender encrypting or enciphering the message or file which means it is scrambled up in hopelessly messy way which renders it only readable to the recipient who has the key to decipher the mess or decrypt it. A key must be sent initially so both parties know what the key is. This is how it works on single key systems. There are other more complex systems that use two or more keys. The use of secret keys is also used with a form of authentication. It’s probably best to buy a guide to PGP and encryption rather than try to squeeze too much into this chapter. Needless to say, if you are sending sensitive and private information over the internet you need to consider encryption. A lot of people say to me that my internet site and email is not encryption protected, particularly as people are sending their credit card details to my site to purchase books, but the reality is if a merchant were to use your card illegally by intercepting the details from an e-mail, you would simply complain to your bank. The bank would lodge a query
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets with the merchants bank in order to prove the transaction is correct. If this can’t be verified, the charge would be reversed and the “merchant” using your card would face criminal charges. Just before I finish with encryption, while I was researching this book I had a good look at the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD) web site and I noticed they have departments devoted to encryption and evaluation of software that provides encryption. I have no doubt at all, the minute new products are released, these guys get hold of it, work out how to crack it and move on. I think encryption is effective in keeping your internet messages completely confidential from most people, except the DSD. There is a new threat to privacy on the net in addition to government departments cracking encryption systems. It’s called DIRT (Data Interception and Remote Transmission). This system allows investigators to secretly install the program if they know your e-mail address. At this point they can intercept all your email messages, view what’s on your computer, intercept your encryption keys and check out what your looking at on the net. They claim the system was developed for law enforcement agencies to intercept criminal communications, particularly pedophiles and drug running. I don’t have a problem with that. What concerns me is what they use it for next. Censorship on the Internet? Sure get rid of the tasteless stuff, but what next? Political comment, freedom of speech and religious comment. Could they collect data on us and our likes and dislikes and sell this information to business so we will be bombarded with advertising both at home and on our email. Would our government do this? They already do. When they collect the census information from us, the Bureau of Statistics compiles and disseminates it, and then sells the information to who ever wants it. Will the day come when you will be questioned by the authorities for visiting a particular website or sending an e-mail to another person under scrutiny? Will the Internet be policed both socially and politically? I’m sure the day will come when the government and big business will control what’s on the Internet and what you are allowed to view. The last true forum of free speech will die forever if we allow governments to get involved.
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Underground Knowledge Underground Tip One of the easiest and best ways to get round email snooping is to change your default email font to “Wingdings”. Or you can compose your letter in your normal word processing program and then once you’ve checked it convert the whole thing to Wingdings font paste it to your email and send it in this style, letting the other party know that you will be using this font from now on. They will simply cut and paste it into their word processing program and convert it back. Let them know by phone or letter or separate email. Encryption without encryption.
What are your rights? It would seem every way you turn your privacy is being undermined by governments and corporations, but you do have some rights. In 1988, the Privacy Act was put in place by the Federal Government. While it is fairly loose in what it’s capable of enforcing it’s better than nothing. The privacy legislation promised in 1996 would have given the existing laws some teeth, but alas it was never passed or even put before parliament. If you believe your privacy has been compromised you can complain in writing to the:
Director of Complaints Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner GPO Box 5218 Sydney, NSW 1042 Here is a little bit of information about the Privacy Act that may come in handy. The Privacy Act gives you rights in relation to how your personal information is handled by: ♦ Commonwealth and ACT agencies ♦ Credit providers and credit reporting agencies ♦ All who hold and use tax file numbers ♦ Any organisation, which requests old minor conviction information about you. You can complain to the Privacy Commissioner if you feel your rights have been compromised. However, the Privacy Commissioner can
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets only investigate a complaint where there has been interference with the privacy of the individual. The Federal Privacy Act has very limited jurisdiction and a complaint can only be made where: ♦ The conduct of an “agency” does not comply with the Information Privacy Principles. “Agency” means most Commonwealth and ACT government departments and authorities ♦ A person or organisation collects, stores, uses or discloses an individual's tax file number other than in compliance with taxation law and the Tax File Number Guidelines ♦ A “credit provider” or “credit reporting agency” collects, stores, uses or discloses personal or domestic credit information about the individual other than in compliance with credit reporting provisions of the Privacy Act ♦ An “agency” does not comply with the Act or provisions of the Datamatching Program (Assistance and Tax) Act or Guidelines an “agency” breaches the Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Guidelines ♦ A person or organisation discriminates against the individual on the basis of an old minor criminal convictions in circumstances specified in Part VIIC of the Crimes Act. ♦ Where there has been an interference with the privacy of a number of individuals, one individual may make a complaint on behalf of the group. Fairly limited isn’t it? That’s why we need more powerful and protective privacy laws, the ones we have are pathetic to say the least. I suppose it’s better than nothing. The alternative, create your own privacy by employing the methods in this book! If you would like to lodge a complaint, you must do so in writing, but staff of the Privacy Commissioner can assist an individual with putting together their complaint. A complaint should: ♦ specify the name and address of the respondent ♦ briefly describe the conduct that gave rise to the interference with their privacy ♦ specify what action they have taken to rectify the problem ♦ describe any response provided by the respondent. Phone the Privacy Commissioner on: 1300 363 992.
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Underground Knowledge ASIO tries to Bug your Computer A former director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) put forward an outlandish proposal recently that would clear the way for law enforcement agencies to turn personal computers into covert listening devices. If approved, the proposal would enable police to legally hack into personal computers, allowing them to record all PC activity, including passwords and email prior to encryption. This would render even the most rugged cryptography software completely useless! What an outrageous invasion of your privacy! Even more distressing, if the bugged PC were connected to the Internet, data could easily be transmitted to another site. The outrageous plan suggests that widespread use of cryptography and data scrambling among criminals makes gathering evidence difficult for law enforcement agencies. A spokesperson for the Australian Council for Civil Liberties said that the proposal would be a disturbing extension of police wiretap powers that are already abused. I suspect that like all governments, Australian authorities fear that widespread cryptography equalizes the power between the government and the people. Although governments already have all the power in terms of guns and military force, it appears that anything evening out the score creates a threat to their power.
Privacy at Work This is where privacy can really be compromised as we all know. How many people have been caught out by people listening into conversations, reading people’s faxes and emails, monitoring phone calls. It is more and more common for companies to install surveillance systems to watch their employees. How do you beat the system? Well, if you want to keep your job, you don’t try, this will bring unwanted attention from an employer that may regard you as an agitator.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets When at work keep personal emails, faxes and telephone calls well away. Never have anybody from your personal life turn up at your place of work, this creates unwelcome links. Avoid arguments and never tell people too much about yourself, where you were born, educated etc. When it comes to the employer, tell them only what they need to legally know, the rest can be “close to the truth” or lacking in detail. If the company wants to transfer funds to your account for your salary, setup an account well away from your own bank for just this purpose. When you leave the company never use this account ever again. If you are in business for yourself, keep all business details like address, post office box, bank accounts and phones separate to your personal life. Never mix the two if you can avoid it.
Privacy while Travelling Most hotels and motels don’t ask for identification, so don’t give it to them. I have on good authority some establishments sell their guest’s details to direct marketing companies and this can really be annoying. So, when they ask for an address give them a different one to your real one. Your name should coincide with the name on your credit card if you use one. My advice is to pay cash and use a different name as well. Another idea is to leave off your car registration when they ask for it, say it’s a rental and you’re not sure of the rego number. Having done all this, don’t leave something behind, you’ll never see it again. When buying air tickets try to avoid buying them at the airport with cash. This is highly suspicious behaviour and you may be mistaken for a drug trafficker. Buy them from a travel agent and pay cash there. After you have packed your bags, lock them with proper small padlocks, not the type that comes with the bags as they are easily opened. You don’t want to end up being an unwitting drug carrier by someone that has access to your bags. Bags well locked will be passed over by the “would be” drug trafficker. Also, it is regarded by airport staff
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Underground Knowledge as highly suspicious in fact, to not have ID tags on your bags, so make sure they are there. When it comes to clothing, smart and well to do looking people are rarely stopped at customs, keep this in mind when you dress for the trip. If you dress down and look a mess your chances of being stopped increase. Another trick is to always declare something when you come through customs. I always buy a bag of chips or a chocolate before I get on the plane and declare that. I have never been checked or harassed since I have started declaring items and “asking to be checked”. It’s not about getting away with anything, it’s about not being held up when you are tired and just want to get out of the airport and have a shower. At airports, never go to the toilet after clearing security and immigration. They have cameras that watch for people who do. This is what drug traffickers do to remove hidden contraband. When leaving an airport, go to the baggage claim as quickly as you can get your bags and leave. Don’t wait for the possibility some idiot will decide your bags are his and leave with them. Don’t hang around the airport as airport security regard this as suspicious. If you are visiting a country that is a target for terrorists, make sure that you ask immigration in that country not to stamp your passport but instead, staple a piece of paper in your passport and stamp that. It is a standard request and generally agreed to. This means that if something goes wrong there is no permanent evidence you were in that country. Israel is a prime example. Always remain, polite and calm. Never cause a scene in an airport (unless in America they are attempting to “bump you” from a flight and then start World War 3, this could result in a first class seat to stop you embarrassing them). Never try and sneak through more than the allowable limit of cash or equivalent. It’s not worth it. If they catch you they will assume the worst, arrest you and confiscate your cash. If you must carry it, make sure it’s in a non cash form or as gold coins that have a much lower legal tender value than market value.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Banking Privacy Banking Privacy….A contradiction in terms? Perhaps. Banks are being required by governments in most western countries to impose a strict regime of spying on their customers. You probably know about the legislation that requires banks to report all cash transactions of $10,000 or more, or less if the transaction is suspicious. We are told this is to crack down on drugs and tax evasion, but what about your privacy? You sold your car for cash on the weekend and you go into the bank to deposit it in your account and you find yourself reported on and suspected of criminal activity! The authorities will tell you “if you haven’t done anything wrong, you haven’t anything to worry about do you?”. That’s fine (sort of) as long as somebody doesn’t make a mistake with your information. My point is this is the thin edge of the wedge. The government will begin to introduce laws similar to those proposed in the US where the banks will demand to know where all your deposited funds have come from, they will determine your normal and expected transactions and report any unusual transactions to the authorities for investigation. You will be guilty until proven innocent! Sure, they are trying to thwart criminals, but that doesn’t make the average customer feel any better. I hate going into banks and go there as seldom as possible. When I do, I like to withdraw enough cash to last me a about a month. This entails withdrawing several thousand dollars at a time and when I do I sometimes get the third degree about what I’m doing with the money or get berated about causing them cash flow problems and they need notice. My answer is “Get Stuffed! It’s my money and I’ll do with it as I please, when I damn well please- It’s none of your business!”, or words to that effect. I’m sick and tired of banks and governments trying to control what we do with our money and how we decide to use it. To get around all this nonsense, there is a simple solution – bank offshore. By banking offshore in a friendly offshore financial centre like Jersey you can avoid all the silly laws and privacy intrusions. You can do all your banking by phone, fax, mail or even email and access your funds by using ATMs locally. Probably no different to what you’re doing now. If you would like to know more: obtain a copy of Invisible Banking, an order form is in the back of this book.
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Underground Knowledge A credit card is like a map You want to disappear, to be left alone, nobody to know where you are, or possibly you are in an unfortunate relationship and you need to escape but you know they will come after you! If this is you, don’t use your credit card, use cash instead. Credit cards tell them where you have been, what you bought and when. If you buy petrol, they know. If you spend the night at a hotel, they know. You eat at a restaurant, they know. So bear this in mind.
Mail – Where should it be delivered? For many people who want to maintain privacy or escape from the clutches of errant family or ex-friends or “others”, one of the biggest problems is what to do with mail. “If I have it sent to where I live everybody will know where I am, and this no good!” This is the typical situation most people are in. The easiest way to keep people away from your home is to open a Post Office Box. It’s cheap, it’s easy and the staff don’t give out your address unless they are instructed to do so by police, court orders etc. Now, even a canny private investigator may be able to catch a glimpse of your file or possibly your street address on an envelope, maybe they have fooled the staff at the post office into thinking you are an old friend. Either way they could find your home address. Well there’s a solution, open a PO Box, give them your address……and then move and say nothing. Everybody will still think you live in the same place, but you don’t. You still pick up your mail and nothing appears to be any different. Problem solved. You can also use private companies for your mail such as Mail Boxes Etc. They can provide a similar service and they don’t have quite the same profile as Australia Post. The other advantage is that they can appear to be an office address such as “Suite 13, 245 Smith St…”. This always throws people. Make sure you get a low number box number though, “Suite 2045” doesn’t sound right.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets The next level of mail privacy can be achieved by using a box number in another town or city, but this can be a pain, but it certainly throws people. You could place a redirection to another PO Box closer to home and this would give people the impression you have moved out of the area. If you are really pedantic (or possibly paranoid), you could have your mail sent overseas to a PO Box registered to an agent, such as an incorporation agent, and have them send you mail once a month by a courier such as UPS or DHL. This can be a little expensive but it works ensuring total privacy. Perpetual Travelers often use hotels as their mail drop. They stay in certain hotels on a regular basis and become known or introduce themselves to the staff and let them know if any mail comes for you, could they hold it or be so good as to forward it on, and you will pay the costs next time you return. Better hotels are happy to do this for regular guests. Before using your “mail drop”, test it yourself, send a few letters to yourself and see how it works, particularly the hotel idea and the offshore idea. This is very important to ensure mail doesn’t disappear.
A Few Final Tips on Privacy ♦ If you wish to make private telephone conversations, don’t use your home phone. Buy a phone card and ring from inconspicuous locations like shopping centres and street phones. Never use airports, those phones are filmed. ♦ If you want complete privacy guaranteed for your mail use an offshore “Maildrop”, as authorities have the ability to informally investigate your mail. The mail can then be delivered to you personally by courier. The authorities can use spray-on cleaning solvents such as carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethylene, and perchlorethylene which cause some types of envelopes to go translucent temporarily when these solvents are applied, allowing the contents to be read. There are also ways of opening envelopes that leave no traces at all if handled by a skilled operative. They use a thin flat metal tool, resembling a two
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Underground Knowledge
♦ ♦
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
pronged fork. The tool is gently slipped under the flap of the envelope and onto the edge of the letter inside, between the prongs. The letter is then rolled tightly around the tool and withdrawn, read and returned the same way. Steaming an envelope open is a simple matter and leaves hardly a trace. The use of sealing tape is no guarantee either, carbon tetrachloride will handle the tape instantly. If a maildrop is all too hard, a solution to this prying, may be to use envelopes with a heavy pattern on the inside, glue or tape down the flap securely and also encase the contents in aluminium foil, this really mucks them up. They can’t remove the contents because the foil will tear. They can’t use solvents. They can’t X-Ray or use light to see through it. Buy the best Encryption software available. It may help. Don’t enter contests, don’t return warranty cards, don’t complete survey forms, don’t contribute to charities or causes unless you do it with cash and anonymously, don’t give out business cards, don’t sign guest registers, don’t give your name and address to stores like Tandy. They all use this information and quite often sell it as a mailing list. Don’t use credit cards if you can help it, transact in cash or use money orders. Personal cheques aren’t that great either. Don’t use your credit card for significant purchases if you can help it – especially travel. Always use a Post Office Box for deliveries of mail etc. Open a safety deposit box for your valuables. Alternatively, install a sturdy safe in your home. Don’t say anything on your mobile phone that’s confidential or sensitive. Remember Echelon? Always pay all your bills on time. Late payers attract attention. Don’t go to court over anything. If in business for yourself, don’t own any assets, you are more likely to be sued if the litigant thinks you own substantial assets. If you’re not in business for yourself, consider starting one that you can do from home. Focus on low turnover, high profit margin businesses if you can. If you have to provide your mother’s maiden name for anything, don’t give them the right one. Don’t announce your phone number or your name on your answering machine.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets ♦ If somebody wants your drivers licence for identification, don’t give it to them. Say you don’t drive. And above all……..remain Low Profile.
Underground Tip Public telephones with prepaid phone cards are the best way to make sensitive phone calls without a doubt but…….there’s always a “but” isn’t there? Always, always destroy the card when its value has expired. Some cards record your calls. This is how Oklahoma Bomber Timothy McVeigh got caught!
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Chapter 3 Security In the 1980’s it was fashionable to be high profile and conspicuous, not so today. These days, conspicuous wealth makes you a target. A target for governments of all persuasions, litigation, the “have nots”, shysters, criminals and all those that adhere to the good old tall poppy syndrome. How do you protect yourself? What precautions should you take? How do I stop becoming a target? The easy solution is to become less wealthy, conform with those “shooting” at you. But, why should you? You worked hard, it’s yours (and they want it). The solution is to become inconspicuous, low profile, blend in, look like everyone else. They won’t want what you’ve got, if you appear not to have it in the first place. We hear it everyday. People suing companies and wealthy individuals for minor issues and getting out of court settlements that don’t make sense. Most of the time, they have done nothing wrong and are being pursued by a “bitter and twisted loser” with an “ambulance chaser” solicitor on a slice of the action. What are you to do, get distracted and spend valuable time in court fighting it and racking up huge legal costs or just make an offer to get rid of the matter. The way “justice” works, it’s cheaper to pay the people off than to litigate the matter. “It’s a case of you have it and I want it!” In the US especially, targeting wealthy people and companies has become almost a national sport. You need to protect yourself from this sort of thing. Are you an employer? A person providing jobs for others. Well, you know only too well, what that means these days. You can employ them, but you can’t fire them, regardless of how dishonest, useless,
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets uncooperative or hard to get along with they may be. You have to go through warnings, written and otherwise counseling, more warnings and after that if you fire them, they can still claim unfair dismissal and probably win because the court system is swayed in their favour. I had a personal experience with the Industrial Relations Commission where somebody was trying to sue a franchise company I was associated with. They claimed the franchise agreement was unfair. Unfair, because they didn’t make enough money. They only worked 3 hours per week! We ascertained that from their own diary! The guy was retrenched from Telecom after a work record that included having days off for hiccups! He wanted us to pay! Our solicitor said we should offer him a sizeable amount to go away because the Industrial Relations Commission doesn’t like employers and you will probably lose if we went to court. We were told the legal costs would more than exceed the offer we should make. So, it’s just easier to give him the money. We were told this happens all the time. Justice? I don’t think so. This is the sort of thing that can happen by just being in business and having contracts with people to perform tasks. I won’t be caught out like that again! The best way to go through life, these days is to become very low profile. Don’t stick out from the crowd. Don’t talk about money. Don’t tell anybody where you live. Avoid answering questions, in the nicest possible way, Try appearing a little slow or stupid, this is very disarming. In this case, ignorance wins over arrogance. When you meet new people, pretend they are investigators trying to get information on you and your job is to give them the wrong impression or better still, no impression. This way you will never make the mistake of saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. A friend of mine is superb at this sort of thing. I have never heard him say one thing that could be construed to give anybody the right impression.
Fraud – A real threat to your Financial Security In recent years we have seen fraud become more widespread and it will no doubt infiltrate all our lives at one time or another (if it hasn’t already). One of the most common frauds is Credit Card Related Fraud. It generally entails somebody using your card, or somebody else’s that involves you in a fraud. You have to be aware this is going on and
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Underground Knowledge exactly how they do it. Here are a few examples of how the fraudsters are getting at us: ♦ The most common is the stolen card fraud where somebody uses your card in a shop to purchase goods. They quickly learn how to copy your signature and use the card well away from the area it has been stolen from to avoid running into someone that knows your name. Thankfully, there are limits to your exposure in regard stolen cards, but you must report them stolen quickly. ♦ New Cards can be stolen in the mail or from your letter box. Never have your new credit card sent to you in the mail, always go and pick it up from the bank in person. ♦ A common fraud doesn’t even involve stealing your card. All they require is your card number and expiry date. Once they have this they can order items over the phone with relative confidence because you don’t know anything is wrong until you get your statement, and even then you may not notice. It’s amazing the number of people that don’t even check their statements. The frauds can obtain our credit card details in a number of ways: From shops, from our garbage, from the mail, from bank counters, from virtually anywhere you use a card. Employees of companies are quite often guilty of passing on your card details to third party. Always check your card statement immediately upon receiving it. Also, be careful what you do with your credit card slips. ♦ Using the stolen credit card details method, frauds use your card to order goods over the phone and they have them sent to an address they know is vacant during the day with special instructions to leave the goods at the front door, which they do, at which point the fraud comes along and picks up the delivery. ♦ Be careful buying concert tickets from the newspaper. These tickets may have been bought with stolen card details and then offered in the paper at “discount rates” due to “unforeseen circumstances”. You ring a number, often a stolen mobile, you meet the person, you pay cash for the tickets and get apprehended at the concert for “possessing stolen goods”. ♦ A variation on this theme is sometime perpetrated at airports with airline tickets. Tickets are purchased over the phone and sent to the fraud by mail. On the day of the flight the fraud goes out to the airport and stands near the ticket counter looking “concerned and disgruntled”, they will look like they came to the airport for travel, but
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets “they have just been told by mobile, that their mother is sick and they have to miss the flight”. They have no insurance, so the only way of recouping their money is to offer the tickets at a substantial discount. You believe the person is genuine, the price is great, you pay cash (after checking at the counter the tickets were ok, of course), and you jump on the plane feeling happy you’ve saved a bundle. ♦ Watch out for double billing by merchants, I have personally been a victim of this one. Some unscrupulous merchants actually process your order twice, particularly mail order or telephone order sales. In doing this they, at the very least get the use of your money for a period of time, usually 4 weeks at zero interest and at best, get to keep it forever because you never picked it up on your statement. If they are challenged they simply blame the sales clerk, computer, procedures, lost paperwork or all of the above and they apologise. Neat trick and millions are made from it….watch your merchant and check your statement. So as you can see, simply having a credit card is a risk, but it only becomes expensive when you don’t check your statements thoroughly. Most of the frauds can be reversed by simply contacting your card issuer.
A Few Tips to Improve Your Security ♦ Be certain all windows and doors are securely locked at night and when not at home. ♦ Ensure access to the backyard is difficult. Padlock the side gate if you have one. ♦ Install a back to base alarm system in your home. ♦ Never allow anybody, salesmen and the like into your home. Keep them at the front door as rude as it may be. ♦ Install outside movement sensitive floodlights around the home. ♦ Never fill out your real name and address on forms other than of a legal nature of course. ♦ Never mention your name when you answer the phone. ♦ Use timers on lights and appliances when you are not at home.
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Underground Knowledge ♦ Always put your car in the garage when you are at home. This way anybody interested can’t use this as an indication as to whether your are at home or not. ♦ Most people cancel deliveries when they go away. I never do – I don’t have any deliveries. I send all my mail to the post office and I don’t have anything sent to my home. ♦ Never answer the door if you don’t know who it is. You will find it will only be a religious group or some complete bore from a telephone company trying to get you to switch over. "In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me." Rev. Martin Niemoeller (sent to Dachau, 1938)
"Without free speech no search for truth is possible... no discovery of truth is useful.... Better a thousand fold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech. The abuse dies in a day, but the denial slays the life of the people, and entombs the hope of the race." Charles Bradlaugh - (English reformer - 1890)
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Chapter 4 Money Money, and how to make more. Some people have it, others don’t. Some people have access to information that helps them make money, others don’t. There seems to be a correlation between money and information. Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays best dividends”. It’s important to know what you’re doing to be a successful investor and part of that process is obviously to know where to invest and how to invest. Later in this chapter I will pass on a couple of interesting investing opportunities, but this chapter is more about providing more “alternate” information on gold, privacy, moving money, privacy and a few other money secrets.
Does Gold Still hold the Allure? "Switzerland abolishes gold standard...and approves revamped constitution" GENEVA (AP) - "Swiss voters approved a new constitution Sunday that eliminates the traditional requirement for the country's currency to be backed by gold. The modernization of the 125 year old constitution, which was backed by all the major Swiss political parties and expected to pass easily, came down to a closer-than- expected vote. Some 59% of voters casting ballots, 969,400 people, approved the new document. In addition to abolishing the gold standard for the Swiss franc, the constitution enshrines new rights in law, including the right to strike and the principle of equal opportunities for the handicapped. But 12 of Switzerland's 26 states voted against the proposal, which needed a majority of both voters and states to pass. About 669,200 people or 41% rejected it."
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Underground Knowledge Now, there's a shock. The Swiss have abandoned gold! Already financial experts are trying to predict how this will impact on the already depressed price of the historically valuable commodity. The Swiss won't be selling off their gold all at once, but over a period of years. Due to their considerable holdings of the metal, the sale will no doubt impact on future prices. This is yet another blow for gold, now that the Swiss have followed the lead of other central banks by effectively "dumping" their holdings. It seems that their desire to hold the world's most revered store of value has diminished. It's also a blow for those who want to hold "hard" money. The Swiss Franc was the only remaining gold-backed currency (currency redeemable for gold), and as such has managed to stave off the inflation that has shrunk the value of all major currencies during the last 25 years. If you had held Swiss Francs during that time, then you would have done very nicely compared with holding it in your "home" currency. Swiss Francs have represented an oasis of stability that has rightfully earned it a respected place among world currencies. So, what of gold? Is it a spent force? I don't think so. I think there is a link between the depressed price of gold and the inflated price of stocks. On one hand, stock prices have been continuously rising (the effect of superannuation and mutual funds), and on the other hand, the price of gold has been falling. This trend in stocks is unlikely to change but that doesn’t mean that gold will continue to slide. Gold does have intrinsic value, regardless of the psychological whims of people. And if the going ever gets “tough”, like in a major economic downturn, then gold could find itself a favoured store of value again. Traditionally, gold has always done well in times of political and economic instability. So if you want to think “contrarian” (against the prevailing market belief), then buying gold now, while the price is historically low, could prove a good move. It the stock market was to cause something of an economic glitch, gold could easily rocket back up in price. There is a good case for buying and holding gold in the medium term. But don’t get carried away gold has been a poor investment
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets performer over the last few years, in fact probably the worst investment, so be careful. Mind you, gold does some seem very cheap and it’s difficult to see it falling too much further. If you really were interested in diversifying into a little gold, wait until one of the reserve banks around the world announce they are selling more off and wait for the price to glitch down. Always do the quick Australian dollar conversion too, otherwise you may get caught out. The price of gold may drop, but so may the Australian dollar and the price may not be cheaper at all. Only buy gold under AUD$400 per ounce, never above. This price has always been within 10% of the bottom in recent years.
Underground Tip If you don’t want nosey bureaucrats and bankers checking you out every time you walk in the bank to deposit the proceeds of a garage sale or some other cash sale, don’t deposit more than $10,000. Under the Cash Transactions legislation they are compelled to report you to the government. Even if the amount is under the $10,000 limit, you can be reported for any “suspicious” amount under $10,000. Obviously, if you don’t want to be regarded as a money laundering, drug trafficking, arms dealing tax cheat, then keep the proceeds of your garage or car sale out of the bank. Buy yourself a good fire rated safe, bolt it to the floor and keep the money there until you use it or alternatively bank it in much smaller amounts. By putting it in the safe, don’t think you’re missing out on interest either, have you seen the pathetic interest rates offered, fees imposed and then you have to pay tax on the interest. Most of the time, you end up with less than you started with!
How to Move Money Without Leaving a Paper Trail There are many different ways to move money to and from your offshore account, but remember, some ways are better than others! Here are a few suggestions:
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Underground Knowledge Bank Draft/Cashier's Cheque. This is still a good way, provided you don't send more than say $5,000 at a time. You can purchase a Draft from most banks and do not need to fully identify yourself. Telegraphic/Wire Transfer. This is ok if you're moving money from one offshore account to another, but don't do it from your home country to your offshore account, as it will both advise the bank of where the funds are coming from, and where they are going to. And banks may be required to report amounts above certain limits. Personal/Company Cheque. This method is also too easily traced, both where it's going and where it's from, and should never be used to shift your funds from “onshore” to “offshore”. Cheque Recycling. If you can endorse any incoming cheques over to your creditors, then this will also provide privacy. Bearer Bonds. Long regarded as one of the best ways to move large amounts of money around the world in an inconspicuous way. They are like normal bonds but they are cashable by the bearer, so you must treat them like cash, they just don’t take up the same amount of room or create the same amount of interest. Available from Insurance companies and financial institutions. Secured Credit Cards. With deposit backed cards, you don't have to provide the same level of personal identification, even better if a trust or company owns the account. That way you can access funds from ATMs or purchase goods and services without attracting any attention. Money Market Accounts. You can write a personal cheque to your money market account, then use a money market cheque to move funds to your offshore account. This still leaves a paper trail of sorts, but is difficult to uncover, especially if you later close the money market account.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Precious Metals Certificates One of the better and more sophisticated ways people transport “wealth” from one place to another. As you may be aware, if you transfer or carry currency over a certain limit from one country to another you must declare it in or possible both countries. The Precious Metal Certificate puts an end to that. See the Section Precious Metals Certificates below. International Money Order. In some countries you can still purchase these from the Post Office. They have the advantage of being anonymous. Travelers Cheques. This is a very good way to move funds, provided you don't attract attention to yourself by purchasing too many from the same source. First Class Airline Tickets. This is an unusual one. With an open first class air ticket, you are able to gain a refund if you later change your plans. Armed with a “high value” ticket, you have in your hands a nice “invisible” and convertible form of money. Just ensure they are refundable or exchangeable at any time before you buy them. This method is used by the most experienced PT who wander around with five or ten first class tickets that they can exchange for cash at any time at any airport. Western Union. You can use this service to make fast money transfers. It costs more than what banks charge, but you can retain your privacy provided you keep the transfers below certain limits. Every Cash Converters store in Australia is an agent for Western Union. See the section below for more details.
Western Union Western Union is an American company that has been around for around 100 years. Western Union enables you to send money within minutes from Western Union Agent locations throughout the world. Whether you need to send money for personal or business reasons, Western Union can help. They are a viable alternative to the intrusive practices of banks.
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Underground Knowledge Sending money with Western Union is convenient. Generally, all you need to do is visit a Western Union Agent at a Cash Converters Store, fill out a simple “To send money” form, and provide payment to the Agent in cash, which will include the appropriate fee. You will be given a receipt that provides you with the Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN). This number will need to be given to the person picking up the money transfer. Within minutes the money will be available for pick-up at any Western Union Agent location any where in the world. The Western Union Quick Pay service is a fast, safe, inexpensive way for a person to make an international payment directly to a participating foreign company through the Western Union Money Transfer network. You simply bring the cash payment to the nearest Western Union Agent, complete the blue “To send a Quick Pay payment” form, pay a fee, and the Agent processes the transfer. Minutes later, the company receives a cheque, or a payment confirmation indicating that the funds will be direct deposited the next day. The Quick Cash service provides fast and reliable access to your money. The Quick Cash service allows you access to your money from your bank account. If you need access to emergency funds, lost your wallet, damaged your ATM card, or reached the maximum withdrawal limit on your ATM, the Quick Cash service could help. It's faster than overnight mail, and is usually less expensive and more private than a bank transfer. Many US and offshore banks are beginning to accept Quick Cash transfers, it’s a little slower to catch on here. To ensure nothing goes wrong and somebody accepts the cash that shouldn’t, they ask you to set up a test question. The agent will ask your receiver the test question to verify that he or she is in fact the intended receiver. With thousands of Agent locations throughout the world, Western Union is a convenient solution when you need to receive money in minutes. Having money sent to you is very similar to sending it. You just go into a Western Union agent and fill in the appropriate form, answer the question the sender of the money has posed, on you get your cash.
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Underground Tip If you don’t want to leave trails as bleeding obvious as the Yellow Brick Road, don’t use credit cards to purchase guns, travel or air fares, meals at restaurants and accommodation. Watch out buying travel books as well, they can give a little too much away.
Precious Metals Certificates There is a little known way to hold gold and other precious metals overseas, privately. It's called the Perth Mint Certificate Program (PMCP), and it is an excellent way to ensure your wealth securely, discreetly, flexibly and inexpensively. When you buy precious metals in the PMCP, you get a certificate of ownership. The certificate represents a specific item, the bullion or coins you purchased. The document simply shows “ounce for ounce” what you own that the Perth Mint is holding for you. The PMCP is an extremely private way to own precious metals. The PMCP is not considered a monetary instrument, since it is nonnegotiable and does not provide a payment of a “sum certain” in dollars. Your assets and any related documents are stored offshore (in Perth). You retain the ownership certificates, which are transferable but nonnegotiable. In case of an economic catastrophe, you simply use the documents to request delivery from Perth to any number of major financial centres, such as Zurich, London, or Singapore. Some countries have restrictions on gold ownership, but you may remove your assets from the Perth Mint whenever you wish. There are no import or export duties on precious metals in Australia. Coins purchased in the PMCP enjoy worldwide recognition you can liquidate them in any major financial market (subject to import restrictions).
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Underground Knowledge The program also allows you your choice of gold, silver, platinum and palladium. No other certificate program offers all four metals. And, you can sell all or part of your holdings and receive your proceeds in a variety of currencies: U.S. dollars, Australian dollars, Swiss francs, or other major foreign currencies. The PMCP's products are the highest quality and purity Australian semi-numismatic coins come in various sizes, ranging from 1/20 oz. to 1 kilo (gold, platinum, and silver are available in the 1 kilo size). The PMCP offers low premiums, low storage charges and a $50 certificate charge (per transaction). The bigger the transaction the bigger the savings. Of all the available precious metal buy-and-store programs, the PMCP offers the most inexpensive way to buy precious metals, privately, in a convenient form. Now, there's an easy way to hold part of your portfolio in precious metals, and get the benefits of global diversification. There are no import or export duties on precious metals in Australia the only tax that could raise its ugly head is Capital Gains Tax. The Perth Mint is a division of Gold Corporation, wholly owned and operated by the Western Australia Government, so your metals are government guaranteed. Since 1899, the Perth Mint has provided safe storage of precious metals. Storage is in Perth, Western Australia. Precious metals are insured (at Perth Mint's expense) by Lloyd's of London. Here are a few commonly asked questions about the Certificates: What accreditation does the Perth Mint have? The Perth Mint is accredited by the London Bullion Market Association, the New York Commodities Exchange (COMEX), and the Tokyo Commodities Exchange (TOCOM). What is a Perth Mint Certificate? A Perth Mint Certificate is a document assigning clear title to precious metals stored on either an allocated or an unallocated basis with the Perth Mint. The document is registered to the owner, and it is referenced by client name and Certificate number. Perth Mint's records additionally reference a client number to ensure confidentiality and security.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets A Perth Mint Certificate is non-negotiable; however, ownership is transferable. You may sell or transfer your right, title, or interest in your precious metals to anyone you choose. As it’s non-negotiable, it’s not considered cash or a cash equivalent which means there are no reporting requirements. Is there a minimum purchase associated with the Perth Mint Certificate Program? Yes, there is a minimum of US$50,000.00 to invest under the Perth Mint Certificate Program, and there is a minimum requirement of US$10,000.00 or more to add to your existing holdings. What precious metals are available under the Perth Mint Certificate Program? The Perth Mint Certificate Program offers investors the option of holding all the major precious metals: Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium. Precious metals storage in coins or bars can be on an allocated or an unallocated basis. Are there set Certificate sizes to which my holdings must conform? No, this entirely flexible program allows you to tailor your precious metals storage to whatever amount suits your individual needs. What is allocated versus unallocated storage? Allocated storage refers to precious metals stored at the Perth Mint and recorded on the Perth Mint Certificate. The metals will be placed in a sealed box that is specifically assigned to the client via the Perth Mint Certificate. Unallocated storage refers to a specific quantity of precious metals which are owned by the client, but is part of a larger pool of precious metals stored at the Perth Mint. This quantity of precious metals is recorded on the Perth Mint Certificate. Perth Mint has an obligation to deliver the recorded amount of precious metal upon request of the client with two weeks' prior notice. A fabrication fee may be applicable. Is it difficult to purchase a Perth Mint Certificate? No. The Perth Mint Certificate is available to individual investors through an Approved Dealer Network maintained and certified by the Perth Mint, much like
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Underground Knowledge the purchase of physical precious metals for delivery. Just call your any of the locations below to place an order over the telephone. Is the Perth Mint Certificate hard to liquidate? The Perth Mint Certificate is easy to liquidate. There are a number of options available. First, the owner can sell the Certificate back to an Approved Dealer (see below). Second, the owner can take physical delivery of the precious metals represented on the Certificate at the Perth Mint. Third, the owner can arrange for physical delivery at a variety of locations world-wide. In this way wealth can be instantly transferred anywhere in the world. For example, you buy the Certificate in country A and you can then travel to Country B and sell the Certificate. You have transferred wealth offshore, it’s that easy! Can I surrender a portion of the precious metals on the Certificate? Yes. This flexible option is one of the distinct advantages of the Perth Mint Certificate Program. Owners can surrender any portion of the Certificate as long as they continue to meet the established minimums. With payment of an additional Certificate fee, a new Certificate will be issued for the remainder of your precious metals in storage. How do I know my precious metals are actually stored at the Perth Mint and that the metals stored are actually what I purchased? The Perth Mint warrants the precise unit or interest in precious metals that is assigned by each certificate. The Perth Mint warrants the quantity and authenticity of the bullion coins, and warrants the hallmark, purity and weight of bullion bars. Finally, the Perth Mint (owned by the Western Australian Government) verifies the receipt of the specific unit or interest in a pool of precious metals (for unallocated storage) through the issuance of a certificate showing exactly what precious metals are stored on your behalf. The precious metals represented by the Perth Mint Certificate are obtained directly from the refinery for bullion bars, and are produced right at the Perth Mint in the case of diverse Australian bullion coin products. What claims can a creditor have on my certificate? A creditor can have no claims against your precious metals since clear title is assigned on the certificate.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets What are the fees associated with the purchase of a Perth Mint Certificate? In addition to the purchase of the precious metals (done basis the London Fix), there is a U.S. $50.00 certificate fee regardless of the size of the certificate, and there is a prepaid storage fee of 1.5% for gold and platinum, 2½% for silver, and 2% for palladium per annum for allocated storage only. The only other fee is the Approved Dealer's commission. There is no storage fee associated with unallocated storage, provided you give two weeks' notice to take delivery of unallocated material. Are there any taxes associated with holding precious metals or with taking delivery of precious metals in Australia? No. There are no Australian taxes or duties as a result of holding or taking delivery of precious metals in Australia. Here are the places around the world you can purchase and cash in your Certificates: Gold Corporation Perth Mint Buildings 310 Hay Street, East Perth Western Australia 6004 Tel: 08 9421 7222 Fax: 08 9221 2258 Postal Address: GPO Box M924, Perth Western Australia 6001 Email:
[email protected] GoldCorp Australia (Hong Kong) Ltd Room 405, St George's Building 2 Ice House Street, Central Hong Kong Tel: 0011 852 2525 1130 Fax: 0015 852 2810 6809 AGR Hong Kong Unit 1009, Peninsular Square
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Underground Knowledge 18 Sung On Street Hung Hom Howloon, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2356 7889 Fax: (852) 2303 1339 Japan - K'dom Company Ltd Kita-Aoyama Homes #202 Kita-Aoyama Homes 1-5-12 Minato-Ku, Tokyo 107, Japan Tel: 0011 3 3497 0477 Fax: 0015 3 3497 0772 Switzerland - GoldCorp Australia Avenue de Cour 135 CH-1007 Lausanne Switzerland Tel: 0011 21 617 1996/2324 Fax: 0015 21 617 0313/2331 Email:
[email protected] United States - Hall International Inc 31103 Rancho Viejo Road, Suite 2202 San Juan Capistrano CA 92675 Tel: (949) 443 0600 Fax: (949) 443 0901 Email:
[email protected] United States - Perth Mint Depository Services PO Box 73 Peterborough, NH USA 03458 Tel: (603) 924 3624 Fax: (603) 924 4430 Email:
[email protected] New Zealand - Perth Mint Depository Services c/o Enova Corporate Services Ltd. Southpac Tower Queen & Customs Street
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Auckland, New Zealand Tel: 64-9-366-1818 Fax: 64-9-366-1892 Email:
[email protected] Britain - Dr Michael Harvey-Phillips Special Representative 94 Oldfield Rd Hampton, TW12 2HR, England Tel: (0181) 979 0608 Fax: (0181) 979 5984 Email:
[email protected]
Places you Shouldn’t do your Banking Here’s a little information straight from those mysterious “alphabet” organisations in the United States. The organisation is the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Agency. They produced an internal report for the benefit of their agents and other law enforcement agencies that targeted banking institutions and banking practices generally in a number of countries. The purpose was to crackdown on drug related money laundering. They use all means at their disposal to track large quantities of money going to and from the following locations. The Bahamas, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Uruguay, Venezuela, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, Russia and former states, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Nauru, Pakistan, Thailand, Vanuatu, Nigeria. You can also add Miami and Los Angeles to the list. Now you may already be banking in one these places and doing absolutely nothing wrong, but understand your transactions may be watched and even reviewed if they are over certain limits, to or from the wrong banks etc. Which banks are the wrong ones? The ones that open your account up very easily and rarely do all the thorough checking that the “safer” banks put new customers through. You see, there is a benefit going through a little more aggravation to start with when you open your account with a major bank in a “clean” jurisdiction. If you believe that bank secrecy is enough to protect your banking privacy, you didn’t read the section on Echelon in the Privacy chapter.
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Underground Knowledge Have you been offered a High Yield Trading Program? These investment programs are really flavour of the month at the moment and most people getting involved in them are being ripped off. One of the biggest questions people have when it comes to these things is, “How can I check whether they are real or not?”. This has been very difficult due to all the secrecy and the army of intermediaries between you and the actual investment managers. Well hopefully I can help here, I have tracked down a company that claims to be able to check out these investments and do the due diligence for you. I have compiled some information on them so you can see what they are all about and get in contact with them to help you. Are you considering an investment in a, high yield trading program that mentions the following terms?: Standby Letters of Credit Prime Bank Discounted Guarantees 40 Weeks Guaranteed Return Investment Programs Bank Debenture Trading Programs Leveraged Capital Trading Programs Bank Secured Capital Enhancements High Yield Guaranteed Investments Secured Investment Trading Prime Bank Discounted Letters of Credit Prime Bank Guarantees of 108% Roll Programs Have you been asked to provide a: Bank Comfort Letter Bank Proof of Funds Bank Letter of Commitment Blocked Assets or Funds Letter Letter of Intent Letter of Authority
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Will your investment be held in a: Joint Venture Account Protected With Buy/Sell Agreements Blocked Funds Account Top 25-100 European Bank Trade Contract Trading Account, Bank, or Partner Trust Account Holder or Administrator Trust Agreement or Trust Group Are you guaranteed a return of: 2%-50% per week 10 - 75% per month 160% - 200% per annum Are you considering investing in a program requiring or promising any of the above? The best thing to do is to check it out thoroughly before investing but if you can’t have somebody like IESC evaluate it for you. Don't be a victim of investment fraud and scams. Investment Evaluative Services Corporation is lawyer affiliated. They can evaluate investment proposals and offerings in the following areas: Commodities Prime Bank Debenture Programs Prime World Bank Debentures Prime Bank Guarantees Prime Bank Discounted Standby Letters of Credit High Yield Guaranteed Investments Roll Programs Leveraged Capital Trading Programs 40 Weeks Guaranteed Return Investment Programs Bank Secured Capital Enhancement Programs Investment Evaluative Services Corporation will use their years of expertise and knowledge to critique investment proposals. If you are not sure about any investment, get an opinion from IESC, it’s definitely better than losing your money. For more information, contact:
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Underground Knowledge Investment Evaluative Services Corporation PO Box 832 647, Miami, Fl 33283. Email:
[email protected] Fax: 0015 1 305 412 0925 Ph: 0011 1 888 596 0956
Common Sense Investing “Doesn’t everybody use common sense when they invest?” The simple answer is few people do in reality. In fact many novice investors do the exact opposite. They use their emotions or gut feeling to decide which investment to put money in. Some, even experienced investors, get caught up in hearsay, or “hot tips”. Unfortunately, greed and anxiety run off with their common sense and it rarely makes a re-appearance…. until all their money is gone anyway. Now, I’m not just talking about mistakes made by buying the wrong shares, although that is a common occurrence and we’ll talk about that a bit later, but all the weird and wonderful schemes that people think will make them rich. Schemes such as the ones where people get paid between 5% and 20% per month. Often called trading programs, these schemes are nothing but scams and ponzi schemes that are more urban myth than actual investment. Sure, some people do get paid, for a while, but the scheme soon stumbles and the whole thing collapses, although some schemes have lasted a few years, one that comes to mind was in Queensland, the Wattle Group, and it lasted for over six years. My advice is to stay away from these things, they are promoted by people who earn a high commission from your participation and quite often the person promoting the scheme doesn’t know it’s a scam either, that’s how convincing they can be. I have seen some so elaborate and sophisticated that it had bankers and professional investors fooled. You’ve been warned, stay away. When it comes to the stock market, being fooled into parting with your hard earned money can be almost as easy as being lured into some elaborate scam. The worst offenders here are inexperienced brokers and the venerable “hot tips” from friends and associates. You shouldn’t depend on your broker for all the answers, they will all too often let you
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets down. If your broker was such an “all-seeing genius”, what’s he or she doing turning up for work each day – they should be lounging around on their yacht. True? The truth is there are no “gurus”, there are only people with good information and common sense. This is all the world’s greatest investor, Warren Buffett uses. Good old-fashioned common sense, a commodity not often used in the hustle and bustle of share trading and investing. For instance, look at your portfolio; do you know why you own shares in each of these companies? What compelled you to buy these particular shares? Do you know what they do? What is their compound earnings growth for the last 5 years? What is their estimated earnings growth for the next 5? You need to have answers to these questions, before you buy the company, not after. The major and only real reason to invest in a company is for its earnings – current and future. Without earnings or the 100% guaranteed prospect of future earnings, the company is worth nothing, that simple. Would you really want to invest in a company that has very little chance of making a profit in the future? So, why do some investors invest in “penny dreadful” mining shares or those “dot com” companies? Many of these companies will never make a profit. The reason they invested, is because they have probably been swept away by emotion, greed to be exact – no common sense there. This is my point, common sense dictates that you would probably be a fool to invest in these companies, but people still do. My philosophy is simple, look for earnings growth. Where earnings growth goes, the share price will always follow. Sure, the market will have its ups and downs, but at the end of the day, growth in earnings will always win out, it always has and always will. So, how do you identify these companies with strong earnings growth? Sometimes it’s not easy. While some brokers are often (my opinion only) a poor judge of picking stocks, some do have pretty good research departments and analysts who, based on what the particular company’s executives tell them and also reflecting on recent history, can often come pretty close to predicting the earnings not only for next year, but up to five years out with uncanny certainty. The best I’ve seen are the New York analysts. These guys are good, they can predict a company’s quarterly earnings within a cent or so. However, this doesn’t make them good “pickers” of stocks, you need also to apply your common sense to this information. For instance, the company might be showing good earnings prospects according to
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Underground Knowledge the analysts, but will it last? What I mean is, are the company’s products or services in great demand? Are they always innovating and coming up with new products? Does management appear to be good? Are they consistent with their growth? Is the future profit growth compounding at 10% or more, past and future? Does the future prediction of growth sit comfortably with the past? Bottom line – Does the prediction make sense? If the answer is yes to all these questions…. You better buy some shares in that company! Now, reflect on your portfolio again….…….. “Hmmmm….oops”, could be your reaction here. Common sense has kicked in hasn’t it? Would you like the name of a company that has consistent 15% earnings growth for the last 10 years? A company that has predicted future growth of around 15%? A company with a record of share price growth compounding at over 15%pa? A company regarded by many as the best in the world and with the best management and CEO? Also, it’s products are regarded as the among the best in world. It’s General Electric Co. of the US. Your broker in Australia can buy shares for you, it’s that easy. There are many companies out there that make similar claims, it’s just a matter of finding them. This takes time and effort, however it’s well worth it, just don’t forget to use common sense.
An Offshore Insurance Trust can often be used to reduce tax and make money This is often used as a way to abdicate control and ownership of offshore assets. It is sometimes called a “foreign non-grantor trust”. The trust is managed by an offshore trustee. The trustee using the trusts assets, purchases a life insurance policy insuring the life of the trust grantor from an offshore insurance company and the trust then becomes the policy owner. In this way, the trust has no taxable owners and there are no beneficiaries until after the death of the grantor. The beneficiary is usually an “offshore charity”. There are some other ways life policies can be used to minimise local tax, legally and they should be looked into. Here are a couple of contacts that may help.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets JML Swiss Investment Counsellors, Zurich. JML Jürg M. Lattmann AG Baarerstrasse 53, 6304 Zug, Schweiz Phone +41 58 800 55 00 Fax +41 58 800 55 01
[email protected]
Offshore Investment Funds are a sensible investment decision Offshore investment funds should form part of everybody’s portfolio due to a couple of reasons. The first is it will give you exposure to international markets and secondly because of the high returns some of these funds achieve with monotonous regularity. Australian funds just don’t have the returns, simple as that. Here are a few you should consider. Platinum 100% Capital Protected Fund: This fund has achieved over 20% pa return for the last 5 years. Your capital is guaranteed because they have issued a Union Bank of Switzerland zero coupon note over the fund ensuring that your capital is covered. On a month to month basis, the fund achieves an 82% winning ratio. This means the fund goes up in value 82% of the time. The Open Ended Equity Plus Fund: The second fund, is also a Platinum Fund, The Open Ended Equity Plus. This fund invests in mainly S&P 500 stocks in the US and has achieved over 35% pa for the last 5 years. Its success rate is 85%. Platinum Funds currently have over US$6 billion under management. Platinum Funds Management 10 St Martin’s Place London WC2N 4JL UK Ph: 0011 44 20 8697 2699 Fax: 0015 44 20 8697 2708 Email:
[email protected] www.platinumfunds.net
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Un de rg ro un d Kn owl ed ge The next fund I have for you is a technology fund. If you believe technology is the way to go over the next 5 to 10 years (and I do) then you should have a look at the Martin Currie Global Technology Fund. They only invest in industry leaders and no more than 70 different stocks. The minimum investment is US$5,000. Martin Currie Investment Management Fax: 0015 44 131 222 2532 www.martincurrie.com
Would you like to know more about High Yield Investments? There are two books that can help. Each book provides over 60 high yield investments. They are up to date as they are regularly updated. They contain all the factual information that you need to make a decision as well as full contact details of the investment managers and providers. Investments include: Offshore Investment Funds Mutual Funds Currency Trading Future and options trading Forestry Little known stocks set to boom in the USA Zero risk investments Trading Systems Swiss Annuities Investment Bonds Derivative Funds Managed Investments Investments range from 15% up to several hundred percent per annum. These books will change the way you invest forever. See the order form in the back of this book.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets
Chapter 5 Special Destinations Escape to places where there are few interfering, nosey people. If you long for the quiet life, away from all the hustle and bustle and experience true peace of mind with a good dose of healthy lifestyle, some of these places may be of interest to you. Possibly not as a permanent residence, but possibly as a “getaway”. It may be a place you spend time as part of your “Perpetual Traveller” plans. But before we look at some of these “Special Places” there are some issues that should be considered.
Considerations Before I get on to destinations to spend time in or possibly retire to, I should point out a few of the aspects of moving overseas for you to consider.
Language: Obviously, this should be one of first considerations. If you are fluent in the language it will certainly make your adjustment into your new “home land” more pleasant. Fortunately, as many tax havens are former (or current) British colonies, most speak English as either a first or second language. Even in most parts of Europe, English is often understood. Even if you do need to learn a new language, most people can pick up basic phrases quite easily. The hard part is understanding the locals, they often speak quickly which can make life hell for a while until you become used to it. If you are taking children, this can often be a blessing, they learn the language much quicker than adults do. Often, they can help their parents in time. The trick is to learn the language well
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Underground Knowledge before you go by purchasing any one of a number of excellent language courses.
Means: In most cases, you will need to prove you can support yourself before you can take up residence in a new country. In almost all cases, getting a job is out of the question. You must either create employment for locals or not take a job that would otherwise have been taken by a local. For most people, becoming a professional investor is the answer. These days being a professional investor is a fairly easy task wherever you are in the world thanks to computer technology. Also, because the cost of living is often lower in these places, the amount you must earn is reduced. Which means the capital required to semi-retire is also reduced, allowing you an option that may not have otherwise been available to you if you stay in your home country. Another option is of course to pick up your whole business and move it to a new country if you are in business currently.
Family & Friends: Often one of the most difficult issues. Loss of family and friends can sometimes be traumatic for some people, but you have to weigh up all the advantages against the disadvantages. Obviously, the whole family must agree to go otherwise you could have an unhappy time.
Finally: You should understand what you are looking for. Do you want to escape from bureaucracy? Do you want to get away from over polluted, crowded cities? Are you tired of spending a fortune just to survive? Is the pace of life getting to you, do you just want to slow down and have a simpler life? Do you want to re-establish your personal privacy and freedom? Or…all of the above? What ever your reason, you should understand there will be disadvantages and times when you may regret your decision. Moving isn’t for everyone, but keep in mind you can still come home for up to six months a year without being classified a resident. This should compensate to a large extent.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Before you decide anything, jump on a plane and go on a fact finding mission. Be sure to take the whole family, this is vital. You should examine the following issues: ♦ Housing. What are the costs? Are there any restrictions on foreigners purchasing? What is the standard and is it acceptable. Check quite a few agents in different areas. ♦ Check things like telephones, electricity, water services. ♦ What are the medical facilities like? ♦ If you have children, what are the schools like? ♦ What are the locals like? Are they friendly towards you? ♦ Call in at the local police station and ask what the crime rate is like. ♦ What about shopping and recreation, are they adequate? Can you still obtain products and services that you enjoy? What about TV and radio, are they in English or are satellite or cable facilities available? ♦ Will you be able to bring your possessions without duty or restriction? ♦ What is the government like? If it’s not democratic, don’t even consider going there for a visit. You are looking for a government committed to democracy, personal freedom and a minimal bureaucracy. ♦ Obviously you should understand what the requirements are for residency before you go, but we’ll discuss these issues a little later on some preferred jurisdictions. ♦ Lastly, the cost of living issues. Will it be cheaper to live there or will it be better to live there? Once you have all this information you will be better armed to make a sensible decision. On the issue of moving overseas, whether for part of the year or all of it, I was reading a report on the best places to live and it stated that the top 10 places to live (in order of preference) are: United States; Canada; Australia; New Zealand; Luxembourg; Ireland; Malta; Hungary; United Kingdom; Germany. However, these jurisdictions were rated on a number of different factors, some of which may not necessarily be important to you personally. For example, if you want to go where it's “healthiest”, then you may want to consider either Campione, Andorra or France. Or, if you're more concerned about the best culture and recreation, then perhaps you could go to Austria. If you're on a really restricted budget, then you may prefer to go to the cheapest places on the planet - like
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Underground Knowledge Belize, Brazil, Uruguay, Hungary. And if you want to retire, then the favoured places are Bermuda, Ireland or why not Uruguay with its low prices, good climate and an easy lifestyle? What about solitude? Try Alderney, Andorra and Campione. At this point it may be an idea to have a close look at some of these selected “special places”.
Campione d’Italia It has been described as “Shangri-la” by more than just one offshore writer. It certainly is a beautiful part of the world but there’s more to Campione d’Italia than just good looks. Campione is a small Italian enclave of 1.7 square kilometres entirely located within Switzerland, on the eastern shore of Lake Lugano at the foot of a beautiful mountain. There are approximately 3,800 inhabitants, most of whom are foreigners. Campione is part of the province of Como and Italian law applies as it is part of Italy. No Swiss laws apply at all only Italian. This means no compulsory military service and no heavy taxes. Official currency is the Swiss Franc, but Italian lire/Euro are also accepted as well. All banking is done through Swiss banks. There is a famous Casino, which generates substantial revenue, and therefore the residents of Campione enjoy a defacto tax free status. You are only 40 minutes by car from Milan and only a short 10 minute boat ride across the lake to Lugano. Milan’s Malpensa Airport is only 20 minutes away. Ferries run regularly to Lugano where most of the locals go to shop, entertain themselves at restaurants, theatres etc. Facilities such as hospitals are the very best to cater for the rich foreigners from Campione. This really is a very privileged part of the world. Everything you could want is available. Famous and beautiful Lake Como is 20 minutes away. Unlike most of Switzerland, there are no border controls between Campione and Switzerland even though you are moving from one country to the other every time you leave town. The weather is also very un-Switzerland like. It is very mild and you can even grow palm trees
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets there. The air is clean and the only time it’s crowded is on the weekends when people from Milan come up for the weekend to visit the casino. Campione exists in a kind of tax limbo, which is one reason it’s in this book. This occurred when Switzerland became a federation of states but the poor village (as it was then) of Campione was still under the control of the Bishop of Milan. When the Swiss federated, Campione stayed Italian. These days neither the Swiss, who have no jurisdiction, or the Italians, who do but don’t care, bother the residents with trifling issues such as tax. The Campionese own the casino, which employs over 500 of them and this casino generates most of the revenue for the town as well as the Italian government getting a good slice. In return the Italian bureaucrats stay away so as to not upset the applecart and have the locals vote to join Switzerland. There are some taxes though, there is a sales tax (7%) and duty on goods and of course the gamblers in the casino get skinned alive, but the locals remain pretty much tax free. In fact, they are free of all sorts of bureaucracy such as cash and foreign exchange reporting requirements. The casino also provides most of the municipal services for the property owners so things like rates and roads are all looked after once you own property there. One should keep in mind that these tax arrangements are not supported by laws, it’s just the way things work out. I am advised as long as any foreigners remain low profile, they will be left alone by the authorities. It is said that Italy has enough problems dealing with their own 60 million tax evaders!☺ In addition if the authorities were to take an interest in the resident foreigners it may have a detrimental effect on the local economy and the profits from the casino could disappear very quickly. The Italians believe rich foreigners are good for the economy and if tax was imposed, they would leave as simple as that. You must also consider the fact that as the casino provides much of the services and infrastructure, such as excellent schools etc, there is very little tax being spent on the place by the Italian Government. The only time a foreigner would likely be taxed would be if they earned substantial income within Italy. If your business operations or investments are outside Italy, one can assume that they would remain tax free. Campione is not a tax haven where legally taxes don’t exist, it is a place where no one collects them or bothers to check. Just make sure you never become an Italian citizen who resides in Italy, things can change under those circumstances. It is best to remain a foreigner who resides in Campione and earns offshore income. Mind
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Underground Knowledge you, if you do wish to pay tax as laid down by the law in Campione, you will only pay a quarter of what you did elsewhere. This is because as a resident of Campione, your taxes are calculated in a funny way. First your income is assessed in Swiss Francs and this is then converted to Italian Lire. But they convert it at the old historical rate of 242 Lire to the Franc and as there are over 1,000 lire to the Franc in reality, you’re laughing all the way to the bank. So, paying tax is not a problem at all if your guilty conscience gets to you. Also, from an Australian Tax point of view, the taxes in Campione are not “concessional”, so ATO regards tax paid there as “tax paid in full”. How do you take advantage of all this? Well, simple if you have enough money you can move there and buy a property and live in paradise forever. However, the prices aren’t cheap but unlike some countries you pay the same price as everyone else even though you are foreigner. For instance in Switzerland you have to pay a foreigner’s premium to buy property, the same applies in Jersey, Guernsey and Bermuda. Not so in Campione, while the prices are high, the same can be said for any place as good as this. You can simply step off the plane and by any property you wish (as long as you have the money). No controls or bureaucracy gets in the way. The following are a few of the properties that were available at the time of printing. The prices are in Swiss Francs, which are about equivalent to Australian Dollars: 1. Villa, 270 m², 3 floors, 10 rooms, 3 terraces, very up market and peaceful location, with panoramic view on the lake. CHF 1.950.000 2. Small House, 140 m² on 2 floors, 2 terraces of 23 and 37 m², panoramic view on the lake of Lugano, needs renovation. CHF 800.000 3. Villa, 320 m² on 2 floors, wonderful panoramic view, chimney, terrace, 3 garages, cellar. The 2 floors can be divided in 2 separate flats with independent entrances. On the ground floor 3 garages and storage rooms. CHF 3.500.000 4. Semi-detached house, 3 floors, 2 terraces and a wonderful panoramic view, very quiet location, only 5 min. from the tennis center of Campione. CHF 1.425.000
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets 5. 110 m² flat, 3 terraces, 4 rooms, chimney, lift, garage, panoramic view of the lake CHF 850.000 6. Studio, 1½ rooms, 52 m², balcony, nice view on the lake. CHF 250.000 7. Luxurious Flat, brand new, unique design, incl. modern furnishings, terrace, cellar, garage, panoramic view, ground floor, 60 m², terrace of additional 10 m², garden of additional 20 m² CHF 550.000 8. 3 room flat, 100 m², top floor, lift, panoramic view, kitchen, bathroom, balcony, cellar. The flat is completely renovated. CHF 450.000 9. 4 room flat, 140 m², in the center of Campione, 2 bathrooms, garage for 2 cars, cellar, balcony of the whole length of the flat, wonderful panoramic view. CHF 980.000 10. 3 room flat, 80 m², bath, kitchen, 2 balconies, garage, wonderful panoramic view of the lake, very peaceful location. CHF 510.000 11. Luxurious penthouse, new construction, 340 m², 2 floors, 3 balconies, 42 m² terrace, directly on the lake with 2 boat moorings, garage and cellar. Central location, with view on the bay of Lugano. CHF 2.580.000 As you can see it’s not that cheap, but you do get what you pay for. Coming from Sydney, those prices don’t seem all that bad. About what you would expect to pay in a reasonable suburb of Sydney. Residency is not a problem. To obtain Campione residency all you have to do is apply to the Police at nearby Como for a long duration residence permit which is called a Visto di Lunga Durata. It is normally granted for one year but it is possible to get one for three. It is renewable each year by returning to the police or an Italian Consul anywhere. You will need a passport and other identification and proof that you can support yourself. Once you have the permit you can apply for the Residenza. Once you have this, which is almost automatic, you can then obtain a drivers license. For this you have to travel to the Bureau of
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Underground Knowledge Motor Vehicles in Lugano, Switzerland where you will also pick up your Swiss License plates. With residence, comes free health care as well. It is best to travel there first and have a look around before deciding to possibly move there. Seeing is believing as they say. I recommend you speak to quite a few real estate agents and have a look at a few properties and don’t worry, English is the second language in Campione after Italian. Check out the facilities, schools if you have children, go across to Lugano and down to Como before making any decisions. Also, while the Swiss are renowned for their xenophobic attitudes towards foreigners, this is not true in this area at all. The local Swiss are very friendly so making friends will be easy, especially seeing the place will definitely have a few Aussies in residence.
Andorra Are you up on your geography? Well, if you are, you will know that Andorra lies in the mountains between Spain and France and the place is a mixture of both. While it is only 2 hours to warm Barcelona to the south, Andorra is for nearly half the year, a great place to ski and even in the hottest summers the temperatures can be quite cool due to its altitude and position in the mountains. The whole place looks like it is straight out of a fairy tale. The population of this tiny autonomous principality is around 40,000. It is mainly made up of people with Spanish background, but there are significant French and English speaking communities. What attracts these people (there are only 12,000 native born people) is that apart from the fact that it is a great place to live, is that they have no taxes….none at all. Residents do pay rates for the local government services provided however. Residing in an Andorra is easy, You go there, buy or rent a property and stay, that’s it. You will be regarded as a tourist, but that’s ok. All you have to do is refrain from any commercial activity with Andorra and provide your own income. If you would like to make it official, it’s a little more difficult. Passive residence means you can live there but again you must refrain from working (other than your offshore investing or business activities, Australia would be regarded as offshore) and you must demonstrate that you are financially independent. You
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets must also spend at least 6 months of the year in residence and keep proof that you do. As they only issue 200 per year you should apply in January to ensure you get one. They last 4 years. They expect to see an income of at least A$50,000 per annum for a family. This could be interest, dividends, capital injections or business income. You will need to show proof of private health insurance, use an Andorran insurance broker as this carries more weight. In addition you will need the lease or title deed to the property you intend to live in. Also, supply personal references to the effect that you have no criminal record and are of good character, a solicitor would be ideal to give you this if possible. The last thing you must do is deposit US$24,000 in a no interest deposit with the Andorran Government. Applications and enquiries should be directed to: Office of Immigration Andorra la Vella Andorra Ph: 0011 376 826222 After 20 years of residency, you will be automatically promoted to privileged resident. It means you can operate a business and do everything but vote. After 25 years you become a citizen with passport etc. If you were serious about being a PT (perpetual traveller) this wouldn’t be a bad place to spend the warm half of the year, I could think of worse places! Andorra is a very liberal place when it comes to banking. Whatever it is you want done, Andorran Banks can help, they are totally committed to service. Of course you still must identify yourself properly, but once the formalities are out of the road, anything is possible. They have no government reporting responsibilities. They can invest your funds in any currency, gold, bonds, whatever. They will even accept mail for you as they have their own private boxes available to clients. Servissm, below can help with banking as well as residency etc. If you would like assistance with moving there, visiting, etc, contact: Servissm Roc Escolla 3, 1A+B, Avinguda Meritexell 20 Andorra la Vella, Principat d’Andorra Ph: 0011 376 860414 Fax: 0015 376 863797
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Underground Knowledge Alderney – The Channel Islands It is the least known of all the Channel Islands, maybe other than Sark, and it is only 13 kilometres off the cost of France. While officially regarded as part of the UK, it takes little notice of London. It is pretty much autonomous in all things other than defence and foreign matters. If you are looking for a place in the world where you will be hard up finding a bureaucrat, this is it. There are only 13 politicians on the whole island. If you reside on the island for one year you can vote for them, after three years you can become one of them (if you are so inclined?). In recent years it has followed Jersey and Guernsey into the offshore financial services industry and become a fully fledged low tax haven. All the main British banks are there now, except Barclays. To live there, it’s a bit like Andorra, you just turn up and don’t leave. If you are entitled to enter the UK, as all Australians and New Zealanders are, you can live on Alderney. You can rent or buy a house without restriction, do whatever you like. You can even apply for a work permit. If you want to find out about housing, which isn’t really that cheap, contact: Alderney Estate Agency Martyn House, Victoria St, Saint Anne, Alderney Ph: 0011 44 1481 823110 At the moment 25,000 people live on the island. They all pay 20% tax for both companies and individuals. No other taxes apply. The 20% is imposed on your worldwide income if your claim the Channel Islands (or as they call it the Bailiwick of Guernsey) as you principle place of residence. If you only spend a little time there and actually reside elsewhere, you only pay tax on what was earned inside the Bailiwick. If you live there, principally, for five years you will be granted a Channel Islands Passport. There are regular flights to the island from the UK and France, but most people either jump on a ferry to Torquay or Guernsey and fly out from there. Communications and services are excellent, but be warned
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets this isn’t the place for a cosmopolitan lifestyle, you have to jump on a ferry for that, Alderney is quiet and slow, you should live for a long time. If you would like to know more, contact: Alderney Tourist Office Ph: 0011 44 1481 823 737 Fax: 0011 44 1481 822 436
Austria Did you know you could move to Austria and live tax free? You could enjoy a privileged lifestyle the Austrians don’t even enjoy. This has been kept very quiet over the years and is regarded as one of the professional PT’s most valuable pieces of information. You need to apply for a Zuzugsbeguenstigung from the Ministry of Finance. To qualify for this you must: ♦ Not have resided in Austria in the last 10 years ♦ Not engage in any commercial activity within Austria ♦ Have sufficient capital to ensure you are financially independent ♦ Spend at least A$100,000 pa on goods, services and housing within Austria each year. ♦ Intend to live in Austria for at least 183 days per year. If you qualify on all counts, you can live tax free forever and enjoy culture, coffee shops and clean streets. If you are interested, contact: Ministry of Finance Himinelpforstgasse 8, 1010 Vienna Austria Ph: 0011 43 1 514330 It may also be of value to use an Austrian lawyer to deal with the Government as they do try to change the rules from time to time and having your own counsel represent you will ensure you obtain the best possible agreement.
Bermuda Bermuda is a group of seven main islands that are connected by a series of bridges. There are numerous other islands and coral cays, but
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Underground Knowledge these are only accessible by boat. It’s situated about 1,000 kilometres off the coast of North Carolina, USA. There are daily flights from New York and London, so getting there is never a problem. It is a self governing British Colony. The British only have a say in the affairs of Bermuda when it comes to defence and foreign affairs. They don’t even take taxes from the place, which I suppose is one of the reasons so may people want to live there. Tennis star, Pat Cash lives there as do many other celebrities. The average temperature is 72 degrees with very mild winters and not overly hot summers (the hottest day recorded in the last 40 years was 91 degrees). It is well north of the Caribbean, so the weather is far more agreeable. The place also looks spectacular. The whole place is spotless and it looks very up-market, wherever you are. Mark Twain once said in relation to Bermuda, “You go to Heaven if you want – I’ll stay right here”. I think that say it all. There are no taxes as such. No income tax, no corporate taxes, no inheritance tax, However, there are some duties and payroll taxes, but these are minimal. Obviously, this is why celebrities and wealthy investors enjoy the quiet lifestyle in Bermuda. On the lifestyle front, the place is full of distractions, restaurants, outdoor activities (yachting, golf, scuba diving, boating, skiing, swimming, cricket etc) as well as the usual night clubs, balls etc. Residency and immigration are not easy, but not impossible. The trick is, don’t go there looking for a job, they won’t let you have one unless you become a Bermudian. This can only be achieved by being born there or marrying a local. However, you can reside there for as long as you like on two conditions. The first is that you can afford to. The second is that you must apply to reside before you arrive. You should write to: Department of Immigration Chief Immigration Officer Ministry of Home Affairs PO Box HM 1364 Hamilton 5 HMFX Bermuda Ph: 0011 1 441 295 5151
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets A permit will cost B$100 pa (The Bermudian dollar is pegged to the US$) As I mentioned earlier, you must prove to the authorities that you can afford to live there. The first major issue is accommodation. Plenty of long term rental properties are available. An average house will cost about B$500 per week. A luxury home with pool, maid service etc will be over B$1,500 per week. Purchasing a home is a little more difficult. NonBermudians are not permitted to own the cheaper properties on the islands. These are reserved for locals. Foreigners can only purchase homes over B$1,000,000 or condominiums / apartments over B$300,000. Even then you will be also asked to pay a 15% duty on the purchase. They even have certain developments that are tagged “foreign ownership permitted”. They are usually the more expensive, luxury accommodations. If you would like more information on real-estate in Bermuda, contact: Secretary of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce Real Estate Division Visitor Service Bureau PO Box HM 655 Hamilton, HMCX Bermuda Ph: 0011 1 441 295 4201 Allan Cooper Real Estate PO Box HM 1963 Hamilton HM HX Bermuda Ph: 0011 1 441 292 7533 Sinclair Realty 2 Reid St, Penthouse Hamilton HMLL Bermuda Ph: 0011 1 441 296 0278 Fax: 0015 1 441 292 5932 The schools, colleges and universities are excellent. Communications are world class (so trading and investing on-line is no problem at all). Medical facilities are first class with most of the doctors and staff being US or British. The cost of living isn’t that much different than it is here. The average wage is around $10 per hour, so food and utilities aren’t over the top. Water is a bit of a problem as the rainfall is low, so the locals are passionate about conserving it.
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Underground Knowledge The main bank on Bermuda is the Bank of Bermuda. They are the biggest local bank. They can also assist with real estate as well as the usual bank stuff. Contact them on: Ph: 0011 1 441 295 4000 If you would like to speak to a law firm before doing anything real estate or residency wise, I can recommend: Richards, Francis and Francis Ph: 0011 441 295 0790 Fax: 0015 1 441 292 1394 On the Internet, you can get quite a bit of information from www.corpnet.bm One last thing about Bermuda, you do need to be self sufficient to live there. This means you should be either living off investments or have an income source, not local, coming in from somewhere else. If you were going to rent there and enjoy a good standard of living, I would imagine a monthly income in the order of A$12,000 would be required. If you buy a Condo, an income of A$7,000 would be sufficient. Before or after tax….same thing!☺
Belize Well, after being financially assaulted with Bermuda, I thought I would introduce you to another very special place. A place where you live in a tropical paradise without needing a great deal of money. Belize, was once called British Honduras and it has been described by people as paradise on earth. It is not a rich country, with poverty in most quarters, it also has the advantage of being one country in Central America that has no dictators, no soldiers on the streets, very little crime, happy people, trustworthy government officials and police (I’m serious) and life is slow, very slow. The locals are a mix of Spanish, Mayan, Creole and British decent. English is the official language. There are growing numbers of
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Americans, British, Canadians and Australians having a “change of life style” and moving to Belize for a simple and more peaceful life. Many of these people are writers, artists, burnt out executives and the quickest growing group, savvy international investors who are moving to Belize to live out a quiet life while still making their money investing on-line in New York, London or even Sydney. The population is around 200,000 with over a third living in Belize City, the only real city in the country. It looks a little “third worldish” but there are nice areas where the expatriates and the business community live. The North Shore is where you will find some fabulous old colonial homes with great views of the city. Outside of the larger towns and Belize City, the country becomes a little uncivilized, not dangerous, just uncivilized. Indoor plumbing, electricity, water, conveniences etc disappear. While in Belize City all these things are available, they aren’t in the country. However, there is one place where luxury and first world conveniences can be enjoyed, Ambergis Cay. It is an island which is 30 miles long and up to 3 miles wide. San Pedro is the island’s main town. Residents get around the town in golf carts which makes the whole place feel like a resort. This where you will find more expatriates than locals and provides the luxuries these people require. There are several house and condominium developments with prices starting at US$100,000 for a one bedroom condo. Houses start at US$160,000. A block of land on Ambergis Cay will cost around US$35,000 for 600 sq metres on the beach, yes, actual beach front! Most developments include pools, bars, restaurants and shops. There are no restrictions on foreign ownership. If you would like to know more about property in Belize, contact: W. Ford Young Real Estate Ltd PO Box 354, 160 N. Front St Belize City, Belize Ph: 0011 501 1 72065 Fax: 0015 501 2 31023 Becoming a resident of Belize is a rather simple matter. If you stay in the country for a year you are granted permanent residency. All you have to do is have your tourist visa renewed every 90 days until your year is up. You also must deposit at least US$1200 into a Belizean bank to qualify. After 5 years residency you can become a citizen.
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Underground Knowledge While Belize is politically and socially very stable, be careful about placing too much foreign capital there. Foreign currency accounts can be blocked so that the funds may not be sent out of the country and you also need permission to hold foreign currencies in the first place. As time goes on, Belize is being regarded as a more stable offshore financial centre and is attracting more and more offshore investors for mainly Belizean trusts. These trusts are very popular with Americans but not as suitable for Australians, but that is the subject of another book. The cost of living, while cheap, is not as cheap as some people think it would be. Electricity is very expensive as is petrol. Processed or imported food is also a little expensive, particularly in the expatriate areas like Ambergis Cay. Fresh food is dirt cheap as is labour. Restaurant prices vary from normal Australian prices to very cheap. Seafood is very cheap. Medical facilities are very good although some of the hospitals are a bit ramshackle. Medical expenses are inexpensive. The doctors are mainly American trained. Communications are efficient, so investing online or operating an internet business is certainly an option. There are over 50 satellite TV channels available so TV nuts will be kept happy, they’re in English too, mainly from the US. Overall, Belize would appear to be a great place for those who wish to escape to a simpler, slower life with reduced costs. There are plenty of things to do if you are into outside activities and you are close enough to the US if you need to jump on a plane for a dose of sophistication and culture, however Belize is improving in that department in leaps and bounds.
Norfolk Island – Australia’s own Tax Haven Yes, it’s true…..Australia is in the tax haven industry….sort of. Norfolk Island isn’t really a fully fledged tax haven, but it is working at it. In recent discussions with the government, the Norfolk Islanders are planning to introduce offshore financial services. The government may have to bow to their wishes, due to the tough talking “nationalistic” islanders. However, in the mean time there are some advantages
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Australians can enjoy in Norfolk Island that are generally kept quiet, very quiet in fact. The locals live tax free, crime free and pollution free. They are a lot freer than us that’s for sure. Sure there are drawbacks, they only pick up two television stations, ABC and SBS. They have to pay more for fuel, food and imported goods, if you want anything substantial you have to travel two hours by plane to Sydney or Brisbane to get it and maybe life is a little quiet. However, all the disadvantages are well and truly put in their place by the advantages. How about this a list of advantages, if you live there will be, ♦ No income tax ♦ No company tax ♦ No alcohol or tobacco excises – Drinks are 30% cheaper than the mainland ♦ No sales taxes ♦ No violent crime ♦ No pollution ♦ No theft or vandalism ♦ No crowds ♦ No bureaucrats ♦ No politicians ♦ No street gangs ♦ No unemployment ♦ No traffic ♦ No foreign debt ♦ No council rates ♦ No snakes, ticks, poisonous spiders, flies ♦ Good communications and internet access ♦ An old fashioned country town feel to the place – A place where people still have a sense of community ♦ A prosperous local population of 2,200 ♦ 30 restaurants and 5 clubs ♦ Great beaches ♦ The cheapest hire cars in the world, from $14 per day ♦ Shows, theatre and club activities every night ♦ 70 tax free shops
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Underground Knowledge ♦ Stars at night, lots of them ♦ Fabulous weather – sub tropical year round If you think that all adds up to a pretty good place to live, then you should give Norfolk a visit. If you want to live there and buy a house you can do so for up to 4 months of the year no problems at all, just go there and do it. If you would like to live there for up to 6 months of the year you’ll need to obtain a Temporary Entry Permit. This permit can be extended for up to 3 years if you meet the criteria of having a work contract with a local employer. Now, with all this going for Norfolk Island you would think there would be queues to get in, but not at all. They have a slowly falling population, nearly 1% a year, so they could do with a few new people. It’s just that most Australians don’t know about how good this place is. Now, if after some time on the island you wish to stay forever and become an Australian tax exile, while remaining in Australia, you can. You must make a firm commitment to live on the Island and contribute to the island economically. This entails the purchase of a business and/or a home. If you are self employed or capable of being self sufficient from other income that’s ok too. If you would like to know more, take a holiday there or you can contact Island Realty and they can assist with business and housing opportunities: Island Realty PO Box 166 Norfolk Island South Pacific 2899 Ph: 0011 672 3 22601 Fax: 0015 672 3 23286 Email:
[email protected] Immigration enquiries can be directed to: The Immigration Officer New Military Barracks Kingston Norfolk Island South Pacific 2899
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets The island has all the facilities you would expect. Hospital, library, radio station, emergency services, regular flights back to the mainland, schools, 2 supermarkets, lots of clubs and restaurants, associations etc. All in all not unlike living in a really nice coastal country town in Australia about 30 years ago with a good dose of 1990’s sophistication.
Brazil Would you like to live in Europe? Well, there is a way, via Brazil. You must first become a resident of Brazil. Once a resident, become a Brazilian citizen, then apply for residency for Portugal and after 3 years…Bingo you’re a full citizen of Portugal and Europe. You are then free to live wherever you like in Europe. The first step is obtaining residency. This can be done in around 90 days by using a professional firm such as: Dr. Woody Stanley in Brazil Tel: 55-22-2667-1106. Fax: 55-22-2667-1801 Mobile: 55-21-9958-9770. There are a number of programs available. One is the investment residence program. It requires that you invest US$200,000 into Brazilian industry or commerce. The money can be used to establish a business that will either directly or indirectly employ Brazilians. Being Australian, which are favoured above many other nationalities, there may be other programs available that may not require the investment, but these other programs tend to run for short periods of time. However, what the Brazilian authorities do like to see is that you are financially independent and won’t be a burden on society. The cost for a family to be processed by a professional firm is around A$50,000. If you don’t use the professional firm it could take years to gain residency. Once you have been granted residency, the whole family must travel to Brazil to receive their papers, ID etc. Once this is done you are free to leave again. To maintain your residency, all you must do is enter the country once every two years to keep your residency current. The
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Underground Knowledge Brazilian authorities are most understanding about all this. After 4 years you will be eligible for citizenship. Once you have a Brazilian passport, you can travel to nearly 100 countries visa free including all of western Europe. You can also apply for residency of Portugal. Which is granted as a matter of course. Three years later you’re eligible to become a Portuguese citizen. This is all because Brazil is a former Portuguese colony. There are more Portuguese living in Brazil than there are in Portugal. So, the whole process takes 7 years. In addition, you can keep your Australian passport, your Brazilian one plus your EU (Portuguese) passport. You can travel anywhere in the world visa free, totally free of bureaucracy and you can live almost anywhere you like. What a life! This is would be the Perpetual Traveler’s ultimate plan. It achieves everything you could want. There is one snag though, you need to have a rudimentary understanding of the Portuguese language before you will be granted Brazilian citizenship, but you do have 4 years to learn. For more information: Brazilian Embassy 19 Forster Cres. Yarralumla ACT 2600 Canberra Ph: 02 6273 4837 Fax: 02 6273 4837 Having said all that, Brazil isn’t a bad place to live. It has everything you could want. It is democratic, has good weather, great lifestyle, English is widely understood and spoken. It has huge numbers of expatriates, a large wealthy middle class which is demonstrated by the fact that 78% of Brazilians own their own home, 90% of cars are fully owned, and literacy rates are very high. The government is the most stable in South America and they are very environment conscious.
Ireland Over 40% of all Australians have some degree of direct Irish ancestry and this makes Ireland quite often one of the must see places in many Australians lives. Many of us that make it over there, often think to ourselves how nice it would be to live there. And with good reason. The place is easy on the eye, the people are friendly, their humour is very
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets similar to our own and there are many cultural similarities which allows the typical laconic Australian to fit in quite nicely. If there is a downside, it's Winter. Like Britain, it’s wet and freezing cold. A miserable situation for your typical Australian, so keep this in mind while you’re admiring the place during late Spring or Summer. If you decided to reside there, you may want to leave during the Winter, or just stay indoors like the Irish do, for instance in a pub. Residing in Ireland is not a major problem either. You can visit Ireland for up to 3 months without a visa. To stay longer all you do is go the local police station and prove to them that you have the financial resources to stay, and they’ll let you. This procedure will allow you to stay for another year, after that you must go back to the police station each year, each time proving that you have the financial means to stay without drawing on the local economy. After five years, you can stay permanently. As a permanent resident, you can vote in local, but not national elections. To claim citizenship is a little more difficult. If you, or parents or grandparents or any one of them were born in Ireland, you are automatically entitled to Irish citizenship. All you have to do is obtain a copy of the relevant Irish birth certificate and present that with your own details and application, and your citizenship should be approved complete with an Irish (EU) passport. Otherwise you have to look at programs such as the economic and investment immigration programs, or just be content with being a resident. If you would like to know more, contact the Irish Embassy or your local Irish consulate. Embassy of Ireland 20 Arkana St Yarralumla Canberra ACT 2600 Ph: 02 6273 3022 Fax: 02 6273 3741 The cost of living is comparable with Australia, although Dublin can be a little more expensive and the countryside a whole lot cheaper. Fuel and electricity are expensive as they are in Britain. However, water bills are only levied on more expensive homes. For everybody else water is free. As a resident of Ireland you are entitled to free medical and hospital care although health insurance may be a good idea.
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Underground Knowledge Taxes are imposed based on your residency, not citizenship. Like Australia, your world wide income is taxed and there is a Capital Acquisitions tax or inheritance tax so be careful. Also, they have VAT on most purchases, but soon will we with the “dreaded” GST. When you take all things in to account, the taxes will be roughly the same as Australia. Before you race off to Ireland it might be a good idea to rent a place for a while at least six months to just see if you can fit in, but you shouldn’t have too many problems. As I said before, Dublin was the most expensive place in Ireland so you can expect to pay up to A$750 per week for a nice home close to the city. For more details, contact: Trident Holiday Homes Unit 2, Sandymount Village Centre Sandymount Dublin 4 Ph: 0011 353 1 676 5871 Fax: 0015 353 1 660 6465 While homes in Dublin start at around A$100,000 and average about A$300,000 there are some bargains out in the country. For example, you can find a renovated cottage with 3 bedrooms in the Wicklow Mountains in County Kildare for well under A$150,000. What about a new home? You can purchase one of those for in Naas in County Kildare for A$100,000 from Colm McEvoy Auctioneers, ph: 0011 353 045 897 711. If you really want a cheap home in beautiful countryside, try Leitrim and Roscommon, there you will find cottages for around A$30,000 and some in need of renovation for as little as A$10,000! Why so cheap? People are moving away to the larger towns and cities for work. The old village life is coming to an end as the economic rationalists do their work. Call Vincent Egan on 0011 353 79 62464 for more on Roscommon properties. If you are looking for something a little more stately, for A$900,000 you could buy Newtown Hill, an 18th century Palladian mansion set on several acres of gardens and forest, 12 miles from central Dublin. It has 6 bedrooms and formal reception rooms, fully renovated. Or, Powerstown House with 10 bedrooms, two workers cottages, stables for 16 horses, 10 acres of gardens in County Meath, all for A$1,000,000! If you are looking for a real estate bargain in Dublin, checkout these suburbs: Liberties Quarter, Rathgar Village, Ringsend and
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Phibsborough. They are all very close to the city and offer many unrenovated cottages with prices starting at around A$40,000. For around $100,000 all the work will have been done. These homes aren’t big, but they make up for it with history and character.
France Retire to the south of France…….Yeah right! Like I can afford that! Ahh, but you can you see. Read on…… While actually living on the Mediterranean coast or the Cote d’Azur might be horrendously expensive, like Paris, there are opportunities elsewhere in France that will surprise you. In the French Pyrenees you can find a very nice 4 bedroom home for around A$200,000 with great views and plenty of land or you can buy an old cottage in need of work (maybe a fair bit) for around $25,000. However, southwest France is where you’ll find the best bargains and the most British, Australian and American expatriates. For instance here are a few bargains I have picked out of a recent magazine that should catch your attention: 1. Fully restored stone house with 4 bedrooms overlooking the Village of St Alvere in the Dordogne. Fireplaces throughout, loft suitable for study or studio and two full bathrooms A$165,000. 2. Four bedroom farmhouse and stone barn near the village of Cadouin on four acres A$180,000 3. House of Gironde stone home with southern exposure and 3,100 sq metres of orchard close to Saint Seurin. It has a living room, two large bedrooms, bathroom and eat in country kitchen A$75,000 Convinced? This is only a few, I could list hundreds of properties like these. Have you ever seen the TV series A Year in Provence, with John Thaw? This may be worth a look. It will give you some idea what life and these houses, such as the ones I’ve listed, are like. Get it out on video or you can buy the videos from ABC Shops. For more information on properties in France, contact: De Particulier a Particulier 40 rue du Docteur Roux 75015 Paris Ph: 0011 33 1 40 56 35 35
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Underground Knowledge This company publishes a book which lists properties as well as how to go about property purchase in France. Les Annonces Immobilieres Ph: 0011 33 1 48 20 10 20 Fax: 0015 33 1 48 20 45 30 This company produces a similar guide. If you would like to live in Provence as many people dream of, there are opportunities there to: 1. A view of Cannes and the sea all for only A$80,000! One bedroom apartment which includes parking and use of the pool, tennis court and terrace. 2. A little more expensive – Four bedroom luxury villas with everything! Cape Antibes – modern home with swimming pool, sweeping views over the Cote d’Azur A$1,100,000 – Not bad all things considered, you’d pay more in Mosman, a lot more. 3. A water mill, fully restored converted to a very unusual home, A$95,000 So, as you can see living in France is not expensive from the purchase of a home point of view. The general cost of living can be a little more expensive in the cities when compared to Australia, but a lot cheaper when you are living in a village. It’s probably best to tour around for a couple of months checking out the different regions and prices. After that you should rent a place and take the area for a “test drive” before buying. If you are planning to retire to France, you will have to gain residency. So, to stay for longer than six months you will need a carte de sejour. They usually last 3 years. You will need proof of income, which will show that you are financially independent or that you have been offered a job in France by a French company. If you have a criminal record, forget it. Contact the French Embassy in Canberra for details. French Embassy 6 Perth Ave Yarralumla Canberra ACT 2600 As far as medical facilities are concerned, they are excellent and you will have no trouble finding English speaking doctors. Although it is a
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets good idea to speak as much French as you can, and if you can’t speak French, learn. It’s the one thing that gets up their “collective noses”. You know what it’s like in Australia when people don’t speak English. Another myth is that the French are arrogant, this is a myth perpetrated by the British. The French think the British are ignorant and uncultured…so they’re even! But as far as Australians go, they love us and I have only ever struck one arrogant and really rude person in France and she wasn’t even native French. Maybe, they appear arrogant to those insensitive people that don’t try to speak the language…they really appreciate your attempt, regardless of how pathetic it is, it shows respect. When it comes to taxes, the top rates are slightly higher than Australia with marginal rates as high as 60%. However, on say an income on A$100,000 the tax is almost exactly the same. The French authorities will take about A$32,000 off you which isn’t too bad really. If you spend more than 183 days per year in France you will be regarded as a resident and be expected to pay tax on all your income. There are no bank privacy laws either, every account opened is reported to the government. I would suggest you do your major banking offshore and if possible, avoid spending more than 6 months per year in France to avoid their horrendous tax situation. Mind you the French do appear to get value for money for their taxes paid.
Jebel Ali Totally Tax Free Zone Jebel Ali is within Dubai, which is itself within the United Arab Emirates. The Jebel Ali Free Zone is little known to most people other than major corporations who have established businesses there since the Free Zone was created in 1986. Currently some of the biggest companies in the world enjoy tax free benefits by doing business there. For example, BP, Casio, Heinz, Colgate Palmolive, Grundig, Hyundai, Black and Decker, Nissan, Nokia, Sony, Unilever plus many more household names do business there. It is regarded as a perfect hub for a potential market of 1.6 billion people. Dubai realised the oil won’t last forever, and when it runs out there will be little reason to do any business in the region, Jebel Ali has
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Underground Knowledge changed all that. The Free Zone has state of the art port facilities, communications, airports and roads. The Dubai government has done everything possible including spending hundreds of millions of dollars. By providing these facilities they have attracted hundreds of companies to their region and therefore, bringing wealth and jobs that will last well after the last drop of oil is extracted from the ground. A very forward thinking government indeed. If you are interested in doing business there you will receive: ♦ No taxation, either personal or corporate for up to 30 years. ♦ No requirement for local joint ventures ♦ No restrictions on staff recruitment ♦ No import or export duties within the zone ♦ No restrictions on currency or funds movement in or out ♦ Government assistance and co-operation Not bad is it? Residing there is also quite good. They make allowances for everyone’s lifestyle, you can have a normal family life there free of interference. The population is very welcoming and educated, most of them are wealthy too. They have modern English speaking schools, hospitals, recreation facilities, golf courses, restaurants all established to encourage ex-pats to come and stay because they want to. Everything is laid on for you. Imagine if we could achieve this is Australia? If you would like to know more, contact: Government of Dubai Dubai Commerce and Tourism Board PO Box 594, Dubai UAE Ph: 0011 971 4 511600 Fax: 0015 971 4 511711 www.dubai.com Email to Jebel Ali Free Zone:
[email protected]
Uruguay Want to live in a civilised country with a very low cost of living and no income tax? Uruguay could be the place for you. Situated between Brazil and Argentina, this politically and socially stable country has some
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets fabulous advantages. The country has no income tax, no inheritance tax and property taxes are very low (less than A$1,000pa). The country has no currency restrictions so you can move as much money around as you like. The only tax worth worrying about is car tax. Which may cost you around A$1500 per year on an average new car. There are quite a few American retirees living in the country and as word gets out about how good this place is, there will be even more. While a lot of people choose to live in the capital Montevideo, one place you must consider is Punta del Este. This large resort town is situated about half an hour from the capital on the coast. The place looks very much like Newport Rhode Island and exudes wealth and luxury. It is full of old Victorian mansions, spectacular high rise apartments, golf clubs, yacht clubs and restaurants. It’s the preferred place of residence of many of Uruguay’s rich. Being on the coast, it has very mild summers and winters. Real estate in Punta del Este is also surprisingly affordable. For example, a 20 sq. 4 bedroom home five minutes walk from the beach and restaurants will cost you A$120,000. A 2 bedroom apartment with sweeping ocean views will set you back only A$80,000. Try buying that on the Gold Coast! If you want to spend a little more, for A$300,000 you can have a four bedroom home in a quiet up market neighbourhood with two full bathrooms, large modern kitchen, fireplaces, large formal and casual entertaining areas, servants quarters, triple garage, large block of land with views. Older style flats and apartments can be bought close to the beach for as little as A$50,000. And this is the most expensive place in Uruguay to live. Another popular place to live is Colonia del Sacramento. This old and quiet town is on the River Plate about half way between Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Both are about an hour away. Foreigners are buying up the old Victorian houses and mansions and restoring them to their former glory. For example, a 300 year old unrestored large house will cost around A$60,000, fully restored about A$130,000. Smaller homes are available for about half these prices. Just outside of Colonia, there are new developments where you can buy a block of land of 600sq metres for about A$10,000 with underground electricity, telephone and water connected. A large 4 bedroom, 2 storey home with everything can be built on it for under A$50,000. Further out in the country side, you can buy 20 acre farms, with a stone house for A$20,000. There are no controls on foreigners buying real estate, they almost welcome it. It’s a
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Underground Knowledge good idea to rent there for at least six months before deciding to buy. Rental of a good condo in Montevideo will cost you around A$200 per week fully furnished. Now, you may be thinking, that it all sounds very nice but what’s Uruguay like? Well, it’s a democratic prosperous country with a strong legal system, first rate medical facilities with reliable government services including good public transport. The population is well educated and cultured. Crime is low almost everywhere. However, they are still suffering high inflation, but this only effects the local currency, if your income is in another currency it makes no difference to you because as inflation rises, so does the value of foreign currency. The cost of living as I said earlier is very inexpensive. For example, an average family wouldn’t spend more than about A$30 per week on groceries. A litre of milk is A$0.50, a loaf of bread A$0.40, one kilo of beef A$2.00. A good restaurant meal will cost A$20 for two. 1975 prices on 1999 income! As you can see, you can live very cheaply and remember….no tax! On the health care front, the hospitals are very good, but if you are particular you can choose to use the British Hospital in Montevideo. This hospital is staffed by English speaking and ex-pat staff and is popular with foreigners. In fact Uruguayan doctors are the most sought after and highest qualified in South America. For A$500 per year you are entitled to full services and treatment for your whole family. Montevideo is a very cultured and modern city that doesn’t look a lot different to Australian or American cities. The city is full of libraries, theatres, restaurants, clubs and museums. If you want a bigger city, Buenos Aires in Argentina is a good weekend destination by car. A lot of the old architecture in Montevideo is a mixture of Victorian and French. Most of the population are of Spanish, Italian and Anglo backgrounds which makes Uruguay very European in its feel. It’s a good idea to be able to speak Spanish although English is widely understood in the bigger towns and cities and where most foreigners tend to live such as Punta del Este. The Uruguayan government welcomes foreigners. All they require is a valid passport and you can stay indefinitely as a tourist. If you decide
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets to become a resident, you can’t have a criminal record, you should have good health and evidence you can support yourself and your family. They expect to see an income of at least A$2,000 per month, maybe a little less if you purchase a home. If you can do all this, then you can stay as long as you like. As a resident you will be able to travel freely to Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Paraguay. After a few years of permanent residency you can apply for citizenship. You should apply for full citizenship too, don’t be encouraged to undertake one of the “investment citizenships” which require you to invest A$100,000 in a Government approved investment (which can be done immediately you move there). The reason you should get the full citizenship is because you can, after two years of residency in Spain, apply for a full Spanish passport which as you know is an EU passport which will allows you to live anywhere in the EU you choose. The investment citizenship won’t allow this. Contact the Uruguayan Embassy for details or contact: Uruguayan Consulate Level 24, 50 Margaret St Sydney, 2000 NSW Ph: 02 92515544 Fax: 02 92515455
Hungary The last of our Special Destinations, Hungary is one that most people wouldn’t expect, but as you will see it does have some very agreeable features. Apart from Budapest being one of the most picturesque cities in Europe, real estate prices are very low. There is a reason for this, the locals can’t borrow money for housing, they have to pay cash. Their system does not allow for mortgages to be registered, therefore banks don’t lend for housing. This has had the effect of keeping prices extremely low. Here are a few examples of what I mean: 1. Family home, 2 storey in good area of Budapest, 4 bedrooms and 240sqm on a block of 712sqm. Fabulous gardens A$120,000 2. Family home, 3 bedrooms, 2 storey 200sqm close to the city on a 540sqm block of land A$65,000 3. Apartment, 2 bedroom close to the city in the entertainment district, 60sqm A$25,000.
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Underground Knowledge Also, keep in mind that Hungary will join the European union in 2002, and these prices will possibly double I’m told. At the moment the average rate of return on rent in Budapest property is 10% which is very good. For the smart investor, you buy say 10 apartments with say A$300,000, live in one and rent out the rest and live on an income of A$27,000 per year and wait for the prices to go up in 2002 which will also coincide with banks allowing loans on property. Prices will probably fall into line with the rest of Europe, which is a rise of between 50% and 100%. The best way to acquire these properties is by buying them through a Hungarian Kft (limited company) with you as the foreign shareholder. This will allow you many tax breaks as well as making the purchases smoother and easier to have approved by the council. Make sure you buy two bedroom apartments too, they are at their cheapest now because Hungarians have trouble saving the last A$5-10k to buy the two bedroom over the one bedroom apartment, but when the loan situation improves, most families will look to upgrade to a larger apartment and guess what you will own? Out in the country you can even buy 500 to 1,000 year old castles at bargain prices. I noted one small castle 100kms from Budapest for A$165,000 in need of a little work on 20 acres of forest with one of those magnificent tree lined driveways up to the circular rose garden. It had 8 bedrooms and 4 reception rooms, stables and garages and a workers cottage. Even if you spent A$50,000 tidying it up, how much would this kind of “house” cost elsewhere in Europe? If you would like to know more about the property situation in Hungary, contact: Buda-Haz Interproperty BT 63 Carlton Hil London NWS OEN UK Ph: 0011 44 171 624 0869 Fax: 0015 44 171 372 2397 Piramis Real Estate 1025 Verecke ut 8 Budapest Hungary Ph: 0011 36 1 33 55 965 Fax: 0015 36 1 33 55 962 Hungary is a fabulous looking country with medieval villages, castles and baroque towns in the north. Hungary is also very
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets sophisticated with many museums, operas and theatre, especially Budapest despite being under communist control for so many years. These days it is a stable democratic country that is breaking its neck to join the EU and become as westernised as quickly as possible. English is understood widely and the Hungarians are very keen to practice their English on you. There is a growing number of Americans and Brits moving there for a better and less expensive life. Life is also a lot quieter and slower, which would please most people these days. If you want a bit more excitement, jump in the car, Vienna is two hours drive away. If you would like to live in Hungary for all or part of the year, all you have to do is apply for Residence Permit from the embassy or consulate. Hungarian Consulate Suite 405, Edgecliff Centre 203 New South head Rd, Edgecliff NSW Ph: 02 9328 7860 To gain residency, you will need to show your birth certificate, passport, health certificate from a doctor, where you intend to stay and some form of income support. But before all this, you must have a temporary visa to visit Hungary. If all this is in order they will issue a Long Term Visa which will allow you to stay. It may need to be renewed yearly but this can be done at any Hungarian Police Station. After 3 years of temporary status you will be eligible for permanent residency. Failing that, you can simply apply for a Tobszori or multi-entry visa which will allow you to stay for a year in which time it can be renewed. You do however have to leave the county or report to the police station every 30 days. Cost of living is cheap, very cheap. You will pay only 25% of what you would pay elsewhere in Europe to live. A good restaurant meal will cost A$15. More good news, they have number bank accounts in Hungary and have very good bank secrecy. Secret bank accounts are common place, probably as a knee jerk reaction to nearly 50 years of sinister Soviet control. You do have to be in Hungary to open one though. The best banks are Budapest Bank and Magyar Hitel Bank. Hungary has come a long way since they removed the communists. It’s almost a country reborn in freedom and with a lust for capitalism. No xenophobes here, they welcome foreigners and their
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Underground Knowledge money. You can own anything you like, you start a business without Hungarian interests or government interference.
Tax Havens Under Fire? There is an ugly idea being bandied about by European politicians at present…. tax harmonisation. What they mean is, they don't like the advantages that some countries (in the EU) offer by way of competitive tax rates or exemptions. Germany's Minister for Europe, Guenther Verheugen said on the 1 January 1999 that tax havens such as the Channel Islands were among the ultimate targets of harmonised fiscal policy. Why? Because these reputable tax havens are obviously sucking money out of German tax coffers! If such a tax harmonisation policy were to be implemented, then the offshore island tax havens around Britain would have the most to lose. In fact, their whole economic base has been built on the offshore financial services they provide to an ever growing client base in Europe and the UK. In addition, the UK would also lose due to the fact that British companies make a fortune in those jurisdictions and this would obviously hurt their bottom lines. st
To counter this threat, the Isle of Man (one of the major tax havens in the region) is seriously considering complete independence from Britain, should the British government decide to support the EU tax harmonisation measures, which quite frankly is unlikely, the Brits aren’t altogether stupid. The money would simply go elsewhere. The Isle of Man became a British possession in 1765 when it was purchased for 70,000 pounds. It is now a British Crown dependency. The British government is responsible for defence and foreign affairs and the Isle of Man has the right to levy its own taxes. And certainly, if such measures were introduced, the Isle of Man would have a lot to gain by going it alone. I’m told they would drop Britain in a minute and under their constitution they can. Every country has its competitive advantages. Sometimes, it may be the minerals underground, a hard working population, or possibly the
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets enlightened administration, like the Isle of Man, and nobody is proposing that all countries should be leveled down, so as not to have any advantages. But that is exactly what such a proposal as tax harmonisation seeks to achieve, equally high taxes all round regardless of the disadvantages that would be imposed by such a policy. Let's hope the British government will resist German pressure, I think they will, they have already lost most of the “Empire”, it’s unlikely they will want to lose the rest.
Tax Haven Secrecy and Offshore Banking changes Since September 11, 2001 I have had quite a few people asking me what changes have been made to offshore banking since September 11 and I thought I should bring you up to date on the major change that has occurred. For some time now the OECD and the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) have been placing enormous pressure on jurisdictions and financial institutions to implement more controls on who banks with them, where the money comes from and whether governments around the world are getting their cut in the form of taxes or not. The major changes that have occurred have centred on the self regulated “know your customer” regulations that most banks have introduced. This entails proving the source of funds, absolute identification of the account holder and the signatories. This has disturbed many people and they think this information is immediately available to the whole world, but it’s not. It is information held by the banks and would only be requested by others in the case of criminal activity. The laws within these jurisdictions still allow a high degree of confidentiality. As you may well realise every offshore corporation or structure needs a bank account. The ability to open that account depends upon the bank's acceptance of the corporate documentation.
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Underground Knowledge Already major banks offshore are refusing to open accounts for corporations in jurisdictions of which they do not approve (so always check with your incorporation agent first as per The Invisible World). In most tax havens, they have enacted new legislation, to counter such things as drug trafficking and terrorist activity. In addition, “All Crimes” laws now exist in most jurisdictions and go beyond the previous anti-money laundering laws to encompass all forms of criminal activity. Suspicious transactions have to be reported to the authorities, including suspicion that a client may be breaking the law of his own country. Some laws, though, have been drafted to omit most tax offences which is not surprising. Tight controls are being introduced on the activities of incorporation agents as well, so that they maintain certain standards and that their activities are subject to scrutiny. The practical consequences of these laws are that regulation will increase and the questions asked will become more searching. Honest and serious clients will have no difficulty answering these questions or complying with regulatory requirements. If you’re a criminal, you will have a hard time of it!
A Cashless Society in the Future? From NEWSMAX - WASHINGTON Money won’t be around anymore in just a few years, according to trend watchers. And the same globalist taxers that are already trying to confiscate your hard-earned money can’t wait for the cashless era to begin. Leading the pack is the OECD in a recent report hailing the prospect. The argument is not that the welfare states should position themselves so as to be more competitive by also lowering their own tax rates. Rather it is the low-tax countries that are viewed as "unfair.” Thus, in the interest of seeing that everyone shares the misery, all countries must "harmonize” their tax policies; i.e., the low-tax countries should get with it and raise their taxes too.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets The widely expected onset of a "cashless society” raises concerns, not so much because of the idea itself, but because of some of those now promoting it. "The cashless society is coming,” says Riel Miller, an author of the OECD report. And the sooner the better, as far as he is concerned. That in turn, has raised suspicions on the part of people who otherwise welcome the idea. Eileen Ciesla, Warren Brookes Fellow in Journalism at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, sees some merit in a cashless society, given that we already do so many of our transactions without cash. "But I’m a little suspect of the OECD pushing this notion, given the fact that they’ve had a history of endorsing projects favoring the EU [European Union],” at the expense of the United States, she told NewsMax. For example, what if someone decides that a "cashless society” would lend itself to facilitating the OECD goal of getting at the wallets of those "undertaxed” Americans? The idea of a cashless society has been around for decades. Even back in the 1960s, as bank cards were beginning to come into vogue, it was clear the trend was already on the horizon. But the cashless society now envisioned goes beyond that. It would involve a digital system of currency where people can exchange credits and debits by computer "just as they would pass a $20 bill from one wallet to another,” explained an article June 20 in the Toronto Globe and Mail. The issue, then, is not whether a cashless society is coming, but how it will be administered and toward what ends. Some of its cheerleaders are in fact trusted by advocates of free enterprise. In his book "The End of Money,” Richard Rahn, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, notes positive potential for a society without coins or dollar bills or even writing checks. Under this system, according to a 1999 review of the book in the Wall Street Journal, "you choose which transactions you wish to be on record and which you wish to be anonymous.” "This world is not science fiction but the world that increasing numbers of people will come to enjoy over the next couple of decades,” the Journal stated. Indeed, prosperous Singapore is planning to rid its system of "oldfashioned money” by 2008. In his own comment on Rahn’s "The End of Money,” Empower America co-founder Jack Kemp says the author "persuasively argues how the coming digital money revolution will make lower tax rates and radical tax simplification inevitable.” If it works out
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Underground Knowledge that way, few would have any problems with a cashless society. One can hope that when it emerges, it will be just as Rahn and Kemp foresee it. What makes some observers wary is that others whose histories are suspect also see a cashless society working to their advantage. Miller, the co-author of the OECD report "The Future of Money,” looks forward to a digital system that will "make it easier for government to collect taxes,” according to the Globe and Mail. That raises red flags, given OECD’s obsession with boosting taxes to a level it deems "fair.” Already, as Ciesla of the Competitive Enterprise Institute pointed out to NewsMax, the globalist bureaucracy has pressured seven Caribbean nations into agreeing to change their financial privacy laws so that the international bureaucrats can rummage around in private accounts. Failure of sovereign nations to bend their privacy laws, the Paris bureaucrats had warned, would result in sanctions. The fact that OECD welcomes a plan whereby collecting taxes would be made easier and the fact that this same OECD favours the EU in its disputes with the United States are troubling for another reason: the "savings tax initiative.” This scheme is described by Dan Mitchell, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, as "a tax harmonisation proposal that would require American financial institutions to act as vassal tax collectors for Europe’s welfare states.” Again, the EU wants the U.S. and other relatively low-tax countries to get with it and adopt their high-tax program. The savings tax initiative, Ciesla told NewsMax, "sort of underlies some of the OECD’s projects. It’s sort of motivating the OECD with their own harmful tax harmonization initiative.” Which brings us back to the cashless society. A few questions: Would a world without money work in favour of international bureaucrats who want to "make it easier for government to collect taxes” to get their hands on your money? To what extent will legitimate economic, sovereignty and privacy concerns be satisfied? Will this system make it easier for someone to plunder your bank account?
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets These and other questions enter the mix in the discussion of "a world without money.” As in all things, "the devil is in the details.” Advocates of free enterprise and low taxes are convinced they need to get in on the ground floor of the debate. It all makes you wonder doesn’t it? If you would like to read more about a possible cashless society and the antics of politicians and bureaucrats and what they have in store for us, read For We are Young and Free…….. Or are we ? Available in the accompanying catalogue or on our website at www.tridentpress.com.au
"Those who steal from private individuals spend their lives in stocks and chains; those who steal from the public treasury go dressed in gold and purple." Marcus Porcius Cato - (Roman Statesman - 190 B.C.)
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Chapter 6 Strategies & Tricks of the Trade This chapter could end up being a book in its own right if I put to paper all the things you could do, in fact it has in some respects as I have written two other books on financial privacy and strategies to be financially free, but that’s another story. What I’ll try to do here is give you some worthwhile, practical ideas that can be used to enhance your freedom and privacy. One of the most common questions I get asked is how can I make my family home totally private and protected, ownership wise that is, that’s where we’ll start.
The Family Home One of the biggest problems people have when preserving their privacy or protecting their assets for that matter is the family home. Who’s name do you put it in? How do you protect it from litigants and others? How do you do it without breaking the law? Well here are 2 solutions that will work. ♦ This is the first and most simple solution and favoured by most doctors and solicitors. It doesn’t offer maximum privacy, but it does have some advantages over the ultimate privacy setup that I will get to in a minute. If you are married or in a long term relationship, the best way to ensure litigants and those that are pursuing you, can’t take your home away is to transfer it into your partner or spouses name. In that way anybody suing you will find the “cookie jar” empty, because your partner or spouse owns it all. This offers a degree of privacy, particularly if your partner is using a different surname to yourself. The property will be very hard to link to you. If you are
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets worried this is in effect giving your assets away, it is, on paper anyway. In the unfortunate event of a marriage breakdown, the courts are more interested in dividing the assets equitably between the partners rather than apportioning them on a “who owns what” basis. The rule of thumb is that you can take out of your relationship what you brought in but everything else is divided 50/50, regardless of who’s name appears on a piece of paper. This was done to protect wives from scurrilous husbands who ran off with their secretary and all the goodies, now it can work in your favour. So, once the assets are transferred, and you will need to pay stamp duty on the half transferred, you should then enact powers of attorney over each other so you can still act freely with the assets. The major point is they are no longer officially yours, therefore anybody having a go at you will find, as I said, the cookie jar empty. I should add that, if you are in business with your spouse, ensure only one of you remains as a director of the business, the one without the assets, because if you are sued, it normally emanates from your business. If this is the case, you may have to convert your company to a single director company, but any solicitor can do this for you cheaply. Also, this plan still allows you to enjoy the benefit of tax free status on your home when you sell it, the ultimate privacy plan below doesn’t. ♦ The second asset protection program is just as effective at protecting your home as the first with a couple of advantages and a couple of disadvantages. The disadvantages are you lose tax free status on your home, the second is that it’s costly to do. When you take into account all costs including stamp duty it might cost you $20,000. To some people, the advantages will be far more attractive. I should point out from the very start, this plan is best implemented when you purchase a home rather than transferring an existing home. The existing home, when transferred will leave a traceable trail and this is no good, so try to implement this plan before you buy. The first thing you must do is purchase an Offshore company or IBC. This company will be the holding company for the home. So, effectively your home will be owned by a foreign corporation. This is legal as long as your intention is not to defraud or evade tax, which of course you won’t be doing. Once you have established the company (my book The Invisible World can explain exactly how to do this), you should arrange for nominee directors and nominee shareholders to be appointed. As a foreign company is buying a piece of Australia, it will require Foreign Investment Review Board approval which is not a
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Underground Knowledge major problem and the real estate agent should be able to arrange all the necessary forms. You can say you are just acting as the local agent for the local company if the agent is interested. When the FIRB form is lodged and the house is purchased, it will be owned by the offshore corporation. The corporation will be owned by the nominee shareholders, who are foreigners, it will be run by the nominee directors, who are foreigners…..so the whole thing has nothing to do with you. Once the transaction is complete, you have the shares transferred into bearer form, and you hold all the shares, the offshore company is now yours and the directors remain in office as long as you don’t date the undated signed resignations which the directors signed before the whole thing was setup. You are in total control of the company and the house, but as far as anybody is concerned the shareholders on the FIRB forms are somebody else not you. A search on the company will reveal nothing…….all you do is rent the place. But, then nobody knows who you are do they?
Understand Tax Havens and How to use them ………Legally Many people launch into offshore investment using a tax haven based on the opinion of one person, and often that person has a vested interest in selling you a particular haven. Sure, they will come up with a convincing story and they are probably telling you the truth about the advantages of their particular “opportunity”, but how do you know? What have you got to compare it with? What is the right price? Is there a better place? All these questions go unanswered unless you understand the subject. Tax havens are one of the most important subjects for an international entrepreneur or investor, yet few people understand and use them properly. One group of people use them as hiding holes for dirty money, which is not a legitimate use for tax havens. Others think they are only for banking money after you have made it. Not true either. Money grows much faster if a tax haven is part of your business planning, and almost any international or investment business has an opportunity to use tax havens. It is the purely domestic business,
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets confined to one country, that cannot benefit from the international fiscal loopholes. Where tax havens do come into their own is in the area of investing. Tax havens can provide access to investments you would otherwise not be privy to because of a variety of laws and regulations restricting Australians from receiving information on these investments. By having an “offshore entity”, be it a trust or company, you can “lose your nationality” and become an acceptable international company or trust permitted to do business with companies that were previously not permitted to do business with you. A Tax Haven Defined Simply stated, a tax haven is any country whose laws, regulations, traditions, and, in some cases, treaty arrangements make it possible for one to reduce or defer his or her overall tax burden. This general definition, however, covers many types of tax havens, and it is important that you understand their differences. No-Tax Havens These are countries that have no income, capital gains, or wealth taxes, and in which you can incorporate and/or form a trust. The governments of these countries do earn some revenue from corporations; “no-tax” means that what you pay is independent of income derived through a company. These states may impose small fees on documents of incorporation; a small charge on the value of corporate shares, annual registration fees, etc. Primary examples are Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands. No-Tax-on-Foreign-Income Havens These countries do impose income taxes, both on individuals and corporations, but only on locally derived income. They exempt from tax any income earned from foreign sources that involve no local business activities apart from simple “housekeeping” matters. For example, in such a haven there is often no tax on income derived from export of local manufactured goods. The no-tax-on-foreign-income havens break down into two groups. There are those that allow a corporation to do business both internally and externally, taxing only the income coming from internal sources, and those that require a company to decide at the time of incorporation whether it will be allowed to do local business, with the consequent tax
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Underground Knowledge liabilities, or one permitted to do only foreign business and therefore be exempt from taxation. Primary examples in these two sub-categories are Panama, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man and Gibraltar. Low-Tax Havens These are countries that impose some taxes on all corporate income, wherever earned. However, most have double-taxation agreements with many of the high-tax countries that may reduce the withholding tax imposed on income derived from the high-tax countries by local corporations. Cyprus is a primary example. Special Tax Havens These are countries that impose all or most of the usual taxes, but either allow special concessions to special types of companies (such as a total exemption from tax on shipping companies, or movie production companies), or allow very special types of corporate organisation, such as the very flexible corporate arrangements offered by Liechtenstein. The Netherlands and Austria are particularly good examples of this. Choosing a Tax Haven There are many factors that need to be considered, political and social stability is the most important consideration of all. A country that is involved in a civil war, or that regularly changes governments “by the bullet”, or has a strong socialist political faction, is hardly to be trusted to keep investment assets secure. A political upheaval, or even a change in legislation, introducing taxes or other restrictions on corporations or trusts, may take away everything. So, what are the indicators of stability and instability? Clearly, there are no foolproof signs, but if you look at the country’s history, politics, economy, laws etc you have a better idea of whether this is the right jurisdiction for you. Let’s have a look at a few of these issues: History. A country that has had very moderate political, economic, racial, and social change over the years, where political and social violence are not common, can be deemed to possess a tradition of conservative peacefulness. A tradition is an almost tangible social force. It moulds people's way of thinking and acting, and it is a good indicator of stability. A country that has never had any form of income taxation can be
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets counted on to have a population that would be less than happy about the imposition of such taxation. Population. A racially diverse population may mean racial tensions that could bring about some form of social or political upheaval. In some places, though, there is completely peaceful coexistence between racial groups. Political-Economic Situation. There is a wide range of variables here. If a country has a onehouse, popularly elected socialist government, it will not remain a tax haven for long. If it has a government divided, say, between a governor general (representing the crowned head of the “mother country”) and a locally elected two-house legislature, and there is little local political dissension, radically adverse legislation is not especially likely. General poverty may be indicative of a potential for revolution, while stable prosperity is more promising. Trade union activity of any consequence may be indicate a potential for socialism in the future. A government with strong motivations for “progress” may be a mixed blessing. Such a regime could encourage overseas investors and at the same time increase welfare budgets and thereby create a future need for heavy taxes. Universities with politically active leftist student bodies are bad signs. Laws: Laws based on British Common Law are necessary as are laws protecting the privacy of individuals and entities from both local and foreign interference. There are many uses for Tax Havens, some stupid people use them for illegal purposes, others use them sensibly and legally for a variety of reasons, such as major corporations and smart investors. There are distinct advantages for the small investor or business person that are a lot cheaper than you would have believed. One third of the world’s privately held wealth is held in offshore “tax havens”, with good reason.
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Underground Knowledge Renting with Privacy Obviously signing a lease in a false name is not easy because agents like to check references. So the trick is to have somebody lease the unit for you, somebody that trusts you and knows you won’t leave them with an horrendous liability. This is when your second passport would be handy particularly one that has undergone your deed poll change as I mentioned in one of the Underground Tips. Otherwise the best way to remain private is to remain extremely low key. Pay your rent on time, don’t complain about neighbours and ensure they don’t complain about you. No loud parties and the like. Be a very quiet person that keeps to themselves and you’ll blend in perfectly.
Underground Tip Don’t be overtly covert. Don’t be paranoid. Some people, when they get caught up with all this privacy stuff become paranoid. This will only draw unwelcome attention to you. As I was once told “there’s nothing more conspicuous than a moving bush”!
The Hidden Cache This may sound like it’s straight out of a James Bond film, but it’s a good idea to have a hidden cache of goodies that will allow you to disappear in a flash. Now this may be a little extreme, but I thought I’d put it in for those of you that like a little excitement and intrigue in your lives. Now this cache could be in a safe, it could be in a cupboard, or possibly in a locker at the airport (for a little excitement☺). It could contain a change of clothes, cash (enough for a airticket/s), a second passport, a credit card, mobile phone, an international drivers permit and a trusty Austrian Sparbuch. If something goes wrong, you’re “outta” there!
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Would You like to know more about Offshore Investing and Offshore Strategies? These two books could make all the difference! These books will show you how the big corporations and smart investors setup offshore corporations and trusts for profit and privacy. The Invisible World Features: Over 40 Tax Havens are analysed and the book gives you full details of Banks and Incorporation Agents, Secrecy Laws, costs, advantages & disadvantages, Tax and Investment Strategies fully explained in an interesting and easy to read way, Australian Tax Laws explained with loopholes exposed. How to establish your own offshore company or trust privately and inexpensively. How to set up secret bank accounts. Privacy & Secrecy. Second Passports. How Skase beat the system. Investing Offshore - the advantages. Maildrops. Plus more. Includes new havens and contacts. Invisible Banking will reveal: How to keep your Banking Secret. Unusual Investments. Privacy & Secrecy Tips. Asset Protection Schemes. Investing in Gold. How to transfer your assets and cash around the world privately. Tax and Banking Strategies explained with working Examples. How to establish your own offshore bank. Procedures in Secret Offshore Banking and much, much more! An order form is at the back of this book.
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Underground Knowledge Your Car is like a Homing Beacon! You want to disappear, so you take your car with you. Big mistake! The car is the easiest thing to trace and is the first place most people start if they are trying to find you.
Being Pursued? An “ex” could be pursuing you or possibly some nasty people that the law is powerless to stop. It could be people from within your family, either way you are being pursued and harassed and you want it to stop, right? Well, there is a way….the false trail. Here are a few tricks that have been employed by people over the years to get people off their back, some of them are quite good, some of them are a bit wacky, but all of them have worked. Just be careful you use them in the right context so you don’t break any laws: ♦ Place an obituary in the newspaper so they think you’re dead. ♦ Change your name by deed poll ♦ Send them a letter telling them to leave you alone, from another country ♦ Purchase a one way ticket to another country. Check in for the flight, but don’t actually board the plane. ♦ Consider changing your appearance ♦ Drop all contact with people both of you know, just move and never contact anybody again. ♦ Deliberately tell people that you both know, that you are moving to South Africa, appear to sell up, buy the ticket, check in for the flight, don’t board the plane. Simply disappear off somewhere else.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets The United Nations Authorised International Drivers Permit The International Drivers Permit is issued under International law and is valid for 5 years. It can’t be assessed for points, revoked or suspended. It is laminated and tamper proof, very much like the new style Australian drivers licenses. If you have an offshore address it is possible to use it for the permit if you wish. However, the permit can’t be used in the country of origin. So, if you have an Australian address, you can’t use the permit here. However….☺ They cost US$175 and are issued with a money back guarantee if your are not happy. You will need to provide the following: First and middle names Last Name Preferred country of issue, yes you can choose (the example I saw was issued in the Cayman Islands) Delivery Address Foreign address (should be the same as country of issue, if possible) Date of Birth Country of Birth Nationality Height Weight Gender Colour of Eyes Colour of Hair Signature Colour Passport photo Payment by Credit Card It takes about 3 weeks It provides you with instant “ID” from “somewhere else”. Could be very handy indeed! For more Information, contact: The Bosuns Locker PO Box 4583 London SW11 5FD UK Email:
[email protected]
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Underground Knowledge Underground Tip Need identification? But you don’t want to give away who you really are because they may bother you, talk to mutual acquaintances (they don’t know, that you know) or for some other reason. The best way is to have some business cards printed with another name on them. This will put them off the trail. Often, people assume that a business card is as good as identification. Be careful, you don’t use them for personal gain though, it will be regarded as fraud and illegal. Use them only to secure privacy from nosey annoying people who insist on “your card”. The false business card scheme has been around for a long time. It is often used by people pushing sham investments. They use a false name, false address, and very temporary phone service. You end up giving them the money – a month or two later they are gone. They revert to their real identity and you haven’t got the faintest idea what’s happened to your money.
The Perpetual Traveler “Tool” Kit You want to live the life of a PT or just be “mobile” for a while, possibly a period of “invisibility”. If that’s the case you’ll need a few things. ♦ A mobile phone with personal number access ♦ Laptop computer with fax facility through your mobile ♦ Small portable printer ♦ An inventory of stationery collected from hotels all over the place. But never use hotel stationery until you have left the particular hotel months earlier. ♦ A book with all your contacts and numbers in it. ♦ A book for your “book” code ♦ A money belt with spare cash and a few gold coins “just in case”. ♦ First Class airline tickets that can be converted to cash ♦ Bank books to access cash ♦ Travelers cheques ♦ Credit card only emergencies – an offshore one is best. ♦ Second passport
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
International Drivers licence Hotel and airline directories Maps The usual travel bag with clothes etc.
Low Profile Living Habits Don’t be obvious in your living habits. Don’t have arguments in public, don’t yell inside the house as the neighbours can listen in. Turn off lights in the house at a decent hour and don’t have wild parties that may involve complaints. The best way to be, is when people have no idea whether you are in or not. Buy an average car, nothing too flashy as this will attract unwanted attention and jealousy. Be friendly but make sure you don’t say much as to what you do. Be non-committal when it comes to going to “get togethers” and socialising if you believe the people are nosey. When you pick up your mail from your maildrop, go at different times, different days. Same goes for your banking and shopping. When you go to clubs and meetings where you are asked to register by giving your name and address, avoid it or give or write down the wrong name. These details are often put into mailing lists or they can possibly be used to build a profile on you. Be careful how you handle this. Where possible, always pay cash for everything. Don’t have anything delivered to your home, have it all sent to a PO Box or other maildrop. Don’t participate in surveys or contests. Your name will be sold to mail order firms. Never talk about money or what you know, keep it all to yourself. Don’t apply for things such as social security if you can avoid it. When you take holidays, never tell people where you are really going. Finally, never brag or show off, this creates resentment.
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Chapter 7 Technology Technology
is vital to oppressive governments and organisations simply because they can’t afford man-on-man surveillance. It’s a common complaint these days by organisations that they just don’t have the ability to employ the human resources they once could. East Germany tried it and went bankrupt in the process. In fact, quite a number of Soviet Bloc countries tried it and went broke. For example, in Romania almost one in five citizens was a paid informant for the government. Now look at the country, still a mess. So, armed with technology, scant human resources and ever tightening budgets, what do they do? They have to focus their attention on security threats firstly and then potential security threats and lastly political agitators, anarchists, rednecks, ethnic groups and possibly the odd real criminal. The last person they will be looking for is the low profile, privacy seeking individual, hopefully. However, we must still be vigilant because technology can be indiscriminate in its selection of targets. Technology such as phone taps, Echelon, high powered computers going through our banking and tax records searching for transactions outside of “normal tolerances”, surveillance equipment watching us in airports, shopping centres and public areas, asking banks to monitor us with our cash transactions, electoral rolls and census forms, it’s all about control, “leveraged” control as they see it. We must remove or breakdown their means of leverage if we are to maintain our freedom and privacy. However, we do have our own leverage, the ability to introduce more people to what’s going on, the ability to make their jobs so difficult through the sheer weight of numbers of people taking a different view. This leverage is communication, and the best medium of communication and information distribution is the Internet. It’s owned by
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets nobody, it has no political allegiances, no commercial masters – it’s totally free…so far. One of the things that has brought about the collapse of bureaucratic and political control, particularly in communist or fascist countries, has been the globalisation of information. The Internet has almost been 100% responsible for this information exchange. How can governments keep a lid on certain information when it’s freely available in people’s homes. Governments across the world are concerned about this. People can voice their outrage against government corruption, lies, poor policies and manipulation with gay abandon without recrimination. Public policy and voting trends can be swayed on the Internet, which threatens the little “arrangement” that has been in place with the traditional media since year dot. The Internet really is a loose cannon for governments everywhere, and a good thing too. This is why they are all falling over themselves trying to tax it, control it, censor it…. “do something, but don’t let it continue this way, otherwise the voters will really understand what we’re up to”, they’d be thinking. So, they use the excuse that they need to censor it because of the tasteless and pornographic stuff on the net. Rubbish, they want to censor it so you can’t find out about stuff like the subjects covered in this book for instance. If they were convinced I wouldn’t carry on and accuse them of being “book burning Nazis”, they would probably try and restrict this information if they could, and we live in Australia! Imagine a writer in China or Russia writing about this stuff, they’d put a bullet through their head. So, you see the internet is the best thing that’s happened to free speech and democracy in history and the worst thing that’s happened to government control and bureaucratic power in history. Let’s have a look at a couple of things that you can use for privacy and profit thanks to the Internet.
Electronic Gold? – Money of the Future? What is e-gold? e-gold is a monetary (payments) system which enables the use of gold as money. Gold & Silver Reserve, Inc. administers the system, serving as bailee for an inventory of gold coins and bars held in allocated storage by third party custodians. A quantity of
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Underground Knowledge e-gold constitutes title to a precise weight (fine) of this physical gold. The primary function of the system is to render payments, in gold, silver, platinum, or palladium, from one customer to another. A secure, convenient interface, called Account Manager on their website is provided for customer entry of transaction orders. All cleared transactions entail an increment or decrement of the account holder’s emetal balance. The system calculates exactly how much metal belongs to each particular customer by adding all such credits and debits. e-gold is 100% backed by gold. All metal is held free of lien or encumbrance. G&SR does not get involved in futures contracts or other leveraged derivatives. No physical metal is listed with G&SR until payment for it has been made. The system seems to be very transparent and workable. I know somebody who uses it and they swear by it, and I must say it does look good and well thought out. It has many practical features that allow you take delivery of gold or convert your account to cash in any major currency and have the money sent wherever you want it sent. The reserves backing e-gold are tangible in the conventional sense. If, for instance, a customer elects to fund their account by bailing some 1 oz gold Australian Nuggets to G&SR and later, for whatever reason, elects to draw down gold balance by redeeming out some 1 oz gold Nuggets, they likely wouldn't be the same ones. There is a very specific number of each particular type of specie comprising their reserve but no specific piece is earmarked as belonging to anyone in particular. e-gold is highly divisible. As you well know, all physical coins come in fixed sizes. There is a limit as to how small a coin can be. e-gold, by contrast, is computerized; precise to 0.000001 oz (troy). The e-gold system features automated conversion between weight and other accounting units. Quantities of metal are accounted by weight and purity. With e-gold, weight units, decimal fractions of (troy) ounces or grams, are the ultimate units of account. The transactional unit, however, is discretionary. Transactions using e-metal as money, buying or selling, are priced using whatever unit of account the parties to the transaction mutually agree upon. If the price of a product or service is specified in terms of government currency units, such as US$, an automated
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets calculation, using G&SR's posted exchange rate, determines the precise weight of metal which conveys. Here are a few of the obvious questions you may have in relation to e-gold: Q. Is the right of redemption unconditionally guaranteed? To redeem means to relinquish some e-metal in order to take delivery of physical metal. e-gold is not a negotiable instrument A quantity of e-gold can’t be transferred directly from one customer to another. The payer enters a payment order, which is effected by G&SR's automated order processing program. Q. Is e-gold electronic cash? No. The prevailing definition for electronic cash involves tokens (digitally signed files) which are negotiable (directly conveyed from payer to payee). e-gold is not negotiable. It's simply a secure efficient method for transmitting transaction instructions to the Gold & Silver Reserve. e-gold functions as a payments system by enabling G&SR to post credits and debits in database tables for keeping track of exactly how much gold belongs to whom. Q. How can I be confident my e-metal is truly 100% backed by physical metal? Examiner and redemption on demand. No other payments system has ever featured a transparency mechanism as powerful and revealing as Examiner. It is a real-time audit utility, which calculates and displays total quantity of e-metal in electronic circulation (all customer accounts combined) vs. total physical reserves held by G&SR. When you click the 'Examine' button the program automatically queries the e-metal transaction database as well as current specie inventory records. In fact, neither G&SR or our storage contractor have any debt, other than the obligations of a facility lease and month-to-month expenses such as phone etc. None of the metal which backs e-metal is in the form of derivatives such as futures contracts or leveraged purchase arrangements. Q. Can I have my precious metal at anytime? Yes. By placing an online redemption order you can have the physical metal sent to you by registered mail is you wish. You may at any time
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Underground Knowledge convert e-metal into physical metal by ordering delivery. This is known as redemption. Initiate the Redemption process by pressing on the Account Manager screen. It is important to note that the physical metal backing your e-metal is held by G&SR as a tangible bailment. This means that specific pieces of metal are not earmarked as belonging to specific customers. Redemption is identical to presenting a valid receipt to a grain silo and taking possession of grain in the precise quantity (less applicable fees) and of equivalent quality to the grain originally entrusted for safekeeping. The fees applicable to redemption are coin premiums and shipping/handling, both deducted in metal. These are detailed in the Commissions and Fees section of their website. Q. What if I want to redeem my gold but in Cash? No problem. They can do that for you as well. By utilising their “OutExchange” facility, you can relinquish e-metal from your account in exchange for normal money (choice of USD, CAD, AUD, GBP, DEM, JPY, CHF, FFR). To initiate an OutExchange, click on the Account Manager screen. For each metal, specify a type and quantity of currency. Assuming you have a sufficient metal balance, G&SR will calculate the total drawdown of weight, debit your metal balance, and send you a cheque for the specified amount. A single OutExchange order may consist of up to four sub-orders (drawing from gold, silver, platinum and/or palladium balances). The drawdown is calculated using G&SR's posted (bid) exchange rates. This exchange rate is set by G&SR at its sole discretion, and will approximate the market “spot price”. Their current practice is to maintain a 2% spread between the exchange rates for InExchange and OutExchange. They also charge a commission for the use of this facility. Once you have completed the transaction online, G&SR will mail a cheque the following business day. But remember the cheque comes from the US, it will take a week or so to arrive here. Q. How do I create an e-metal Account? Get into the e-gold.com website, read the e-metal Account Agreement. If you accept the terms of the Agreement, once you have agreed to the terms, an on-line Account Creation form is presented. It takes about 2 minutes to complete. Q. Is there an initiation fee? No, opening an account entails no fee or obligation. G&SR only charges fees for transactions and for storage. These fees are very low too.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Q. How do I put precious metal my e-gold account? The first way is to simply pay for it with currency. Secondly you can actually send metal to G&SR or by accepting payment for your goods and services in metal from other account holders Q. How do I check my e-metal balance? An e-metal Account consists of up to four separate subaccounts; gold, silver, platinum, palladium. Balance is expressed in troy oz., truncated to the nearest 0.0001oz, of metal of 100% purity. To check your balance, click on the Account Manager screen when you’re logged on to their website. Q. How do you spend e-gold? Entering an e-metal Payment Order is similar to writing an (online) cheque: specify recipient and amount. There are some differences, you must specify which metal you are paying with, amount can be expressed as weight (rounded to nearest 0.0001 oz) or in terms of familiar national currencies worth, and you must know your recipient's e-metal Account number. Whether your counter-party is next door or on the other side of the world, a precise quantity of gold or silver changes ownership, without any need for physical handling - the metal remains secure in G&SR's custody. Q. Where can I spend e-gold ? You can spend e-gold to any recipient who opens an e-metal account with G&SR and indicates willingness to accept payment in gold, silver, platinum or palladium). Any payment which you might ordinarily make by cash, check or with a credit card can be an e-gold transaction. There are nearly 2,500 businesses worldwide accepting e-gold. Q. If I pay for something in e-gold do I pay a fee? There is no fee for you, the payer, when you click an e-metal payment to someone. A processing fee is deducted from the recipient, but it is a fraction of the fees which credit card merchants pay, only 1% or maximum US$0.50. Q. What are the advantages of holding and using e-gold, compared to existing forms of money? Advantages for businesses who accept payment in e-gold:
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Underground Knowledge 1.Nearly instantaneous clearing and funds availability 2.Low processing fee - 1%, debited in metal 3. You have been paid in gold or other precious metal that may have some investment potential, such as diversification, foreign exchange hedging and security. Q. What are the advantages of e-gold vs. physical gold? 1.Divisibility - If a shirt costs $41.35 you can't pay for it with physical gold, without making change in some other medium. Gold coins can only be made so small (less than 1/10th of an ounce is impractical). The G&SR computer display of e-metal quantities rounds off to 4 decimal places which means the gold can be divided up into fractions of a gold coin. 2.Security - Physical possession of gold (or any other form of cash), especially a large amount, can be risky. As an e-metal account holder you are relieved of this direct personal risk - Gold and Silver Reserve, Inc., as bailee and custodian, is responsible for safeguarding customer metal. 3.Portability - If you accept payment in physical gold from a counterpart thousands of miles away, delivery is cumbersome, expensive and slow. An e-metal payment is cleared in a few seconds - the actual metal stays put, its ownership changes. Q. Why have e-gold vs. government money? 1.The only practical advantage of holding e-metal, relative to government-issued currency, would be if something bad happened to the value of the government money. The fact of the matter is, for the past 15 years, dollars have performed better than gold as a store of value. Whether or when exchange rates might change to the advantage of monetary metals is a matter of speculation. 2.e-gold can be redeemed for gold. Q. Where is the actual gold or other metal? There are currently two categories of storage requirements; coined metal, and larger bullion bars. 1.While the system is relatively small, they intend to limit holdings of coined metal to 500 oz gold, and 10,000 oz silver. Coined metal is held in the US by a storage contractor who also fulfills Redemption orders. This metal is dispersed among multiple bank safe deposit boxes, so as to avoid concentrating a large quantity of metal at any single location.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets 2.It is anticipated that an ever-increasing proportion of metal will consist of larger bullion bars. In their estimation, Mocatta Delivery Orders represent the most secure, cost-effective solution for this category. MDO's are certificates corresponding to specific bars, in allocated storage, audited and insured, in Switzerland. Q. Is the Gold & Silver Reserve a bank? No. It differs in two fundamental ways: 1. Deposits in a bank are regarded legally as loans to the bank. A bank is permitted to make investments (loans) using the money belonging to their depositors. Metal entrusted to G&SR is not a deposit at all: it is held as a bailment (like grain in a grain silo). G&SR may not allow any encumbrance or lien to be placed on customer metal. G&SR is not borrowing it from you but rather safeguarding it for you for a fee. 2. The banking system in general, operates on a fractional reserve basis. This is perfectly natural and legitimate for money in a savings account or time deposit. You, as an individual, may do what amounts to the same thing; borrow money from some people and use it to make loans to other people. Q. Does the Gold & Silver Reserve accept Australian and New Zealand accounts? Yes. Q. Can you transfer from metal to metal? Yes, they have a facility to allow you transfer some gold to a different metal but it does cost up to 6% of the value of the transfer. Q. What is the storage fee? Storage fee is 1% per annum, paid in metal in monthly installments, based on Average Daily Balance of your account fees and commissions If you would like to know more, get on the internet and go to: www.e-gold.com
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Underground Knowledge Virtual Cash – The Future of Money As we all know, banks and governments control the way the economy works and the way we get paid and how we pay for things. Some people in society see this as a form of control, and I would have to agree with them. Few of us would dispute that they control our lives and our finances through the use of the banking system and all the technology that is attached to it to monitor, what we get, we what spend, where we spend it and how much we have to surrender to the government in the form of taxes. Over the years we have seen Governments get themselves worked into a tizz over things like Barter Card and it hasn’t been good news for the banks either as people have opted out of the cash and banking status quo. These cards have had the effect of removing cash from the whole transaction. When this is done, the banking system misses out because no transaction occurs and they can’t charge fees and therefore the government can’t find out what’s happened because the whole transaction has by-passed the government’s “informants”, the banks. This creates a massive problem for governments everywhere because if everybody opted to join a barter co-operative, no income or company taxes could be levied because there would be no traceable transactions. Not even the GST would work. The government would have to infiltrate the barter operators and obtain data on transaction details from them. This would create massive problems for all concerned, except the people using the system. Up until now this has not been a major problem because of the number of people being involved in barter systems. It really hasn't been very practical or popular, it really doesn’t suit most people’s lifestyles, as I said……up until now that is. The Internet will one day (which is not very far away) constitute a large percentage of commerce. You will buy food, books, music, household goods, services, personal products and do business of the net. Many experts believe that Virtual Cash will take over from credit cards as the common way of paying for these services. As you have already read, e-gold is already in place and operating, there are already Cyber banks offering Cyber Cash, commerce is changing. Virtual Cash will operate just like the barter system in as much as you will accumulate points or virtual cash as you sell products or services and you will have
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets them deducted as you buy products and services. Your “account balance” will be maintained by companies who will administer the system. They will make profit by charging a small fee each time a transaction is made. This fee will only be a fraction of the charges imposed by banks. The reason for this is due to a very small amount of work that needs to be done when the whole system is run by a bank of computers. Freedom from banks at last you say! Not so fast, they have noticed this phenomenon and will no doubt participate in Virtual Cash as well once all the ground work is done and their profits start to slip. As an example, you may wish to buy a book on line, the virtual bookstore accepts Digicash, so you simply order the book and give them the authorisation to deduct the cost of the book plus postage which might be $30. It’s just like a credit transaction. You are protected by passwords, encryption and unique account numbers just as you are now when you use a credit card. If you are selling services or products on the Internet, it works in the same way only you receive the Digicash, which is credited to your account. This all bypasses government and bank controlled systems….do you see their dilemma? Using virtual cash is like using a virtual ATM. When connecting to it over the Internet, you authenticate ownership of your account and request the amount of virtual cash you want to withdraw, much like in person. However, instead of putting the actual cash in your wallet, your software will store the virtual cash on your computer hard drive. Don’t worry they are have failsafe systems in place to ensure if your computer system crashes or get stolen you can recover your money. To buy something, you confirm the amount, the payee, the purpose and the system will then transfer the virtual cash from your system to their system. Behind the user interface, your computer actually chooses the serial numbers of the electronic cash based on a random seed. Then it hides it in special encryption envelopes, provides them to the virtual ATM for signing, and removes the envelopes from what is returned, leaving the bank’s validating digital signature on the serial numbers. In this way, when the bank receives from the shop, the cash you spend, it can’t recognise them as coming from any particular withdrawal, because it is hidden in encrypted envelopes during withdrawal. And in this way, the bank can’t know what you buy, when you bought it or where you bought it, result…. total privacy.
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Underground Knowledge If you would like to know more about doing business in the future, contact: http://www.digicash.com http://www.tradedollars.com
BASICS OF CONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS Special Report By ‘Grandpa’ “Everything I’ve ever done was either illegal, immoral or fattening. But I never left any evidence.” Anonymous The internet has opened up a whole new world of opportunities for PTs to say “Bye Bye Big Brother.” Making a mistake will compromise your privacy and security. Learning what we explain here will save your ass and your assets! You are familiar with using email to communicate, but you don’t know too much about the technical or security aspects of it? This article is for you. It is adapted and summarised the hard-hitting book, Bye Bye Big Brother. Here I will explain, in layman’s terms, the possible security threats and the basics of how to use anonymous/secret email. If you have never thought about computer privacy before, this information may very well shock you! If you want to read more detail, you can find it in the book. FIRST OF ALL: WAYS YOU CAN COMMUNICATE SECURELY WITHOUT USING THE INTERNET Even today, not all private communication systems are internet based. For instance, face to face meetings are secure – if the room is not bugged and your counterpart is not wired. Passing written messages through trusted channels also works well, if you can trust the recipient to shred or burn the evidence.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Intelligence agencies agree that an ordinary unsigned, inkjet printed letter is still one of the best ways to communicate, provided neither the sender nor the receiver are using their identifiable names and addresses. (Typewriters, laser printers and of course handwriting are all more easily traced than the output of an inkjet printer.) Handwritten faxes are another relatively secure way to communicate. Typewritten faxes can be read by machine and are more easily accessible to global surveillance systems (more on that below). Provided neither the sender nor the recipient’s fax line is subject to a wire tap, handwritten faxes are almost 100% secure. The more difficult your handwriting is to read, the better! There are many public fax terminals in convenience stores, post offices, etc., around the world where you can send and receive anonymously. Faxes, once received, are not electronically stored as are emails. Like phone conversations, if the paper is destroyed there is no record of them – unless the fax was stored by the equivalent of a phone tap. Or unless the recipient is using a computer rather than an old fashioned fax machine that simply prints out on paper. For extra security on faxes, it is always a good idea to use a ‘one time pad’ of code words. The two parties agree in advance a list of numbers or innocuous words to use and what they mean. Each time one word is used, it is struck off the list by both parties. If the words are chosen randomly, this simple code is unbreakable. Making calls between two public telephones, paid for with an anonymous prepaid phone card or coins, also allows you to communicate secretly and anonymously with another party. If that’s not convenient for you, telephone calls over the internet can be secure (much more so than emails) if you know what you are doing. Although as of 2004, one leading internet phone company, Vonage, is on record as saying they are in the process of building interception capabilities to meet US Patriot Act requirements. Another low-profile way to communicate is for all parties involved to use only internet cafés – not their home phones. Each person sets up a free email address using a service such as Hotmail or Yahoo. They visit a
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Underground Knowledge cybercafé every few days to pick up and receive messages. In this case, the messages will probably blend in with the millions of others sent every day. Obviously, none of the parties should give any real names or information at any time during the process. THE INTERNET OFFERS UNRIVALLED CONVENIENCE! The problem with all the above methods is that they are inconvenient. Most people don’t want to wait for letters in the mail or run out into a park for a secret rendezvous. Almost everyone can connect to the internet from their home or office. The temptation to send and receive sensitive email from their own PCs (instead of going out to an internet café) is just too great for most people. Certainly if you ask your offshore banker to stand by a public phone at a certain time when you will call with secret instructions, he will report you for suspicious activity! (Unless he knows you very well) Today we are all accustomed to life in the information age. There is no turning back. Let’s benefit from the good things our new sixth flag has to offer. IS YOUR COMPUTER SPYING ON YOU? So why is security so important? What are the threats? Let’s start with your very own computer. It is secretly spying on you. Big Brother, or commercial entities, install adware and cookies on nearly every computer that is connected to the internet. These little programs and files regularly report back to base on your activity – so that advertisers can target you with the most appropriate offers. Later, we will show you how to identify these threats and delete them. You might be shocked what you will find on your own machine! If somebody has a serious interest in what you are up to, it is a relatively easy task for them to install similar (but more powerful) programs called spyware or trojans or key loggers that secretly track all your net activities.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets Finally, your computer itself keeps a pretty efficient record of what you have done, where you connected to, what sites you have visited and so on. Files that you thought you thought you had deleted can be recovered quite easily if your computer falls into the wrong hands. That is why computers are always confiscated in raids carried out by tax or criminal investigators. You need to take precautions against your information and files being used to construct a case against you. DO YOU KNOW WHO HAS COPIES OF YOUR E-MAILS? Besides your local computer, you need to be concerned about what is happening on the network. The fact is that e-mail itself is the greatest electronic surveillance system in use today! Whenever you send e-mail, it passes through multiple systems on the way to its recipient. This is much like a traditional paper letter passing through different postal sorting offices. At any of these points your message can be copied and read! Why? Unlike normal letters, e-mails do not travel in envelopes! In a typical, unsecure set-up, both your incoming and outgoing e-mail is stored under normal operating procedures of your internet provider. This may be a harmless routine back-up or even a convenience for the customer as far as they are concerned – but snoops or Big Brother’s agents need only fax over a request and all your sent and received emails will be turned over. You probably know that most banks record telephone conversations. In the same way, as a fraud prevention, banks log access from the internet. If you check your offshore balance online from your home computer, your bank will certainly have on record information which can be used to track the access right around the corner or across the world. In other words, the access can easily be traced back to your specific computer in your home or office. The same applies to free email providers like Hotmail. Not only do they have copies of your mails. They know exactly where you logged in from
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Underground Knowledge and when. Why? So they can target advertising at you. And so they can identify you if you are involved in illegal activity. It is not just governments which can do this. Today, there are thousands of teenage hackers who have the technology and resources to track your every action. There are various websites where Russian teenagers discuss the latest technologies to steal credit card details or online banking passwords. Any of these kids can be hired for a few hundred bucks to spy on you online. And they are good at what they do! Bottom line? Basically all internet activity creates a permanent indelible record. That includes emails, visiting websites, online chats, downloads and anything else you might do. If you are not happy leaving records that you may not even know about, you have two choices: Do not use internet at all. Stick to sending handwritten faxes etc; or Make sure you understand the basics of internet security so you can take active steps to protect yourself. ECHELON AND CARNIVORE It gets worse. Besides local record-keeeping or wire taps in your local phone company, there is active government surveillance of communications at a global level. Echelon and Carnivore are two government-operated spy programs. Echelon is a system built and used by the US National Security Agency (NSA). It is used to intercept and process international communications. It is one part of a global surveillance system. Different parts of the system intercept messages from the Internet, from satellites, from undersea cables, from radio transmissions and from secret equipment installed inside embassies. The system includes stations run by Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, in addition to those operated by the United States. Together they all form part of the same integrated global network using the same equipment and methods. The NSA is constitutionally prohibited from conducting surveillance on Americans, but you can be sure that their
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets partners will routinely handle this on receiving a request from NSA headquarters in Virginia. Carnivore, meanwhile, is a creation of the FBI. Again it is a sophisticated wiretapping and eavesdropping program that scans huge volumes of email randomly. The FBI claims that Carnivore “chews all the data on the network, but it only actually eats the information authorized by a court order.” There is obviously a lot to be said about these programs – there are a few published books and lots of information on the internet for those who are interested. But for the PT, the critical thing is to avoid them. Steer clear of all surveillance and the possibility that your old files will ever be used against you. Rule? Never say anything you don’t want Big Brother to hear over any medium he can snoop on. Perhaps the greatest danger to you is that these programs – Carnivore especially – show webs of communications between people and groups. So, even if Big Brother cannot read the content of your messages he can still know with whom you are communicating, and with whom your friends and acquaintances are communicating! On one level this nuisance can be eliminated. The basic techniques outlined in the following chapters will protect you with relatively little effort from Echelon and Carnivore. However, if the government has a strong reason to track you, they can still use something called traffic analysis to determine with whom you are communicating. According to our information, Big Brother cannot afford to do a lot of traffic analysis. Nonetheless, if you do something nasty enough for them to focus their antennas on you, they can probably find out with whom you are communicating. As a PT, your goal is to stay below the radar. If you appear boring, they are not going to waste their time on you. FIRST AND FOREMOST: EMAIL PRIVACY Your emails contain many details of your business and your family life. For that reason, they are the prime target of people who want to spy on
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Underground Knowledge you. Who you communicate and do business with are no one’s business but your own. Because of this, you should set up your email to be truly secure. There are three primary threats to e-mail privacy: 1.
Outsiders being able to read your messages.
2. Outsiders being able to see with whom you communicating, even if they cannot read the messages.
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3. Outsiders and Recipients of your mail being able to see your physical location or other non-public personal information. Normally you need separate software and techniques to counter each of these threats. But the good news is that there is an easy solution. THE INSTANT AND FREE SOLUTION TO E-MAIL SECURITY There is one solution which basically covers all these three vulnerabilities at one swipe. It is free and easy to use. If you can send and receive email using Hotmail, Yahoo, Outlook Express etc, then you can learn this in just a few minutes. It is perhaps not a technically perfect solution, but it is a pretty good compromise. In the next chapter we will look at possible improvements and tweaks. This solution is generically termed web-based secure e-mail. Web-based means that you access it over the ‘web’ (www) the same way you view most websites. You do not have to install any special software. Secure email is self-explanatory. IT’S EASY: PRESS ‘SEND’ AND THE ENCRYPTION IS AUTOMATIC To get started, all you have to do is visit one of the websites offering this facility, and sign up for an account. This can be accomplished in just a few minutes. They will then issue you with an email address.
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets With all these systems, you first log on to the appropriate website and authenticate yourself with a user name and password. Then you compose the message you want to send. Press the ‘send’ button and the encryption is done automatically in the background. No further effort is needed on your part. When you receive messages, you just go to your electronic inbox. Click on the message you want to view. Then it is automatically decrypted and shown to you. THE MAIN DISADVANTAGE OF WEB-BASED EMAIL An important point to note about these systems is they are generally not fully compatible with each other. That means to get the most security out of them, not just you but also the person at the other end with whom you are communicating must have email addresses on the same system. However, you can still send email unencrypted from these web-based services to anyone with an email address. That’s a very useful feature because even if it may not be encrypted, it will still remove the identifying IP information that leads back to you. For example, even if your offshore bank does not use one of these encryption systems, you can still send mail to them without them being able to track down who or where you are. We would also add that services like this change all the time as they are quite a hard moneymaking proposition. New ones pop up frequently. RECOMMENDED WEB-BASED EMAIL SERVICES We currently recommend only two web-based mail services as being fully secure. You can visit them and check them out for yourself. They are: www.mailvault.com www.hushmail.com
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Underground Knowledge "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." Ronald Reagan "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the USA, 1800
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets
Chapter 8 Desire for Privacy – A Crime? Y
“ ou want privacy?”……….“What are you hiding?” It is common for people to accuse those who desire privacy of some “crime”. These “brain washed” people believe that anybody that wants privacy, MUST be hiding something. They must be drug runners, arms dealers, criminals, tax evaders or something! No… they just want to be left alone! They don’t want corporations or governments constantly asking questions, trying to sell them something, watching them, monitoring what they buy, where they go, what they do etc. You know what it’s like, you’re on a train and some “creepy” looking person in the carriage is watching you. It really “rattles” you. You’re not hiding anything, you just don’t like being watched. The government is going all out in an effort to be that “creepy” person on the train. They want to watch you, monitor you, they suspect you’re hiding something. Without us knowing, they legislate laws that erode our privacy. They tell us it’s to control crime. But what do they call crime? It’s obvious crime is murder, theft, fraud, assault etc, but what about these crimes? Not voting, tax avoidance, not completing the Census Form – all jailable offences if you don’t pay the fines. If you can go to jail for not voting or revealing your personal details on the Census, what about other “Crimes against the State” such as deliberately “concealing personal information” or viewing “undesirable” information on the internet. What if you were a political supporter of an “undesirable” party, could that be deemed illegal?……. Yes! Why not? ASIO is to be given new powers under the ASIO Legislation Amendment Bill 1999 which will allow them to intercept communications, hack into your computer, confiscate your computer, intercept your mail, intercept couriers, bug your home and your car and even bug you. ASIO will be able to access your bank account information, taxation records,
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Underground Knowledge everything about you. You will be fully exposed to scrutiny by bureaucrats and politicians. What next, implanting tracking devices and serial numbers in our skulls? They claim this is all because of the Olympics in Sydney. They claim it’s for our own good. If these laws are being put in place for the Olympics as they claim, will they be repealed after the Olympics end? This legislation is nonsense, they already have sufficient powers to deal with terrorists. Where will this intrusion of our human rights end? It has been said that the “Law is an ass” but it is much more serious than that. Inch by inch the governments around the world, particularly our own, are introducing more and more Draconian Laws that erode our rights and privacy. The politicians tell us it’s for own good, to fight crime and to assist long term planning, what nonsense! They want to be able to find us, track us, control us and ensure we do what they want us to do by intimidation and information manipulation (lies). In 1997, John Howard reversed his commitment to institute a privacy policy that he promised in the 1996 election. It was decided it was not in our best interest to have personal privacy. Again, our government plays the role of the “creepy person watching us on the train”. Why aren’t we entitled to privacy laws? Why can’t we have a Bill of Rights enshrining our liberty, our freedom and our human rights? Two reasons! The first the politicians consider us too stupid to care and the second is because it suits them to have us over a barrel. Why? ……Ah! The $64,000 question… come to your own conclusion. Could it be domination and control, megalomania, world government, who knows? One thing is for certain, unless we as Australians, speak out and put pressure on politicians to introduce “set in stone” human rights and freedoms in this country we will be doomed to subservient lives forever looking over our shoulder in the fear that we will offend “big brother”. In addition, our federal government’s Senate Anti-Smut committee is reviewing the horrendously censorial Singapore laws that restrict what can be accessed on the internet. Our government is proposing introducing very similar draconian laws that will prohibit internet service providers giving their customers access to government banned material. At the moment this is intended to stop some of the real “sicko” stuff accessed, but where will it stop? First, we will be convinced the government is doing the right thing by getting rid of the tasteless stuff,
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets and on this basis the legislation will slip through. After that, we will then never know what we are not allowed to see, things like political opinion, government corruption and criticism, could be banned couldn’t they, and who would know? The Australian Securities and Investment Commission would just love to stop the dissemination of investment information that they have not approved or don’t want us to see. I should know they have attacked me personally for writing my investment books that expose offshore opportunities that we’re “not allowed” know about. Where would it stop? The last avenue of true free speech would be lost forever! Censorship is a very dangerous thing. We have seen too many times in history that censorship becomes “book burning” in time. I agree that certain standards of decency should be adhered to and that disgusting stuff should be taken off the net, but it should not be administered by national governments who have vested interests, it should be industry self regulation on a world wide basis. In addition, personal, political or cultural opinions should be made “sacred cows” that no-one can tamper with regardless of how distasteful they may be to some people. We need to watch what our politicians are doing. The legislation that often gets passed at midnight often receives little publicity due to the press being more or less absent and this is when the canny politicians push this sort of stuff through. We all must put pressure on the government to enshrine our privacy and human rights into privacy legislation and a Bill of Rights before we become any more brainwashed than we already are.
A hallmark of totalitarian societies is that the people are apprehensive of being overheard -American Civil Liberties Union
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Underground Knowledge
Index Criminal Justice Commission, 5 A D
Alderney, 99, 105, 106 Amnesty International, 32 Andorra, 19, 98, 103, 104, 105 Anonymizer, 53 ASIC, 9, 12, 35 ASIO, 9, 28, 29, 35, 63, 164 Atlas Shrugged, 6, 10 ATO, 9, 58, 101 Australian Council for Civil Liberties, 63 Australian Senate, 58 Australian Tax Office, 12 Austria, 20, 88, 98, 106, 137 Ayn Rand, 6, 8, 9
Daryl Williams, 29 Data Interception and Remote Transmission, 60 David Irving, 7 David S Lesperance, Barrister, 24 Defence Signals Directorate, 30, 60 Dictionary, 30, 31, 32, 35 DIRT (Data Interception and Remote Transmission), 60 Dr Gary North, 27 Drug Enforcement Agency, 88 DSD, 30, 32, 35, 60 Dubai, 120, 121
B Bearer Bonds, 79 Belize, 99, 109, 110, 111 Bermuda, 19, 99, 101, 106, 107, 108, 109, 136 Bodhan Koziy, 47, 49 Book Code, 55 Brazil, 19, 99, 114, 115, 121, 124 C Campione, 19, 20, 51, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103 Canada, 19, 24, 30, 47, 88, 98 Channel Islands, 19, 20, 105, 127 China, 12, 23, 146 CIA, 28, 29, 30, 35 Colston, 7 Communism, 25
E Echelon, 9, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 43, 45, 69, 88, 145 e-gold, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153 Electronic Frontiers Australia, 59 Electronic Gold, 146 encryption, 29, 31, 32, 35, 54, 59, 60, 61, 63, 154 Enemy of the State, 28, 35 F Fascism, 25 First Class Airline Tickets, 80
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Hidden Offshore and Privacy Secrets G Garry Davis, 14 GCHQ, 32, 35 Geraldton, 30, 35 Global Surveillance System, 28 Goss, 44 Government Communications HQ, 30 Government Communications Security Bureau, 30 H High Yield Trading Program, 89 Howard, 9, 27, 165 Human Rights, 14, 15, 34 Hungary, 88, 98, 99, 124, 125, 126
M Marshall Langer, 24 Menwith Hill, 33 Monaco, 19 N National Security Agency, 28, 29, 30 Nazis, 7, 75, 146 New Zealand, 18, 30, 87, 88, 98, 152 Norfolk Island, 111, 113 NSA, 9, 29, 30, 35 O Olsen, 44
I
P
Industrial Relations Commission, 72 Internet Service Providers, 7, 58 Ireland, 98, 99, 115, 116, 117 Isle of Man, 20, 127, 128, 137 Italy, 19, 99, 100
Paper Trail, 78 Pauline Hanson, 8 Perpetual Traveller, 18, 21, 96 Perth Mint Certificate, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86 PGP, 32, 35, 59 Pine Gap, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35 Political Asylum, 16 Port Arthur, 8, 44 Precious Metals Certificates, 80, 82 Privacy Legislation, 9 PT, 18, 19, 20, 80, 104, 106, 143 Public Key Cryptology, 59
J Jebel Ali, 120, 121 K Kennett, 44 L Liechtenstein, 20, 88, 137 Luxembourg, 20, 88, 98
R Red Herring” Address, 49
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Un de rg ro un d Kn owl ed ge S Second Citizenship, 21 Secret Code, 54 Secured Credit Cards, 79 Shooters Party, 8 Singapore, 19, 58, 82, 165 Sparbuch, 139 Spyshops, 46 Surveillance Technology Group, 46 Switzerland, 20, 76, 87, 88, 99, 100, 101, 103, 152
United Nations, 15, 16, 32, 34, 142 United States, 9, 13, 27, 87, 88, 98 Uruguay, 88, 99, 121, 122, 123 W Western Union, 80, 81 WG Hill, 19 World Identity Card, 16 World Passport, 14, 15, 16 World Service Authority, 14, 16, 17
T the UKUSA Signals Intelligence Agreement, 29 Travel Information Manual, 23 Travelers Cheques, 80 U
Y Yukusa, 5 Z ZipLip, 53, 54
Undergound Tip, 24
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Investor’s Guide to Trident Press Publications Many people become a little confused as to what books they should purchase and read to find the information they’re after. Seeing that we now have almost 30 different publications, we thought we would make it easier, by categorising the books to enable you to pinpoint the information you need. We’ve also placed them in order of what we think you should purchase and read first, second, third etc.
The Offshore Investor
The Wealth Builder
We recommend:
We Recommend:
1. The Offshore Investment Guide 2. The Invisible World* 3. Invisible Banking* 4. The Offshore Banking CD Rom* 5. High Yield Investments 1* 6. High Yield Investments 2* 7. Future Wealth 8. Offshore Companies and Trusts* 9. Underground Knowledge 10. Underground Knowledge 3 11. Things you didn’t Know – Underground Knowledge 2 12. Invisible Cash 13. Scams and Frauds – Financial Crime Exposed! 14. Tax Haven Report series Items marked * are all included in our Complete Offshore Wealth Special which also includes the exclusive Trident Offshore Incorporation and Strategy Manual. We recommend you purchase this Special as it provides you with substantial savings.
The Conservative Investor We Recommend: 1. Investing to Win 2. Scams and Frauds – Financial Crime Exposed 3. The Australian Share Market Guide
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Investing to Win The Offshore Investment Guide High Yield Investments 1 High Yield Investments 2 Future Wealth The Australian Share Market Guide Financial Crisis! Build Your Wealth Today
The Privacy Seeker We recommend: 1. The Privacy Report 2. Underground Knowledge 3. Things You Didn’t Know – Underground Knowledge 2 4. Underground Knowledge 3 5. For We are Young and Free…. Or are we? 6. Invisible Cash
Money Management and General Investment We Recommend: 1. Financial Crisis! – How to Avoid Financial Disaster 2. Investing to Win
The Stock Market Investor We recommend:
The Business Owner We Recommend: 1. Going Out on Your Own?
1. 2. 3. 4.
The Australian Share Market Guide Investing To Win Build Your Wealth Today Future Wealth
Trident Press Pty Limited Po Box 3068, Bangor NSW 2234 Australia Phone: 02 9543 0406 Fax: 02 9543 0406
www.tridentpress.com.au
TRIDENT PRESS Catalogue of Investment, Privacy & Wealth Creation Titles
UNDERGROUND KNOWLEDGE Underground Knowledge
Underground Knowledge 3
This is a book that provides valuable and hard to find information - information your government would prefer you didn’t know. Forbidden information on privacy, money, freedom, technology, special places where freedom is assured, private banking and investing, “big brother” tactics and how to beat them, offshore companies and most importantly, liberty and wealth. Underground Knowledge provides you with information normally reserved for the rich and powerful. Those people in our society that can afford inordinate amounts of money to make more, and secure their privacy. The book provides the reader with practical ways to improve their lives financially and assists the reader to regain their sovereign individual rights. A very unusual and enlightening book!
Secrets of Wealth, Privacy & Offshore Investing Underground Knowledge 3 Features: • The Ultimate Strategy for Banking In Silence • How to Disappear…. And Never Be Found! I expose how the “experts” find you and how you can foil them. • How to fly just about anywhere in the world for around 15% of the regular fare with top class airlines to…I reveal how to do it, and where top get the tickets from. • A full report of the best second citizenship programs available and how you can get a second passport, legally and at the right price! • The ultimate real estate source. Where you can buy great properties around the world for under $50,000 • The best Offshore Investment Broker! This broker can assist you to invest in over 1,000 offshore funds easily. • A Comprehensive Australian Mail Drop Guide, after many readers’ requests. • Carnivore, Echelon and other snoop programs…How to ensure you don’t fall victim. • Asset Protection - The Perfect Strategy! • The 8 Golden Rules of Anonymous Banking • Investing in Portfolio Bonds – A Great Idea and not commonly known • The Best European Banking Options and Secrets • The Dangers of Caribbean Credit Cards – How to Reduce your Risk • Hide Your Assets, so nobody will find them. • The Hidden Desire of All Investors…. And it’s not what you think • Tax Secrets that are totally legal …. these will amaze you, and your accountant! • The Superannuation Lie Exposed • Get Returns on Your Investments just like the banks do • Is someone spying on you? How to find out and how to foil them • The Absolute 8 Secrets of Great Wealth….. every millionaire has used these strategies • The Latest Scams and How to avoid them and they are really convincing…. You may have already been taken and not know it. • Corporate Pirates…. How to Spot them and How to Avoid them….. Any AMP, HIH or Onetel shareholders out there? • New Anti-Terrorist Laws will give you some grief …. What you can do about them • Warren Buffett, Super Genius?.... No, just “super logical”. We examine the logic and common sense that made this man the richest investor in history and how his simple rules can be followed so easily • Plus Lots of other “Secret” Information on Privacy, Investing and Asset Protection
Features: Privacy, Security, Special Destinations, Technology, Privacy Strategies and Tricks of the Trade, Money Making Ideas, Government Surveillance and how to beat it, plus many more great ideas, concepts and methods to improve your privacy and increase your wealth. Price AUD$49.50 I enjoy reading all your books but my favourite was Underground Knowledge - MR, Queensland I finished your book (Underground Knowledge) last night and it taught me so much. I can’t thank you enough for putting this together - it is going to change my life. - JP, Brisbane
Things You Didn’t Know Underground Knowledge 2 Like Underground Knowledge, Things You Didn’t Know focuses on a wide variety of topics for the freedom lover, investor, privacy seeker, entrepreneur, Perpetual Traveller or the average person with a curious and questioning mind. For example: • Did you know there is a new ‘cyber haven’ where you can host your website without bureaucratic interference? This place is a relatively new nation. • Did you know that every phone call you make, every fax and email you send is being monitored, right here in Australia? • Do you know where you can buy ‘James Bond’ type spy equipment? • Did you know there is an Australian company currently gathering all your private personal and financial details so they can sell it to the highest bidder? Do you know how it will be used? Do you know how to foil their attempts? • Ever wondered why the rich love to bank in Switzerland and why they invest in Swiss Annuities? What are Swiss Annuities? Why you should invest in them and how and with whom? • One adviser has achieved a 4,432% return for his clients. Would you like his name? • The same adviser has averaged 51% compound return for his clients since 1986. This man is The Guru! • There is an Australian hedge fund earning 45%pa since 1989, Do you know which one? No, it’s not advertised, it’s reserved for those in the know. We tell you all about it. • Another Australian fund open to everyone earning 30%pa. • Billionaire’s secrets exposed • Do you want a million dollars? We show you how to get it for as little as $14 a week. • Would you like to live the life of a PT? Things You Didn’t Know shows you exactly how to go about it, on any budget the right way • Second Citizenships and Passports demystified • How to hide and safeguard your assets the easy way • Plus much more! Price AUD$49.50 I have really enjoyed reading your many books, they have simply been mind blowing… thank you.- RB, Rockhampton, QLD
Only AUD$49.50 plus P&H
…for we are young and free or are we? Lance Spicer reveals what we all suspected, our country and our lives are becoming more controlled and our liberties are being attacked. The Australian People are becoming increasingly manipulated by the agendas of big business, banks, international interests and politicians who regard the electorate with contempt. The author discusses many of the serious issues that must be faced by all Australians: • The Banking System and the hidden agendas • The New World Order Organisations are exposed • Loss of Privacy and what we should do about it • Citizen Initiated Referenda -Take back control • “Our British Constitution” proven invalid • The De-Industrialisation of Australia by International interests • CIA interference in our political system & spy bases pose a threat to our privacy • The Dis-Arming of Australia • Our Rights and Freedoms under siege “All concerned Australians should read this book” Price AUD$29.50 I am writing to say how much I enjoyed your book For We are Young and Free. I am very pleased I made this purchase as it was very enlightening and should be made mandatory reading for every year 12 student before leaving school. - GT, Sydney
OFFSHORE WEALTH CREATION The Offshore Investment Guide The Offshore Investment Guide is the complete offshore investing companion that leads you through all the complex issues facing investors these days. It covers in detail: • International Tax Planning and Legalities • Offshore Basics • Recent Changes to the Offshore Industry • Financial Privacy • Understanding Residency and Working Overseas and how you can benefit • Asset Protection Strategies and Solutions • Details of some of The Best Investments in The World • Offshore Banking Strategies and Methodologies • How Offshore Investing works • Due Diligence • Offshore Structures and Do you need them? • Investment Contacts • Working Scenarios for the Business Investor, Real Estate Investor, Shares Investor and those wanting to protect their Assets • Putting the whole thing together in a simple way and making it work… and Very Profitable. This book is the first complete guide of its type and leads you step by step through the whole process of this often mis-understood and lucrative area of investment. 98% of all investment opportunities lie outside of our shores and most investors have for far too long been missing out on the diversification and profits available offshore. This book addresses this issue and presents practical and easy to understand information and advice from one the world’s foremost authorities on the subject, Lance Spicer. Price AUD$59.50
The Invisible World Financial Freedom & Privacy Offshore Investment Strategies can be employed to Minimise or Defer Taxation as well as increase your Privacy & Confidentiality The Invisible World will show you how you can establish offshore companies and trusts to minimise tax and increase privacy as well as take advantage of amazing investment opportunities. Features: Over 40 Tax Havens are analysed and the book gives you full details of Banks and Incorporation Agents, Secrecy Laws, costs, advantages & disadvantages • Tax and Investment Strategies fully explained in an interesting and easy to read way • Australian Tax Laws explained with loopholes exposed • How to establish your own offshore company or trust privately and inexpensively • How to set up secret bank accounts • Privacy & Secrecy • Second Passports • How Skase beat the system • Investing Offshore - the advantages • Maildrops • Includes new havens and contacts. Price AUD$59.50 International Best Seller Books such as The Invisible World by Australian, Lance Spicer are by far and away the best in the world on this subject (offshore investment) - Amazon.com I have to congratulate (Lance Spicer) on your writing abilities and educational approach to your financial freedom and privacy series books. You have forwarded everything that I was looking for. It’s great stuff and exhilarating to see such a wealth of knowledge and experience delivered in an easy to understand format. Once again, thank you, the information in the Invisible World is priceless! - Executive, Nortel Networks
Invisible Banking This amazing book shows you how to bank and invest offshore in total privacy This amazing ‘How To’ book will provide you with the information that you always wanted to know but your accountant couldn’t tell you.This entertaining book will reveal: • How to keep your Banking Secret • Privacy & Secrecy Tips • Asset Protection Schemes • How to transfer your assets and cash around the world privately • Tax and Banking Strategies explained with working Examples • How to establish your own offshore bank • Procedures in Secret Offshore Banking and much, much more! Price AUD$59.50 Best Seller!
High Yield Investments The first book published in Australia that details over 60 of the highest yielding investments in the world and how you can invest This best selling book by Lance Spicer will change the way you invest forever. The book details over 60 of the worlds best and highest yielding investments that YOU can invest in. They are all reliable and most have exceptional track records and international reputations. The investment opportunities exist offshore as well as some right here in Australia. All investments have passed through due diligence and have been researched with full documentation received by Trident from all investment managers. Investments may include: • World famous nvestment Fund trading Currency derivatives returning 150% pa. for last 5 years • Fixed Interest in the US paying 24%pa - Secured • Investments with capital guarantees from major companies yielding 12-30% pa • Offshore Investments yielding 50-100% pa, year after year Plus many more investments, 90% of which have never been offered to Australians. All nvestment details are fully disclosed with entry levels from as little as a few thousand dollars. High Yield Investments is a must for all investors. Revised and Updated Every Year. Price AUD$59.50 Best Seller! After reading Invisible Banking, The Invisible World and High Yield Investments my husband and I are very keen to invest offshore....Keep up the good work, your books are very interesting, thought provoking and informative. Congratulations! - VT, Tasmania I have received your books, High Yield Investments and The Australian Share Market Guide a few weeks ago - I’m very impressed and thank you for the valuable information, concisely and very clearly written - RL, New Zealand
High Yield Investments 2 Investments to make you wealthy Following on from the success of the best selling High Yield Investments - Get Rich …Quickly! , Lance Spicer has come up with over 60 more exciting investments that can help you attain financial independence. High Yield Investments 2, (HYI 2) continues on where the first book left off, presenting factual information on investments that have out performed and provided investors with fabulous returns. Here are a few examples of the type of investments you will find in HYI 2: • Capital markets fund returning over 50%pa • Company trading bank instruments with potentially high returns • Technology investment fund returning 75%pa for the last 5 years • Zero risk returns of 12% through a well respected European bank • Capital guaranteed high yield investment bonds • Currency fund with a potential return of nearly 100% pa. Revised and Updated Every Year. Price AUD$59.50 Best Seller! Congratulations for a book (High Yield Investments) which provides a lot of financial signposts and sage comments on possible scams - HT, Melbourne
Offshore Companies & Trusts And How To Use Them These days more and more people are discovering the massive savings that can be made by having an offshore company and trust. Find out why the rich use them and why you probably should too. Price AUD$24.95
Invisible Cash Have you ever wondered how the “professional money movers” make cash disappear in one place and reappear in another? How money launderers and criminals transfer their cash around the world? This book reveals all their tricks. A fascinating exposé on this popular subject. AUD$24.95
Future Wealth
The Tax Haven Report Series
Have you ever thought to yourself, “Why can’t I have had shares in THAT company?” This is a book that helps that happen. A massive amount of research has gone into producing the book you always wanted, one that more or less predicts the future and informs you which industries are set to boom, which companies you should consider for the future. The book takes the consensus of opinions of economists, analysts, investors, industry experts and gives you definitive answers and solutions.
This range of 5 books provides the prospective offshore investor with concise information on a range of popular “tax havens”. They include a synopsis, taxation and legal requirements, advantages and disadvantages, cost of establishment, regulations plus much more. Invaluable information for investors. Each book is only AUD$24.95
Features: Future Economics, Globalisation, how to buy high-tech stocks, where the smart and rich have their money, the Internet, the winners and losers of the next decade, and most importantly, the 53 companies that will be the new industrial powerhouses, their real intrinsic value and how to invest in them. “If you want to make money, this is the book you need!” Price AUD$49.50 Latest Edition
The Privacy Report Strategies & Methods to beat the System! It seems everything we do, everywhere we go and everybody we speak to could be monitored by “someone” It’s a chilling thought. No longer do we have privacy, financially or personally, but this book will empower you again. Full of strategies, methods, and simple rules to not only ensure privacy, but also to beat the system “they” have tried to impose on us. A fascinating book. Price AUD$24.95
The Tax Haven Report 1 Panama–Belize–Caymans–Seychelles The Tax Haven Report 2 Channel Is–Gibraltar–Isle of Man–Nevis The Tax Haven Report 3 Liechtenstein–Luxembourg–Austria The Tax Haven Report 4 Bahamas–Turks & Caicos–BVI–Vanuatu The Tax Haven Report 5 Antilles– Delaware–Cook Is–Western Samoa–Barbados–Ireland
The Trident Offshore Banking Directory on CDROM The Trident Offshore Banking Directory gives you access to hundreds of Offshore banks. The banks are arranged in country order and provide the reader with Internet addresses with direct hyperlink access, addresses, phone numbers and brief highlights and features of many of the banks. A must for all those interested Offshore Banking and having a convenient and easy to use Banking Directory. The Trident Offshore Banking Directory comes on a CD-ROM, in PDF file format, ready to use. On CD-ROM….ONLY AUD$35 plus P&H
The Complete Offshore Wealth Special Our most popular special ever! All the information in one discounted package including: • The Trident Offshore Incorporation and Investment Strategy Manual manual is exclusive to this special and is valued at $95 - it is invaluable to investors • The Invisible World - Latest Edition • Invisible Banking - Latest Edition • High Yield Investments 2 - Latest Edition • High Yield Investments - Latest Edition • Offshore Companies and Trusts Book • The Off Shore Investment Guide This package contains everything you need to establish yourself offshore – all in one easy to understand package. Value AUD $458.00, yours for only AUD $325.00 - Save AUD
GENERAL WEALTH BUILDING The Australian Share Market Guide Is it Possible to Earn a Good Living from Investing and Trading Shares on the Stockmarket? Many people do! The Australian Share Market Guide will show you how it’s done by professional investors. The investment and trading criterion explained is similar to those used by the world’s most successful share trader, billionaire Warren Buffett. Using fundamentals to select companies and buy and sell points, this book will take much of the risk out of share market investment. Features: Value Investing - How to select undervalued shares or oversold shares - Cycles and economic factors explained - When to buy - When to Sell -What to Buy - Selection Criteria detailed - Warren Buffet’s buying criteria detailed and explained - Options - Crash Strategies - Contacts and more. Price AUD$49.50
Financial Crisis – How to avoid Financial Disaster describes exactly how people get into great financial mess and how to get out of it, and better still how to avoid it. This enlightening and fascinating book discusses in an easy to read way how people run into financial difficulties, how to get out of them and better still how to avoid them. It is a must read for anybody concerned about money, the economy and the financial security of your family. It contains great tips and strategies to follow. Financial Crisis Features: • Identifying Common Financial Problems • Money Traps • Bracing Yourself for Financial Crisis • Disaster Strikes – What To Do? • When You Can’t Pay Your Bills • The Struggle for Work and Family Balance • Budgeting & Money Management • The Art of Money Control • A Strategy for Financial Recovery •
Money Protection Strategies • Tips for the next 1,000 years • World wide Financial Crisis and How to make money from it! • Prepare for The Next Stock Market Crash • People Are Telling Me To Buy Gold, Is this Wise? • The Secret to Building Wealth • Where exactly to invest and exactly what to invest in for sure fire results that work • How to make money in a falling market • Investor’s Traps plus much more! Price AUD$39.50
Scams & Frauds Financial Crime Exposed Could you be ripped off in some “legitimate sounding” investment? Have you already been ripped off and don’t know it? This book may shock you - it may anger you - but it will give you the Truth.... If you can handle the Truth! There are literally thousands of scams operating today and the problem is identifying them - This book will show you how. The first book of its kind in the world - We name names of people still operating scams!
Scams & Frauds features: Bank debenture trading programs and other so-called High Yield Investment Programs • How they work, their history and why you will lose your money! • Sham Investment & Savings Clubs • Cold Callers and shonky brokers • Pyramid Schemes • MLM Shams • Ponzi Schemes -Gold Bullion and Mine scams • A List of the Biggest, Boldest and most well known scams around today that have ripped off thousands, they just don’t know it... Yet! • Banks that actually steal your money • Why banking in Latvia is a HUGE mistake • Why a Bank Guarantee is no Guarantee! • Nigerian Letters • Lottery and “give away” scams • Offshore Investment scams • Fake Credit Cards • Stock market bubbles and how scamsters use them to take your money • Poor advice that leaves you...poor • Affinity fraud • Self Liquidating Loans • The truth about Pure Trusts • Internet Frauds and Scams • How to avoid being taken and what to do if you have. Price AUD$39.50 High Yield Investments and The Australian Share Market Guide are excellent books as they are very practical, thank you - Ernst & Young, Accountants The books you publish are brilliant! I have read them over several times so not to miss anything - GS, Victoria
Going Out on Your Own?
Investing to Win
The Secrets to Small Business Success This book covers all aspects of small business and shows you practical ways to achieve the results that you desire. In a logical sequence of events, Going Out on Your Own? explains getting started, making sure your business will work, right through to proven ways to improve sales by writing ads that work, time management, merchandising, selling, administration and many other important aspects to business success. Going Out on Your Own? is the only book that puts together all the information you will need in one inspirational and practical book. Author and accountant Lance Spicer has taken a serious subject and made it entertaining and easy to understand. If you want to be successful in business, you need the secrets and the methods of true business success. Going Out on Your Own? contains these secrets and Price AUD$19.95 methods.
Investing to Win has now been released. This book takes an aggressive, winning approach to investment that WILL achieve results from investing. This book takes a straightforward and entertaining look at all aspects of investing. It does away with all the nonsense we hear continually from the media and focuses on ways that really make money and tells you the things that don’t. The book examines: Financial Intelligence, Share Markets, Property Investment, Superannuation, Offshore Investments, Unusual Investments, Taxation, Futures, Options, Cash Investments, Managed Funds, the Secrets of Successful Investing, Doom and Gloom, Winning Strategies, Frauds and Ripoffs & much more. This really is the complete investing guide. Price AUD$34.50 I have just purchased a few of your books. I have started to read the Invisible World, it’s a priceless book, I couldn’t put it down. I think purchasing your books is the best investment I have made. Thank you. - CL, Parramatta NSW
I have read through your book and must say I really like the practical advice that you offer in such an easy to read format (Going Out on your Own?) - Simon & Schuster, Australia
Build your Wealth Today A Wealth Building Solution We are all looking for better ways to increase our wealth but we are bombarded with differing opinions, complicated and risky schemes. It all gets too hard. However, in Build Your Wealth Today, the focus is on simple and logical strategies that anybody can employ to ensure they generate wealth at a rate above the “norm”. A great book for people who are just starting out or don’t have time for more complex solutions. Price AUD$24.95
The Author Lance Spicer Lance worked for many years as an accountant, senior financial executive and consultant to several major Australian and foreign corporations including Australian and foreign banks. Before ‘semi-retiring’, he was the financial controller of a major listed property and tourism group. In recent years, he has become a professional investor in addition to writing 27 books on various subjects such as investment, financial privacy, small business and the share market. Many of Lance’s books have now attained best seller status with books having been sold in over 90 countries around the world. Lance is a regular feature writer for several leading magazines and newspapers. He has been a key speaker at several international and local seminars on issues of taxation, investment and privacy. His books have been featured on ABC Television’s LateLine program and discussed on radio in the USA and in Australia. Lance’s biography has recently been included in Who’s Who in the World.
Visit our website. There’s plenty of free information and articles available. All our books are updated regularly so they are never out of date! All our books are written by acclaimed Australian Author & professional investor, Lance Spicer. Trade and Distributorship Enquiries Welcome
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