Music industry mogul David Geffen implicated in Panama Papers leak

by Jeremy Mersereau

April 6, 2016

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The man who signed Nirvana might be evading taxes in offshore accounts.

Thanks to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists,  the world finally got a confirmation of a long-suspected theory: the rich often stay rich through unscrupulous means. On Sunday, April 3rd, the ICIJ published 2.6 terabytes of client data from Panamanian firm Mossack Fonseca, laying out how many of the moneyed elite keep from paying taxes through offshore accounts and shell companies. “This is the one thing we didn’t want to happen, guys!” – the world’s shady billionaires.

Journalists and other interested parties are still sifting through the massive, world-record-sized mountain of data detailing the asset-hiding activities of some of the world’s richest and most powerful, but to date there haven’t been many prominent North American names implicated in the papers. I mean, come on Canada, the best we can do is some mixed martial arts guy? Aw, I already knew MMA guys were shitty!

Through the work of McClatchy D.C, more American names associated with the Panama Papers leak are starting to come out, and one of them is a music industry icon. According to McClatchy reporter Kevin Hall, music and entertainment magnate David Geffen has been implicated in the papers. Geffen founded Asylum Records in 1970 and rapidly ascended to music industry prominence by backing such acts as Nirvana, Eagles, Elton John and many more, and also branched into Hollywood by co-founding Dreamworks SKG with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg (the G stands for Geffen).

Of course, it should be noted that the use of an offshore bank account isn’t illegal. There are many legitimate reasons for using one, but at this point it’s clear that Mossack Fonseca and a large number of their high-powered clientele have been involved in illegal, fraudulent activities, not the least of which is avoiding paying their contribution to society. Expect more North American names to pop up soon enough, and the extent of Geffen’s association with offshore accounts to become clearer.

[h/t Consequence of Sound]

Tags: Music, News, david geffen, geffen records, Nirvana, panama papers

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