Take Action Donate

Ownership Transparency

The U.S. is the easiest place in the world for a criminal, terrorist, tax cheat, or kleptocrat to open an anonymous shell company to launder their money with impunity. Anonymous corporations are great ways to hide money and other assets — they can hold a bank account or buy a yacht. Criminals often layer anonymous corporations, with one owning another and so on, making it even harder for law enforcement to “trace the money” and figure out who is directing the company’s activity. It’s time to ending the use of anonymous shell companies as vehicles for illicit activity by requiring that the true owners of U.S. companies be disclosed at the time of formation and updated upon any change.

New Report: Anonymous Shell Companies Driving Opioid Epidemic

New Fair Share Study Highlights 10 Cases that Connect Opioid Trafficking and Related Money Laundering to Anonymous Companies
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As opioid overdose deaths skyrocket, a new report released today by Fair Share Education Fund—a member of the FACT Coalition—highlights the role of anonymous shell companies in facilitating the money laundering, which drives the drug traffickers behind the crisis.  Titled “Anonymity Overdose,” the report highlights 10 cases that connect opioid trafficking and related money laundering to anonymous shell companies.

Read More

Anonymity Overdose

Opioid deaths now exceed those from motor vehicle accidents. It’s clear we need to do more. Fair Share Education Fund’s latest report, “Anonymity Overdose,” connects opioid trafficking and the subsequent crisis with the activities of anonymous shell companies – companies formed with no way of knowing who is actually in charge. Because they shield the owners from accountability, anonymous shell companies are a common tool for disguising criminal activity and laundering money, and are also at heart of the Panama Papers.

Read More

FACT Sheet: Anonymous Shell Companies

Enabling Criminal Activity in the U.S. and Around the World
America is one of the easiest places in the world in which to form an anonymous shell company—this facilitates crimes that victimize ordinary Americans.

Read More

Anonymous Companies Fueling Waste, Fraud, and Abuse of Taxpayers’ Money

New Report Highlights Need for Congressional, Administrative Action
WASHINGTON, DC — A new report released today by Global Witness, a member of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, highlights how anonymous shell companies are ripping-off taxpayers and putting the lives of American military personnel at risk.  The report is titled, “Hidden Menace: How Secret Company Owners Are Putting Troops at Risk and Harming American Taxpayers”.

Read More

Hidden Menace: How secret company owners are putting troops at risk and harming American taxpayers

Since the financial crisis and release of the Panama Papers, we have heard a lot about the revenue governments lose to tax avoidance and evasion, but what about the losses resulting from corruption and fraud when governments spend money on goods, services and infrastructure?

Around the world governments spend $9.5 trillion each year on public procurement.  It should be no surprise that fraudsters, and corrupt officials, take advantage of this. According to research by the UN, corruption may amount to as much as 25% of the value of government procurement contracts worldwide.

Read More
Anonymous Companies

An Urgent Call for Action: Stop Anonymous Shell Companies from Fleecing American Taxpayers

For three and a half years, a former Pentagon supplier used two shell companies in Wyoming and pretended they were largely owned by ethnic minorities to win preferential treatment for government contracts so that he could profit from supplying substandard parts to the military. These schemes happen all too often. In another, conspirators used sham companies from North Carolina, Nevada and Tennessee to steal more than $2 million from subcontractors that they tricked into fulfilling contracts.

The US Administration is coming upon a key moment tomorrow at the international Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by the UK where it can keep the criminal and corrupt from ripping off our public budget while hiding behind the veil of an anonymous shell company.

Read More