By Mihai Munteanu

In a small, well-appointed boardroom just steps from the Romanian Government Building, Laszlo Gyorgy Kiss sketches on a sheet of paper to help an undercover reporter with him understand. The reporter from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has told Kiss he wants to hide his ownership in a large oil deal, he says.

By Mihai Munteanu

Kiss Behind Bars

Romanian police arrested offshore consultant Laszlo Gyorgy Kiss in Bucharest in early October, one month after reporters working undercover for the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) recorded him explaining how to cheat on taxes with offshore companies.

By Mihai Munteanu

In mid-December of 2009, a Russian-built cargo jet landed at Don Muang airport in Bangkok for routine refuelling.  It was not routine as later news accounts made clear. Thai Special Forces acting on a tip from a foreign intelligence agency swarmed the Ilyushin 76 and arrested the crew of four Kazakhs and a Belarusian. Inside they found not the oil drilling equipment listed on the plane’s manifest, but 35 tons of weapons including anti-aircraft missiles and computer-controlled rocket launchers.

By Mihai Munteanu

Kiss Was Consulted about Turning Romania Into an Offshore Haven

Eight years ago, Varujan Pambuccian, a Romanian member of parliament tried to make Romania into its own offshore haven.

And for advice on how to do it, the MP turned to Laszlo Kiss, an offshore registry agent who Romanian police recently arrested for money laundering and tax evasion connected to his offshore businesses. Pambuccian at the same time had some private business he consulted with Kiss about: he and fellow MP Metin Cerchez wanted to set up an offshore network for a transport business.

By Mihai Munteanu

Reporters from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) set out to find how easy it is to set up an offshore company.

They imagined a company in a remote location with good privacy laws. They decided their imaginary company needed to have proxies for both the shareholders using bearer shares and for the director of the company.

Offshore tax havens bring to mind tropical islands or Alpine towns.  But the preferred location for organized crime figures and corrupt politicians worldwide is the US state of Delaware.

Last month, prosecutors for the Romanian Unit to Fight Organized Crime and Terrorism arrested an offshore registry agent named Laszlo Kiss for masterminding an embezzlement and laundering operation for executives of a Romanian oil services company. Kiss is the author of a book promoting his business – and outlining just how to take advantage of the tiny state of Delaware to avoid taxes and launder money.