Oregon senator probes Nevada businesses tied to Panama Papers

By Megan Messerly

Tuesday, May 10, 2016 | 5:45 p.m.

Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske has been asked by the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee to detail her office’s oversight of more than 1,000 Nevada companies tied to the Panama Papers leak.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a Tuesday letter, asked Cegavske to specify whether her office had ever audited any of the Nevada companies named in the papers and to generally describe the state’s oversight of registered agents. M.F. Corporate Services, a Nevada registered agent, has been linked to Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian firm at the heart of the data leak.

“I have become increasingly concerned about the use of anonymous shell companies as vehicles for terrorist financing, tax evasion, and fraud targeting major government programs within the committee’s jurisdiction, such as Medicare,” Wyden wrote in the letter.

Wyden also asked that Cegavske provide any documents pertaining to the more than 1,000 entities, including any audits her office had conducted.

Nevada is one of the most popular states in the country to incorporate a business, due to the tax breaks, legal protections and privacy the state provides. Others do so abroad in countries known as tax havens, like Bermuda, the Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands.

There isn’t anything illegal about setting up offshore companies, but some argue that the companies can be used to dodge taxes, commit fraud, or otherwise engage in illegal activities.

Wyden also sent a letter to Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray Tuesday, asking for similar information from his office. Wyoming had 37 offshore entities listed in the database and has its own Mossack Fonseca affiliate in the state. Wyden asked that both Cegavske and Murray respond to his inquiry by June 3.

A Cegavske spokeswoman sent an email to the Sun early Tuesday saying that “Nevada has taken steps to make revisions to the following laws on how business can operate,” and pointing to several Nevada statutes. When asked for comment specifically about Wyden's letter, the spokeswoman sent back the same statement and did not address the letter.

A woman who answered a phone number listed for M.F. Corporate Services in Nevada said it was a wrong number.

A database published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on Monday showed 1,260 active entities in Nevada based on the Panama Papers and a previous leak.

Information provided by Cegavske’s office showed that M.F. Corporate Services is listed as the commercial registered agent for 1,024 entities in the state, of which only 185 were active as of May 4.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has previously expressed concern with Nevada’s connection to the Panama Papers and allegations that companies may have violated or circumvented state law to engage in illegal activities.

His office said last month that Cegavske’s office would review the allegations and they would work closely with legislators on any policy recommendations that surface from her office’s findings.

The Panama Papers leak from last month has already rippled across the globe. Notably, Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned shortly after details from the papers were made public.