Panama papers

For U.S. tax cheats, Panama Papers reveal a perilous new world

For wealthy Americans trying to conceal their cash, stashing millions of dollars away in secret offshore shell companies is not as simple as it used to be.

International laws, whistleblower bounties and embarrassing data breaches such as the one being dubbed the Panama Papers have made the lives of would-be U.S. tax cheats increasingly perilous, according to tax lawyers and former government prosecutors and investigators.

“If you are someone with serious money and you want to hide it from the government, you have a good reason to be nervous,” said Daniel Reeves, who founded the offshore compliance division of the Internal Revenue Service and now works as a tax compliance consultant. “Today, there are many different ways people can find out about your activities. It’s not the same world of secrecy.”