A Bellevue man who pleaded guilty in a Ponzi scheme involving Indonesian oilfields was among the U.S. passport holders whose names appeared in the “Panama Papers,” a leak of documents revealing details on offshore companies.
World leaders, including the Prime Minister of Iceland, and people with close connections to them were among the first names disclosed when the Panama Papers, a leak of millions of documents outlining details of offshore shell companies created the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, were released on Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
But in the days following, McClatchy’s Washington Bureau found information on connections to more than 200 Americans, including convicted Bellevue man Robert Miracle.
One of Miracle’s companies Mccube Petroleum, was a shareholder in offshore companies created by Mossack Fonseca, according the McClatchy report.
Miracle pleaded guilty in 2011 in a scheme that took in $65 million from investors. He and two partners told investors that their money was making a profit in oil development, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in 2011, but Miracle was creating fraudulent statements and paying for his own expenses. About $35 million of the $65 million were paid to investors as dividends, and $28 million of the money was used for oil and gas development and for his own use.
Miracle was sentenced to 13 years in prison and three years of supervised release for mail fraud and tax evasion, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Further reading
McClatchy Washington Bureau: Americans, including a Bellevue man, show up in Panama Papers
FBI: Seattle Businessman Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison for Mail Fraud and Tax Evasion
