Hooray for whistleblowers! It is because of the success of their efforts that the enormity of the secret financial industry is being revealed. People who have been swearing by their integrity have been found to be engaging in illicit activities.
While holding offshore accounts in itself is not a crime, and there may be legitimate reasons for the secrecy, in so many cases people have been telling lies about their business activities that it cannot be for only reasons of security.
In fact, if it were not that they were forced to tell the truth, the lie would have been perpetuated. But thanks to the vigilance of some people, nauseated by the dishonesty of these supposed exemplars, the information has come out and the guilty ones are being exposed.
The trend started some years ago with revelations about extraordinary renditions of alleged terrorists by the United States, which country did not have the time nor the inclination to justify its actions, and in many cases incarcerated people against whom there was no evidence. This was followed by the scandal about the tapping of the phones of the leaders of friendly nations.
Without the transparency forced upon world leaders by these revelations the actions of these leaders would never be reined in. We need more of this type of conscientious oversight.
Karan Mahabirsingh