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Bloomberg Testy When Asked About Off-Shore Accounts
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 22, 2010
Modified Apr 22, 2010
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 22, 2010
Modified Apr 22, 2010
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Surprise, surprise—Mayor Bloomberg wasn't really thrilled about questions regarding the $290 million his charity, the Bloomberg Family Foundation, has in off-shore accounts, as reported by the Observer. According to the Daily Politics, Bloomberg said he didn't know where the money was invested, which is "consistent with his agreement with the Conflicts of Interest Board" (he can give advice about his investments, but not know where they are invested). But as the AP's Sara Kugler pointed out, Bloomberg personally signed the 105-page tax return in 2008 that showed the foundation's investments in Mauritius, Cyprus, Japan, Brazil, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.
Bloomberg: "I don't have anything to say about my investments, miss."
Kugler: "You signed those tax forms, so you had to have known --"
Bloomberg: "I did not sign those tax forms."
Kugler: "It has your signature on it."
Bloomberg: "If there are tax forms that I signed, I signed. But I don't have any control over where my investments go. And incidentally, as far as I know, the investments that my money managers make are perfectly legal. They're fully disclosed. And they're appropriate to maximize the assets which I'm giving away to charities."
Here's how Kugler filed the story: "When told he signed the tax forms that list the offshore investments, he insisted he had not done so. He then defended the practice as legal and practical as a way to make the most money for his charitable foundation." (See the tax return here.)
Then when Azi "The Disgrace" Paybarah of the Observer asked whether his investments in the Caymans made it easier or harder to advocate for financial regulations, Bloomberg started with, "I think last time I checked, people in the Cayman Islands are very nice people. They have a lot of people from the Cayman Islands that live here. If you have any problems with people from the Cayman Islands, I think you might want to address it to them." He also said, "But you seize a good example. Every diverse investment pool invests around the world. We live in a global world. The companies that we invest in do business around the world globally."
Tagged
bloomberg family foundation
Cayman Islands
investments
mayor bloomberg
money
off shore accounts
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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