A Bellevue man convicted of running a $65 million Ponzi scheme in 2011 has been identified in connection to the offshore financial dealings of politicians, public figures and businessmen worldwide.
Robert Miracle, 55, was sentenced in 2011 to 13 years in prison for his role in a Ponzi involving conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion charges, according to the FBI. He is one of a handful of convicted or accused of financial crimes and reportedly had offshore companies registered by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.
The 2.6 terabyte leak, which has been named the Panama Papers, was made public earlier this week. The data given anonymously to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, who then shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
News organization McClatchy — which worked with the Consortium — identified more American citizens on April 4 for whom Mossack Fonseca registered offshore companies.
Miracle operated a variety of companies involved in oil developed in Indonesia, of which he sold shares and shorted investors, according to the FBI.
His investments were “were triggered by outright misrepresentations…. and ruined people’s lives,” U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said at the 2011 sentencing hearing.
Miracle made a plea agreement in which he admitted he owed $326,650 in back taxes, under-reported his income by nearly $500,000 and transferred more than $500,000 from the company accounts to his personal bank accounts for his own use.
The U.S. Department of Justice will reportedly be reviewing the Panama Papers for any evidence of corruption and other violations of U.S. law, according to Reuters. What impact that could potentially have on Miracle is unclear at this time.
Mossack Fonseca denied any wrongdoing in a statement released this week, and said that media reports on the leak are inaccurate and “rely on supposition and stereotypes, and play on the public’s lack of familiarity with the work of firms like ours.”
The leaked Panama Papers have already caused backlash. Iceland’s prime minister resigned on April 5 after his connection to an offshore company was revealed.