“We have broken no laws and cooperated with the government at all times.”Malone explains what is really meant by these exculpatory statements.
Variations of that statement seem to be the default defence of everyone from bankers to politicians when their names come up in the Panama Papers.
He concludes his essay by observing:
It has been and remains just the way the system they profit by, works. The only people who were not to know is us – The little people of every country, who are told they must pay their taxes, accept cuts because they aren’t paying enough taxes, and obey the laws and respect their betters.The "system" has a name: capitalism.