It was based on a review of nearly 11.9 million records obtained from 14 firms that provide services in setting up offshore firms and shell companies. Setting up an offshore company is not illegal, but reinforces the perception that the wealthy and powerful play by different rules — a particularly upsetting notion for many Lebanese. Yet two years later the same politicians still run the country in the same way, protected by the sectarian-based system. Offshore companies, though not illegal, can be used to elude taxes or hide illicitly gained money. Prime Minister Mikati, a businessman who formed a new government last month, has owned a Panama-based offshore company since the 1990s.
