Barismont
| Zamastan | |
| Started | October 27th, 2020 |
|---|---|
The Barismont scandal was a political corruption and tax evasion scandal involving President of Zamastan Atticus Moreau, who was cited in leaked documents in a detailed report by the Jade Tribune revealing that he had avoided paying taxes during his term as Governor of Alutia from 2006 to 2016. It also detailed that Moreau had taken loans from foreign sources, and while it was never officially determined who those sources were, previous connections to CEO's of Yuaneze and Drambenburgian companies and senior members of the Drambenburgian government like Chancellor Walde Herzog and Kaiser Peter XXI Wettin were cited as potential lenders.
While investigations found Moreau had acted unethically and legal challenges were raised against him, he was not found guilty in any prosecutions of breaches of lawful conduct. However, the revelations of the scandal, as well as continued controversies surrounding the Bettencourt Protests and later the Kristina Leach affair tarnished Moreau's reputation and public approval. As a result of the scandals, Moreau declined to run for a second term in the 2022 Zamastan presidential election.
Name
The scandal became known as Barismont after the tax firm Baris and Montpillier which Moreau utilized.
Scandal
On October 27th, 2020, a Jade Tribune report revealed that then-Governor Moreau had paid a total of Z$5,460 in taxes over his entire ten years as Governor of Alutia from 2006 to 2016. According to the report, which obtained tax records for President Moreau and his political allies over two decades - President Moreau paid little to no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years. It added that the president was personally responsible for more than Z$300k in loans, which would come due in the next four years. It did not suggest President Moreau received any previously unknown income from Drambenburg or Zamastanian based companies, though it said that the president had earned some money from foreign sources, and records revealed "chronic losses and years of tax avoidance".
Speaker Natasha Chastain attacked Moreau publically, saying "this president appears to have over Z$300,000 in debt. To whom? Companies? Different countries? What is the leverage they have?" she asked, adding: "So for me, this is a national security question. The fact that you could have a sitting president who owes hundreds of thousands of dollars that he's personally guaranteed to lenders, and we don't know who these lenders are." Chastain also suggested that President Moreau may be indebted to the CEO's of big lender companies and even the Kaiser of Drambenburg, Peter XXI Wettin, whom Moreau has praised in the past.
The president accused the media of bringing up his taxes and "other nonsense with illegally obtained information & only bad intent" in a personal blog post, specifically citing the Tofino Times and the Jade Tribune of invasive journalism. He said he had "paid many hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes" but received tax credits as well. Responding to the accusations of losses, President Moreau added he had "very little debt" compared to the value of his assets.
President Moreau faced legal challenges prior to the presidency for refusing to share documents concerning his fortune and business. He was the first president since President Cassious Castovia in the 1980s not to make his tax returns public, though this is not required by law. The scandal drew comparison to the Delavian Bribery Scandal in which President Zacharias Castovia resigned over implications due to gifts he recieved while visiting a private island of a business associate, Tauren Delavian.