Sen. Claire McCaskill Husband Invested in Hedge Fund In Caymans

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Jun 20, 2018

A Senator running for reelection in Missouri has been hit with allegations that her husband is storing investment money in an offshore bank account in order to evade taxes.

“Joseph Shepard’s investment in Matrix Capital Management has earned him between $230,000 and $2.1 million in income since he first invested in 2013, according to McCaskill’s financial disclosure forms. Such forms only show a range of income,” said a Kansas City Star article.

Shepard is the husband of Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.

According to the report, Shepard has invested $1 million in a hedge in the Cayman Islands, a “notorious tax haven.” The capital gains tax in the Caymans is much lower than the income tax rate paid by the ordinary American citizen.

Campaign finance law mandates that candidates for office must declare the income of spouses.

McCaskill co-sponsored the 2009 Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, but has declined to release her tax returns until later this year. She will not release Shepard’s tax returns. The bill, which was not passed, targeted the Caymans among countries and would have subjected income earned there to be taxed at the same rate as U.S. Corporations.

“Secretive hedge funds seek outsized profits and are open only to the ultra-wealthy, who are considered sophisticated investors and can withstand big losses,” said the report. “These funds do not have to disclose their investors to regulators.”

So far, mum is the word from McCaskill’s office.

“Claire does not make decisions on public policy based on what’s best for her husband; she makes decisions based on what is best for the people of Missouri,” Meira Benstein, a McCaskill campaign spokesperson told the Kansas City Star.

Big League Politics reached out to McCaskill’s office, but they refused to comment.

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