South Dakota’s lax trust laws returned to a national spotlight this week, this time on Capitol Hill, as Democrats on the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight called for greater transparency into opaque financial records that they allege could be hiding illegal tax evaders or the finances of international conmen.
At the start of the hearing on Wednesday, Dec. 8, committee chair Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., invoked Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen’s 1978 song, “Badlands,” observing, “There’s trouble in the heartland.”
“South Dakota is home to a stunning 81 of the 106 trusts located in the United States,” said Pascrell, pledging to review “how and why the wealthy and powerful are hiding their assets in South Dakota.”
Read the full story at The Dickinson Press.