This has become
the place for rich people
to stash their cash.
You have a lot of rich people
that live here
that don't want to be known,
don't want to be seen.
The so-called Panama Paper,
world leaders and the mega-rich
hide billions of dollars
helping the world's
rich and powerful hide
billions of dollars.
This is crazy.
It's the home of the
first International Trump Hotel.
This used to be a Trump
Hotel behind me, but not anymore.
It has a crazy story.
But before any of this,
Panama became a rich country
over decades
two check points
you have security cameras
everywhere.
This in the middle of Latin America.
It's grown a lot.
We have a lot of more
cultural offerings,
a lot more buildings,
a lot more stores.
It's the first country
to ditch its own currency
and use U.S. dollars..
$56.
The most expensive lunch
I've had in two weeks
in Latin America here
at a Chinese restaurant in Panama.
It's home
of the only Waldorf Astoria
in Latin America.
But Panama has a huge wealth gap
and become super Americanized.
If you want to see
that kind of culture, you
you have to go out·skirts
This tiny country in Latin
America has the same population
as the state of Oregon
So why is Panama so rich?
You see Dolce and Gabbana, Cartier,
Ferragamo, Ferrari, Bentley,
and super yachts.
Everywhere I look at signs of luxury
on this street alone
have counted about seven banks.
And next to the banks,
you've got major hotel
brands from Waldorf Astoria
to W hotel
A lot of this
money comes from the service sector.
Panama is largely
a service based economy,
so think banking and mergers
and acquisitions.
Its stock
market is the biggest
in Central America.
Maybe one of the biggest signs
of wealth
is how many banks are in a city
and how tall those buildings are.
And if that's any indication,
you see
quite a lot of them here in Panama
and with a lot of banks
and good paying
jobs, you can expect to have nice
and expensive homes, too.
I wasn't able to enter inside
this area.
It's a very high, secure,
gated community
where the lowest priced condo
will start at $1.3 million.
If you want a couple of bedroom
apartment
here, that's going to cost you over
$7,000 per month.
Ocean Reef
Islands are manmade islands.
They were built about ten years ago
to fill demand of more luxury homes.
You have a lot of rich people
that live here
that don't want to be known,
don't want to be seen
you have to check points.
You have security
cameras everywhere.
That might be
because Panama is considered
to be a tax haven.
But more about that later.
Behind me you see three tall banks.
This isn't something
I would normally see going around.
Latin America, it is multiple
tall banks.
I definitely feel like I'm
in Singapore, not Latin America.
Naturally,
when you have so many
big banks around,
you're going to have
the luxury stores that follow
like Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
But to understand
how Panama got here,
we need to go all the way back.
140 years
initially became a hotspot
because of the canal,
because it's connected
both ocean for fast travel.
We have a very good
geographic precision
that has allowed us to develop
a lot of industries, right?
Starting with the Panama
Canal and everything
that's connected
to us, we are in middle of the world.
So it's an easy place
to do business.
The Panama Canal uses a crazy,
smart method of technology
to allow ships
to strategically
go through the hills.
They created gates
that put
water inside, that make the ship
float enough
so it can easily pass through.
And it's this canal
that gave Panama
the opportunity
to be what it is today.
I'm watching the ship right now
go from the Atlantic Ocean
into the Pacific Ocean.
What's crazy
is that this canal, this
what I'm looking at right here
contributes
10%
10% of the total country's
annual GDP.
We have 12,000 of these ships
coming through the Panama Canal
every year.
The journey
is going to be about 8
to 12 hours
8 to 12 hours
to get from one side to the other.
It's a really fascinating,
complex process,
the way these ships
have to come through the canal.
It's extremely narrow.
It's crazy
to think that this happens
12,000 times per year.
This system is actually lifting
and lowering the ship.
It's quite fascinating
the way it works.
Because that is a huge step.
And as you can see behind me,
this ship is coming in for it
and it's going to somehow
miraculously using engineering,
using technology,
It's going to lower the ship
to be able
to go into the Pacific Ocean.
Panama Papers,
as implicated as many as 12 current
or former heads of state
Panama has now become a place
for rich people to keep their money
because it's legal.
And tax structure makes it
super attractive here.
They have no income.
Corporate capital gains
or estate
taxes on offshore entities.
So it became a hotspot for thousands
that was until 2016.
It was the first time
a leak of this size had happened.
Millions of documents leaked
showing how people from the U.S.
to India are keeping their money
in accounts to avoid taxes.
Now, avoiding
taxes is perfectly legal,
but evading taxes is not.
At the center of this scandal
was a firm called Mossack Fonseca,
which had been doing
fraud, tax evasion
and been avoiding
international sanctions
for some of its clients.
from here it looks like
a perfectly respectable company,
but this is a business
that's helped people
from around the world break the law.
So this is all boarded up.
I bet you this is where
the the main headquarters was.
This was probably like
a really nice headquarters.
I'm guessing
this sign was even here,
and now it's just
completely boarded up.
This is crazy.
This used to be
one of the biggest firms
here in Panama.
And then after
the Panama Papers came out,
this is this is what happened.
This is what it looks like.
This is the exact address
of where the headquarters was.
Now, it's
hard to say
if this was actually the entrance,
it very well
could have been considering
that it's now completely boarded up.
It looks like it
hasn't been used for a couple years.
Donald Trump's name came up
more than 3,500 times in the papers,
but he was not implicated
of illegal activity.
But his customers and partners were.
Trump's
hotel management company
was evading
income and Social Security tax,
and I go to visit his old hotel.
This used to be a Trump
hotel behind me, but not anymore.
It has a crazy story.
In 2019,
after the management company
evaded taxes,
the hotel had to close operations,
but it didn't close entirely.
And since that it has been rebranded
renamed to J.W. Marriott.
Today, there are still big plans
for growth here in Panama.
I've come to the old town here,
and this is one
of the most expensive
areas for real estate
when you look at square footage.
So you have condos, you have hotels.
They're actually opening
a brand new Sofitel
in a couple of months.
Just over here,
as well as a brand new Hyatt.
This is known as Panama
City's Old Town, and it's super hip.
You've got cool lounges, bars,
sushi restaurants.
This building behind me
is going to be a Hyatt
coming up very soon,
but its future
is not really certain.
Some people I speak with here
bring up corruption.
Panama ranked 111th
out of 180 countries
on the 2020 Transparency
International Corruption
Perceptions Index.
I grew up with
my culture of my Panamanian culture
and like the more
I stay in the city,
it kind of like diminishes.
If you want to see
that kind of culture, you
you have to go out·skirts.
Now I feel like
the city
is pushing them out
while it's wealth
and luxury is certainly impressive.
More development
means that finding
local culture is becoming
harder to find