Democratic leader condemns Romney "secrecy" on offshore accounts

BOSTON (WWLP) - Democrats are attacking former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for his offshore bank accounts, and are demanding that he release more of his tax returns.

Democrats are pouncing on a report that the expected GOP nominee has a number of offshore holdings, including a corporation in Bermuda and bank accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.

Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee , says that she wants to know what Romney has to hide. She called on the former governor to release more than one year of tax returns, noting that his father, George Romney, released 12 tax returns when he ran for president in the 1960s.

Wasserman Schultz also accused Romney of transferring his offshore holdings to a trust under his wife’s name before becoming governor so as to evade taxes and disclosure requirements.

“Why an American businessman, and particularly a candidate for president, needs to invest in vast sums of money in offshore accounts in typical tax notorious havens?  That usually mean that you're trying to avoid taxation,” she said.

Wasserman Schultz said that Romney’s penchant for secrecy would carry on to his conduct at the White House were he ever to become president.

In a statement, Romney campaign spokesperson Michael Levoff criticized the Obama campaign for diverting focus away from real issues. 

"Four years ago, Barach Obama criticized candidates who turned 'big elections into small things.'  It is sad to see President Obama become what he once criticized - a typical politician willing to use dishonest attacks to save his own job," said Levoff.