Shell Games: When the Government Plays Like the Mob

How Public Systems Mirror Shell Companies to Profit Off Pain

By Pamela Jackson | She Heals Silently™ | #TheSilentEvictionSeries

They called it racketeering when Sean "Diddy" Combs allegedly used a web of shell companies to silence victims, funnel money, and protect his empire.

But what do you call it when the government does the same thing?

Because make no mistake—they do.
And they’ve been doing it longer, better, and with far more devastating reach.

🏛️ Shell Companies 101 — And the Dirty Mirror

A shell company is a business with no active operations. It exists to:

• - Hide ownership

• - Move money

• - Dodge taxes or responsibility

• - Operate in secrecy

Sounds shady, right?

Now look at this:

Shell Company Tactic	Government System Equivalent
LLC with no employees	Non-profit front group or subcontractor that receives federal funding
Layers of ownership	Third-party contractors running public housing, CPS, charter schools
Money laundering	"Grant laundering" through layers of nonprofits or foundations
Payoffs or hush money	Settlements with NDAs in police misconduct, CPS removals, or wrongful evictions
Obscured accountability	CPS says, “the judge made the call,” judge says “we followed CPS protocol”—no one’s responsible

When Diddy does it, it’s a crime.

When the system does it, it’s a program.

🏚️ Case in Point: Public Housing

You think you're renting from "Section 8"?

You’re often renting from a private developer who:

• Owns the building under a shell LLC

• Pays another shell company to manage it

• Collects rent through a "housing non-profit"

• Gets tax breaks from federal grants

• Evicts tenants using lawyers hired by the shell—not the government directly

So when the mold, violence, or eviction notice comes, who do you blame?

You can’t.
They’ve buried accountability in legal layers—just like Diddy allegedly did with his companies.

🧒🏽 CPS as a Shell Operation

Child Protective Services isn’t about protection—it’s a business.

• Children are removed and placed into privatized foster care systems.

• These agencies get paid per child, per night—just like hotels.

• Adoption bonuses are real—and incentivize permanent separation.

• The decision-makers? Often contracted therapists, evaluators, and third-party agencies.

It’s not public service.
It’s shell service—profiting off poverty, trauma, and isolation.

And when you fight back, no one can be held accountable.

🧩 Why They Work So Hard to Keep You Confused

The more layers, the less liability.

Shell companies work by:

• Obscuring ownership

• Splitting control

• Passing the buck

Public systems work the same way.

That’s how:

• You can be evicted by a landlord who doesn’t exist on paper

• Lose custody to a policy no judge takes credit for

• Be denied SNAP because "the computer" flagged you

• Be told your benefits disappeared—and no one knows why

It’s not a glitch.
It’s a game.

🔁 Diddy Didn’t Invent the Shell—He Mimicked the System

Sean Combs is being called to account for using his companies to:

• Silence victims

• Protect power

• Conceal abuse

But he’s not the inventor of this formula.
He’s a product of it.

The government:

• Used redlining to isolate Black families

• Used welfare laws to remove Black fathers

• Used shell nonprofits to outsource oppression

• And now uses public-private partnerships to make sure you never know who to blame

🧠 What Do We Do With This?

• Pull the receipts
  Use public records to trace who owns your housing complex, foster care agency, or eviction court contractor.

• Call it what it is
  If it looks like racketeering, profits like racketeering, and protects abuse like racketeering—it’s state-sanctioned exploitation.

• Educate to empower
  You are not crazy. You are not broken. You are being handled by entities that profit from your pain.

✊🏽 Final Word:

Sean Combs may be facing RICO charges.
But the bigger question is—when will the system itself be put on trial?

Because the real shell game isn’t in Hollywood.
It’s in the courthouse.
It’s in the housing office.
It’s in the welfare line.

And until we name it, we’ll keep blaming people for surviving a system that was always designed to disappear them.

With truth, fire, and healing,

Pamela Jackson
Spoken Word Prophet | The Phoenix Coach | Advocate for the Silenced
📖 Creator of She Heals Silently: A Spoken Word Survival Story
📬 Join the Movement + Get Free Resources
📸 @iamthephoenixcoach | 🕊 @shehealssilently

“I speak for the silenced. I rise for the broken. I write for the women who’ve been burned and came back glowing.”
— Pamela J.