The two most important men in the Brazilian economy defend themselves from their appearance in the Pandora Papers | Journalistic revelation shows Paulo Guedes and Roberto Campos Neto at the head of offshore companies

The Brazilian Minister of the Economy, Paulo Guedès, and the President of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, they assured that their companies abroad are legal and declared after the publication of the Pandora Papers, the international journalistic investigation into the alleged concealment of millionaire sums of money by dozens of world leaders. According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the two most important men in the Brazilian economy were in charge of offshore companies, so the opposition has filed a complaint with the prosecution and will summon the two to testify before Parliament.

The explanations of Guedes and Campos Neto

“All the private actions of Paulo Guedes, before his inauguration as minister, have been correctly declared to the Treasury, the Public Ethics Commission and other relevant bodies, including their corporate participation in the aforementioned company “to the investigation, reported the opinion of one of the men closest to President Jair Bolsonaro in a statement. The memo added that Guedes has disassociated itself from all its activities in the private market since taking office as minister, “in full compliance with the legislation that applies to public officials and persons occupying public offices. positions of trust “.

According to the ICIJ, Guedes owns an offshore company called Dreadnoughts International, based in the British Virgin Islands.. The company, which is also owned by his wife, María Cristina Drumond, was founded in September 2014 and received deposits of $ 9.54 million until September, when it was still active.

The Attorney General of Brazil, Augusto Aras, said he would conduct a “preliminary investigation” and will seek clarification from Guedes before deciding whether or not it is necessary to request the opening of a judicial investigation. At the moment, this is only “news published by the press” and “with all due respect to the press, we cannot conduct inquiries based solely on current events”, he said. Aras told the Power 360 portal.

Using the same mechanism used by Guedes, the president of the Central Bank of Brazil, Roberto Campos Neto, founded the company Cor Assets in April 2004 in Panama. The offshore received deposits of $ 2.2 million until August 2020, when it closed. Also on behalf of Campos Neto is a public company in the British Virgin Islands which was active between January 2007 and November 2016.

Campos Neto He also defended himself on Monday from accusations by ensuring that his companies abroad appear on their tax returns since their opening. The economist added that it is a heritage “built over 22 years of work in the financial center” and that since he took up his duties as a public official, he has not made any movement in his accounts abroad.

Complaint from the Brazilian opposition

Beyond the clarifications, the opposition filed a complaint Monday against the two men close to the Brazilian economic elite. “It is illegal for senior officials, with access to privileged information, to stay abroad in a tax haven“, Explained on his Twitter account the leader of the opposition in the Chamber of Deputies, Alexandre molon.

“While Paulo Guedes’ offshore company has made millions in a very short period of time, inflation continues to punish people, who line up for leftover skin and bones.”, lamented the deputy of the Socialist Party. The request for an investigation into Guedes and Campos Neto is signed by the main opposition parliamentarians, including members of the Workers’ Party (PT) and the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB).

With this complaint presented to the prosecution, the opposition is demanding that the actions of the two officials be investigated and that they also appear before Congress to give an explanation. “The Minister of the Economy who attacks tax incentives for Brazilian industry has an offshore in a tax haven to avoid paying taxes in Brazil”, said the vice-president of the lower house, Marcelo Ramos placeholder image.

According to Brazilian law, opening and maintaining bank or business accounts abroad is not illegal as long as it is declared before the Federal Tax Administration and other authorities. Guedes and Campos Neto have declared to the Treasury that they have accounts in tax havens, which is why they do not violate financial legislation.

In any event, could have incurred a conflict of interest as both took action regarding offshore companies, exchange rate policy and other matters that benefited their deposits. According to the ICIJ, Guedes is keeping its offshore company active, while Campos Neto is said to have closed one of them after spending several months at the head of the Central Bank.

Several world leaders, including the presidents of Chile, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, are featured in the Pandora Papers. The investigation, What is based on the leak of some 11.9 million documents from 14 financial services companies around the world, established links between offshore assets and 336 leaders and politicians who created nearly a thousand companies.