Pandora Papers: Guillermo Lasso’s links with tax havens will be investigated | Ecuadorian president at the center of criticism

The President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, is at the center of criticism after the journalistic investigation that Pandora Papers pointed to him for controlling 14 offshore companies, most of them based in Panama.. The Congressional Oversight Commission has assured that the president’s relations with tax havens will be investigated. Although Lasso admitted that he had “legitimate investments in other countries,” This is not the first time that the name of the ex-banker has appeared in surveys of offshore havens.

The recent publication of the journalistic investigation Pandora Papers revealed the names of more than 300 high profile politicians who have used tax havens to hide hundreds of millions of dollars. Guillermo Lasso, current President of Ecuador, was one of them. Although after the disclosure in which around 150 media from around the world participated, including the Ecuadorian newspaper Universe, Lasso has already spoken twice to defend himself, on the one hand admitted that he had “legitimate investments“And on the other hand that In 2017, after the law promoted by Correísmo (2007-2017) and which prevented presidential candidates from having businesses in tax havens, he got rid of businesses.

Pandora Papers

Global research coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed that Lasso was linked to 14 offshore companies established in Panama, the United States and Canada. According to the newspaper The country, who participated in the global researchCurrently, 11 of the 14 companies are inactive. About the other three Lasso denies any kind of relationship or benefit, as in the case of the Bretten Trust and Liberty US Trust, which were established in 2017 in South Dakota.. In regards to, Lasso told the ICIJ that he had “no relationship regarding ownership, control, benefits or interests of any kind.”

“My income comes from my decades-long work at Bank Guayaquil,” the president said in a video released by the government last night. “It is absolutely true that years ago I had, and I want to stress this, legitimate investments in other countries,” added Lasso, 65. In this sense, he stressed that if he had broken the law “the electoral authorities would have rightly denied my participation in the last competition from which we were legitimately the winners”, he added. “I did it overwhelmingly, without any kind of protest, delay or objection,” he said.

Disturbing

In Congress, the opposition Union for Hope (UNES), described as “worrying” that the name of the president of Ecuador appears among the investigations into tax havens disclosed in the Pandora Papers. The parliamentary group also urged Lasso to explain his involvement. “It is worrying that the president of the nation is emerging as one of the possible international fraudsters, alongside hundreds of politicians who have huge fortunes in tax havens, with the aim of not paying taxes in their country”added the note.

The member of the UNES Assembly, Ronny aleaga, stressed that it is necessary for the National Assembly to investigate the Pandora Papers affair since itLasso’s version “I think he left us with more doubts than certainties”, said quoted by the Ecuadorian newspaper Universe.

For its part, President of the Control Commission of the National Assembly, Fernando Villavicencio, has opened an investigation into the Pandora Papers. “Today I asked Guillermo Lasso to pass on the information on the case. I will not only investigate the Pandora Papers, but also the connection of former officials of the Panama Papers.”, indicated by social networks. According to the slogan Universe, Villavicencio asked Lasso “documented information, if he currently has any business, financial or working relationships with the trusts, companies and foundations mentioned in the ICIJ investigation report.”.

Lasso’s links with companies in tax havens are not new. Early 2021, PageI12 revealed that behind the funding of the current president’s presidential campaign was Banco Guayaquil and its many companies in tax havens. In addition, in 2017, this newspaper published investigations in which it revealed that the current Ecuadorian president was linked to the creation of at least 49 offshore companies. Between 1999 and 2000, Lasso’s fortune increased from reported $ 1million to $ 31million with speculation on the bonds issued on the holiday.

In Panama, Lasso also owns Banco Banisi. The bank is owned by a company called Banisi Holding SA According to the Spanish Morning Newspaper The country “The president now insists that this is a legal activity and that it has its origins in Ecuadorian laws, also promulgated by Correísmo, which prevent bankers from making investments in the country itself. , which would have led him to seek to extend his heritage abroad ”.