Pandora Papers: opening of a parliamentary inquiry against the Ecuadorian president

According to the Pandora Papers, the investigation disclosed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Guillermo Lasso controlled 14 offshore companies.

RODRIGO BUENDIA AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

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The National Assembly of Ecuador approved Sunday, October 10 the opening of an investigation against President Guillermo Lasso, suspected of having kept money in tax havens, following the revelations of the Pandora Papers.

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Of the 137 parliamentarians, 105 voted for the opening of this investigation against the president, announced the unicameral body in a press release.

The aim is to " 

 " whether Mr. Lasso violated " 

".

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Fourteen offshore companies

According to the Pandora Papers, the investigation leaked by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Guillermo Lasso - who

- controlled 14 offshore companies - most based in Panama - closed after the former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017) adopted a law in 2017 prohibiting presidential candidates from owning companies in tax havens.

He also had funds in two trusts headquartered in the United States, South Dakota.

"It is quite true that years ago, I had, and I want to stress it, I had, legitimate investments in other countries", admitted Mr. Lasso, assuring however that all his income had been declared and his taxes in Ecuador paid.

A committee of Parliament will conduct the investigation and deliver its report in a month.

Report to be submitted to parliamentarians in plenary.

For his part, the 65-year-old president, invested last May, asked the Office of the Comptroller General to examine his assets and renounced banking secrecy.

(With

)

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The ICIJ, the organization that shakes the greats of this world

Since the Panama Papers affair, the big fortunes and the leaders of the planet fear the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, founded in 1997 in Washington by the Center American for Public Integrity and became independent in 2017.

This non-profit organization investigates tax havens and tax evasion, but also large-scale health, social or economic matters.

Among the some 200 members of the consortium from 70 countries, mainly journalists (150 media partners), there are about ten French (including

, Radio France and the Cash Investigation team).

Apart from the Panama Papers scandal (April 2016), the ICIJ revealed in its investigations many other cases including the Paradise Papers (in 2017, on the offshore activities of personalities and multinationals), the Implant Files (2018, on prostheses and medical implants) but also the China Cables (2019, on Beijing's repressive policy towards the Uyghurs).

► The ICIJ website

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• Pandora Papers

• Ecuador

• Guillermo Lasso