New Technologies 2015: David Cameron and Argentine president in the “Panama Papers” storm

Two prominent leaders were caught Thursday in the “Panama Papers” storm sweeping the globe, hitting Argentina with the application of a survey of its president, and the UK, the Prime Minister admitted held shares in an offshore fund.

in London, after days of pressure following revelations, the British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted Thursday having held until 2010 shares in the trust fund from his father registered in the Bahamas.

in an interview with ITV, Cameron said that he had sold that year to about 30 000 pounds, months before to be elected prime minister.

If this rebound is not the same as Argentina’s investigation, these late confessions nonetheless embarrassing for David Cameron.

It is personally attacked since we learned that her father, Ian Cameron, who died in 2010, had directed that fund whose profits have escaped British tax authorities for 30 years thanks to a complex installation via the firm of Panamanian lawyers Mossack Fonseca.

on the other side of the Atlantic, Argentina, the announcement of the request to open an investigation of Mauricio Macri seen as a major setback for the president, who advocated a struggle without thank you against corruption.

This request of the prosecution, which has yet to receive the green light from a judge, will include whether Mauricio Macri, elected last November, should have pointed out in his declaration of assets it appeared in the flowchart of two offshore companies. Wednesday, an Argentine opposition member had filed a complaint for tax evasion against him.

“I will pass (Friday) to justice all documents necessary for the judge to verify that what I did is correct and that no objectionable omission in the statement of income for 2007 and 2008, “Macri said in a statement at the presidential palace.

the name of President of right appears in two offshore companies: Fleg Trading Ltd, Bahamas, which existed from 1998 to 2008, and Kagemusha SA, Panama, established in 1981

“I am serene, j ‘. I followed the law. I have nothing to hide, “he has said.

from the beginning, the head of the Argentine government says he committed no irregularity and held any shares in these two companies Macri group, owned by his father Franco, rich Italian businessman who made his fortune in Argentina.

Foot and banks

in Russia, President Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected the accusations against his entourage after the revelations of “Panama Papers”.

“What element of corruption? There are none, “said the head of state, accusing the United States of being behind this vast survey that highlights significant opaque financial and tax practices of personalities, heads of state, entrepreneurs, sportsmen, etc.

members of investigative journalists ICIJ international consortium headquartered in Washington, “have combed through tax havens, but your humble servant did not figure “he quipped.

for now, the most notable leader overthrown following the scandal burst is the Icelandic Prime Minister, who left his post under pressure Street, outraged by the fact that he controlled a company based in the British Virgin islands.

Create or own a company offshore is not illegal in itself, but it heightens suspicions tax evasion or corruption.

the world media participating in the revelations continue unwinding the skein of names of clients of the law firm Mossack Fonseca Panama, of which 11.5 million documents landed their hands.

After FIFA (the world body of football) and its new president Gianni Infantino, the president suspended the UEFA (European equivalent of FIFA) Michel Platini, and some players activity as superstar Lionel Messi, the “Panama Papers” endangers the leaders of French football for FC Nantes and aS Monaco, reports the French newspaper Le Monde .

The banking sector is also splashed. The head of the regional Austrian bank Hypo Vorarlberg, Michael Grahammer, and a member of the supervisory board of the Dutch bank ABN Amro, Bert Meerstadt, thus fell Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Nobel Prize Peruvian literature Mario Vargas Llosa, also mentioned in Panama Papers, assured never to have had knowledge of an offshore account in his name and that of his wife.

Panama wants negotiate

the pressure of recent days has prompted President Juan Carlos Varela of Panama to launch “an appeal to the OECD (Organization for cooperation and economic development) for them to come back to the negotiating table, we sought an agreement. “

the Vice-President Isabel De Saint Malo has also promised to deepen the dialogue with OECD on the exchange of tax information.

Since the first revelations of the members of the media consortium ICIJ investigation, Panama is pilloried for its accommodating legislation on offshore tax schemes and attitude against the tide of the global trend towards transparency . tax

Panama is criticized for its refusal to implement a new quasi-global standard: the automatic exchange of tax information between countries, recently set up under the leadership of the OECD, institution driving the issue.

Close!

Among the personalities mentioned in the millions of documents are particularly associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who embezzled up to $ 2 billion with the help of banks and shell companies, according to ICIJ. “Putin Associated falsified payment, backdated documents and obtained the occult influence of media and the Russian automotive industry,” the consortium on its website.
the Ukrainian President is 100% shareholder of a holding company in the British Virgin islands to Cyprus and Ukrainian companies Roshen group, one of Europe’s largest confectionery producers. Le Monde said that during the presidential campaign of 2015, Poroshenko promised to sell most of its assets but that they have in fact all been transferred to the holding company. A spokesman for the president assured that the creation of this commercial structure was “a common practice among Ukrainian companies wishing to sell to strategic investors” and that it had no connection with the political situation in his country.
According to the documents presented by ICIJ, the head of the Icelandic government owned, with his wife, a shell company in the Virgin islands British. He transferred his shares to his wife in 2009 for a symbolic dollar. Since his wife recognized the existence of this company-screen mid-March, the first Icelandic minister is on trial. Especially as he had promised during his election in 2013 to break with the practices that led the island into the financial crisis in 2008. According to his spokesman, the couple followed scrupulously Icelandic law and declared all income and property since 2008. Despite requests from TV, however these statements were not made public.
The Argentine president was member of the management of an offshore company registered in the Bahamas, according to the Argentine daily La Nacion member of the consortium that conducted the survey. He has “never had a stake in this company,” said Sunday the Argentine government, adding that Macri had only been “casual manager” of that company.
the family in power in Azerbaijan -and particularly women and children of the president and his sœur- would be the heart of a major offshore complex which holds interests in gold mining, the real estate but also a business conglomerate, falls ICIJ.
According to data obtained, the King of Saudi Arabia and its assets have a link with a company of the BVI which was used to getting $ 34 million of mortgage loans for the purchase of luxury residences in London.
the President of the UAE benefit from the profits of thirty companies in the British Virgin islands. These companies allow it to be the owner of real property in popular areas of London for a total value of at least $ 1.7 billion.
relatives of top Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping and the former Premier Li Peng, concealed fortunes in paradise tax via shell companies, according to the survey. Enough reason doubt on the anticorruption efforts of Beijing. Among the parents or relatives of senior Chinese officials pinned in this survey include, in particular Deng Jiagui, husband of the older sister of Xi Jinping. In 2009 -while his brother was a member of the all-powerful Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China (CPC) but not yet president and Deng has become the sole shareholder of two shell companies in the British Virgin Islands, reveals ICIJ. In June 2012, in a survey of the colossal fortune of the family Xi, Bloomberg had already revealed that Deng Jiagui and his wife had several hundred million dollars in real estate and securities assets. In Panamanian document released Monday by ICIJ, also included the name of Li Xiaolin, daughter of Li Peng (Chinese Prime Minister from 1987 to 1998). She was with her husband, the beneficiary of a Liechtenstein foundation, itself controlled by a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, when his father was in office.
Michel Platini have used the services of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, including all documents come in 2007 -the year when he was president-elect to deliver a UEFA- company in Panama. “Michel Platini wishes to know, as it has repeatedly stated to journalists in charge of this investigation that all of its accounts and assets are known to the Swiss tax authorities, whose country is a tax resident from 2007 “, said Platini communication service, in a text sent to AFP Sunday.
the documents of the firm lawyers also reveal the names of twenty star players, including moving to Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United. Among them multiple gold Lionel Messi ball. With his father, the latter would own a company in Panama, the mention of which appears for the first time in Mossack Fonseca papers June 13, 2013, the day after their indictment for tax fraud in Spain, according to the ICIJ