Top Ecuador Opposition Politician Tied to Panama Tax Haven
Top Ecuador Opposition Politician Tied to Panama Tax Haven
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Guillermo Lasso is a rich Ecuadorean banker and opposition leader. | Photo: Wikimedia
Published 10 May 2016 (3 hours 57 minutes ago)
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Forty Ecuadorean economic entities and individuals, including right-wing opposition leader and wealthy banker Guillermo Lasso, have used Panamanian law firms, most notably the star of the Panama Papers, Mossack Fonseca, resulting in a total of more than US$2 billion in Ecuadorean wealth being based offshore in Panama, according to an investigation by Ecuadorean state newspaper El Telegrafo.
Over half of the 40 entities doing dealings in Panama have made transactions with Mossack Fonseca, the law firm made infamous through the Panama Papers for its role in helping world leaders and wealthy elites hide their riches in shell companies and tax havens.
According to Internal Revenue Service data reported by El Telegrafo, 77 percent of Ecuadorean businesses have at least one foreign-based shareholder, and 20 percent of those are in tax havens. Over a decade after a banking crisis in Ecuador in the late 1990’s saw a major outflow of wealth, some US$4.1 billion now resides in offshore tax havens, or just over 4 percent of the country’s 2014 all-time-high GDP of US$100.54 billion.
More than half of the offshore wealth, some US$2.4 billion, is based in Panama.
Among such offshore dealings is the Panama-based Banisi S.A., formerly known as Banco Guayaquil Panama S.A. and a subsidiary of Banisi Holdings S.A. Guillermo Lasso, former president of Banco Guayaquil, and his son Santiago Xavier are listed as directors of Banisi, and his other son Juan Emiliano is president.
More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Top-Ecuador-Opposition-Politician-Tied-to-Panama-Tax-Haven-20160510-0030.html
