Ecuador's right-wing candidate linked to 49 tax haven companies
Ecuadorean presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso is connected to 49 companies in offshore tax havens, Buenos Aires news daily Página/12 reports, presenting challenges to his campaign ahead of the April 2 runoff election.
The companies, based in Panama, the Cayman Islands and Delaware, have diverse names that hide Lasso's role.
Página/12 reports that between 1999 and 2000, around the same time former Ecuadorean President Jamil Mahuad dollarized the country's economy and Lasso served as Minister of Finance, Lasso's fortune jumped from US$1 million to US$31 million.
The right-wing banker candidate is believed to have boosted his fortune by speculating on government bonds ahead of dollarization, which left millions of Ecuadoreans in poverty.
"The financier tried in recent years to tidy up his businesses in order to enter the political arena," the investigative report says. "However, the magnitude of the offshore companies and their profits could implicate him in tax evasion."
Last month, Ecuador became the first country in the world to pass a plebiscite to ban public officials from having assets or capital in tax havens.
At: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Ecuadors-Right-Wing-Candidate-Linked-to-49-Tax-Haven-Companies-20170316-0001.html
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[center]Here's a link to the translated article from Página/12 for more detail into Lasso's offshore maneuvers: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pagina12.com.ar%2F25889-lasso-el-magnate-de-las-offshore&edit-text=
A tangled web indeed.[/center]