(Quito) Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, quoted in the Pandora papers, refused to testify on Wednesday before a parliamentary committee charged with investigating the case, prompting a second request from this committee to appear on Friday “in a mandatory manner” .
Mr. Lasso was summoned by this commission, commissioned by the National Assembly, to explain the money he had in tax havens, according to the revelations of the Pandora papers.
According to this survey by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Guillermo Lasso controlled 14 companies offshore – most of them based in Panama – closed after former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017) passed a law in 2017 banning presidential candidates from owning companies in tax havens.
Out of 137 parliamentarians, 105 voted to open an investigation against the conservative president, in order to “clarify” whether he violated “the legal mandate of the ethical pact, which prohibits candidates and officials from disposing of their resources. or their assets in tax havens ”.
In a letter, Mr. Lasso assured that he was ready to receive the members of the commission at the seat of the government “once all the hearings planned […] will have been completed ”. “I have the right to know in advance the assertions that have been made,” he said.
Faced with the refusal to appear before the commission, its president José Cabascango (left) closed the session on Wednesday, summoning the head of state a second time, in a “compulsory manner” this Friday.
Also called to testify, the president’s wife and son also apologized to the commission, arguing that they were not civil servants and therefore did not have to attend.
“Neither when I registered my candidacy for the presidency, nor since then until today, have I violated” the ban on owning assets in a tax haven, assured the head of state in his letter.
The ex-banker simply admitted that he had “legitimate investments in other countries”, which he got rid of in order to be a candidate in the spring 2021 election, which he won.
He also asked the Office of the Comptroller General to examine his assets and said he is waiving bank secrecy so that he can be investigated.
In Latin America, in addition to the Ecuadorian president, the leaders of Chile, Sebastian Piñera, and of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, appear in the investigation of the Pandora Papers.
In Chile, Mr. Piñera is the subject of a criminal investigation and faces the threat of impeachment proceedings launched by the opposition over the sale of a mining concession tainted with suspicion of corruption.