Federal prosecutor Federico Delgado today issued a formal request to open an investigation to see if President Mauricio Macri violated the law by not declaring his connection to two offshore companies.
The move comes days after the president’s name appeared in the massive “Panama Papers” data leak exposing the offshore tax affairs of powerful people across the world.
President Mauricio Macri has been caught up in the Panama Papers affair (Photo via Casa Rosada)
Macri figures as a director of Bahamas-based Fleg Trading Ltd and Panama-based Kagemusha SA, both set up by his father Franco Macri.
The prosecutor seeks to determine if Macri deliberately omitted his involvement in the two companies from his sworn declaration as a public official. Delgado also requested a probe into whether the companies were involved in any unlawful activity, and if so, whether President Macri participated in that.
Delgado has called for reports from the tax office AFIP, the Anti-Corruption Office, the University of Buenos Aires, and the University of Torcuato di Tella to establish if Macri was required to declare the offshore companies.
Judge Sebastián Casanello must now determine whether to accept the request and start a formal investigation.
The accusations against Macri were submitted yesterday by Frente para la Victoria (FpV) legislator
Darío Martínez.
“Macri’s participation as director and vice-president of two companies in Bahamas and Panama has been proven and admitted. They are two tax havens that are commonly used for money laundering and tax evasion,” said Martínez. “The vague official statements given so far are not satisfactory.”
Macri has denied any wrongdoing, saying on Monday that Fleg Trading Ltd, which closed in 2009, had been established by his father “in a legal operation” and that he was a “circumstantial director” with no shares or active involvement.
Cabinet Chief Marcos Peña also categorically stated that Macri has “no accounts or undeclared assets” in tax havens and described his actions as “absolutely transparent”.
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