President Luis Abinader appears in the Pandora Papers, the leak of almost 12 million documents that has revealed hidden wealth, tax avoidance and even money laundering by global leaders and celebrities. Muckracking journalists that are part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICII) in Washington, D.C. released the findings on 3 October 2021. In the Dominican Republic, TV investigative journalist Alicia Ortega released the news from a local slant.
The Pandora Papers investigation revealed that 35 current and former world leaders — including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the king of Jordan and Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta — as well as powerful billionaires were affiliated with companies that use offshore tax havens. The documents showed that the finance ministers of Pakistan, the Netherlands and Brazil all have ties to offshore companies, as do former finance ministers of Malta and France — including ex-International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
The Presidency of the Republic published a paid advertisement where it indicates that President Luis Abinader and his family used offshore companies to manage investments “and local assets complying with their tax obligations in the country.”
The document states that it is in the interest of the President that every day the efforts in favor of transparency, democracy and the fight against impunity and corruption are stronger.
The statement from the Presidency:
COMMUNIQUE
The Dominican Government understands that permanent accountability before the citizens is an unavoidable obligation for all public servants. In this sense, we consider it appropriate to give an official response to the information released by the International Consortium of Journalists that includes companies that are part of the personal and family assets of the President of the Dominican Republic.
President Luis Abinader’s commitment to transparency is a constant in his political career. In 2020, when he became President of the Republic, he complied with the mandate established in Law 311-14 on Sworn Statement of Wealth, which obliges all officials who handle public funds to make their patrimonial reality transparent.
In his Sworn Statement of Patrimony, President Abinader presented the legal corporations with which he manages the assets of the patrimony accumulated by his own entrepreneurial efforts and those of his entire family. As part of these assets, several foreign companies (offshore) were declared, like few presidents in the world. The fundamental reason for using this type of companies is due to the fact that until the end of 2008, the Dominican Republic did not have an updated and efficient legal framework in terms of corporate law. As a result of this reality, acquiring assets and even conducting local or international business using Dominican companies presented significant obstacles.
The ease in the incorporation process, the flexibility in their governance and the fact that the local legal system allowed the use of this type of companies made it a common practice to use legal entities incorporated abroad to manage investments and assets. President Abinader and his family used offshore companies to manage local investments and assets that fulfills their tax obligations in the country.
The international newspapers that are part of the International Consortium of Journalists recognize the transparency of President Abinader, because when he was sworn into office he included in his declared assets the two companies mentioned in the published documents. In the Panamanian companies mentioned -Padreso S.A. and Litlecot Inc.- Abinader shares ownership with his brothers.
As part of an equity restructuring process to achieve total disassociation from the management of the family assets, at the time of his current position, President Abinader, together with the members of his family, will be in charge of the companies he owns.
Abinader, together with his family members, decided to constitute an administration trust in the Dominican Republic to manage all his and his family’s assets.
It is important to note that as of 16 August 2020, President Luis Abinader has been completely disassociated from the administration and management of all companies controlled by the family, whether incorporated in the Dominican Republic or abroad.
It is in President Abinader’s interest that every day the efforts for the benefit of transparency, democracy, the fight against impunity and corruption are stronger, leading by example, as no one before, he declared all his assets, acting without screens and without hiding properties. All his investments are in the country and he pays his tax obligations according to national laws.”
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The Guardian
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DW
4 October 2021