Ecuador's Parliament Opens Probe Into Pandora Papers Implicating President

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ecuador's Parliament has voted to investigate the Pandora Papers, which expose the alleged offshore dealings of President Guillermo Lasso.

"The plenum of the National Assembly approved by 105 votes a draft resolution instructing a permanent special commission on constitutional rights, human rights, and collective rights to investigate the Pandora Papers, shell companies, and tax havens. The report will be presented to the plenum within 30 days", the parliament said on Twitter.

On Thursday, the legislature approved a motion by lawmaker Ronny Aleaga Santos to create a transparency commission to analyse the exposé.

In early October, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) unveiled the so-called Pandora Papers, a leak of more than 11.9 million financial documents shedding light on the offshore activities of over 300 prominent global political figures, including Lasso.

This photograph illustration shows hands typing on a keyboard in front of the logo of Pandora Papers, in Lavau-sur-Loire, western France, on October 4, 2021

© AFP 2023 / LOIC VENANCE

According to the dossier, President Lasso is linked to 10 offshore companies and trusts in Panama, South Dakota, and Delaware. Two trusts, Bretten Trust and the Liberty US Trust, in South Dakota are allegedly used by the president to control his Panamanian business. In case of his death, they will pay compensation to his wife and children. The president himself told the ICIJ in a letter dated September 27th that he had nothing to do with the two trusts.

The ICIJ said that other Lasso-related offshore companies and funds mentioned in the Pandora Papers were disbanded in 2017 before he became a presidential candidate. Lasso confirmed that the companies were "legally dissolved" and added that any past use of the entities on his part was legal.