Opposition congressmen criticized this Sunday (2.Oct.2021) the fact revealed by the new investigation of the ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists) that the President of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, and the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, have accounts offshore and kept them even after they were appointed to the government.
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Deputies and senators heard by the power360 they consider the fact very serious and ask for further investigations.
Alessandro Molon (PSB-RJ), leader of the opposition in the Chamber, declared that it is a scandal and that it should lead to Guedes’ downfall. It will also move the Chamber so that both are summoned to give further explanations and will be represented in the Public Ministry.
“It’s a scandal, it’s very serious. It directly violates article 5 of the Code of Conduct of the High Federal Administration and, therefore, should lead to the Minister’s resignation. We, from the Opposition, will propose the summoning of the Minister and the President of the Central Bank to provide clarifications to the Chamber of Deputies and file for representation in the Federal Public Ministry (1st instance) for administrative improbity against both.”
The Minister of Economy urgently needs to prove that he has not made investments abroad through his offshore. The Conflict of Interest Law prohibits this type of behavior. If the minister made international investments through his company while he was already in office, he committed a crime. This is very serious”, says the federal deputy José Guimaraes (PT-CE), which also holds the position of deputy leader of the Minority in the Chamber.
“It is the most serious accusation against the Minister of Economy since the beginning of the government. We will summon the minister to provide clarifications to the Chamber of Deputies. If proven, it is reason for impeachment and even jail. Manipulating the economy of an entire country in favor of personal investments is a crime of unprecedented gravity”, he declared to power360 the deputy Kim Kataguiry (DEM-SP), deputy leader of his party in the Chamber and founders and coordinators of the Free Brazil Movement.
Paulo Rocha (PT-PA), leader of the PT in the Senate, said that it is the case to request more information from the Ministry of Economy and the Central Bank about the case. According to him, even before that, it is already possible to start the process of convening both of them in the Senate’s CAE (Economic Affairs Commission).
“The first and main question: why open accounts abroad in tax havens? There are international banks here, why don’t they open right here?”, questioned the senator.
Rocha considers the fact serious, but considers that having accounts in tax havens is becoming commonplace in Brazil: “This becomes less serious because this is becoming usual, because the old man from Havan didn’t declare it as a success for him, who has an account in every corner, including tax havens? It becomes a banal thing, the guys go banalizing”.
The senator referred to Luciano Hang, who admitted to Covid’s CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) in the Senate having accounts abroad.
Both Guedes and Campos Neto say that the offshore are declared to the Federal Revenue. Public Service Standards and of the Conflict of Interest Law they indicate that the 2 most important people responsible for the Brazilian economy may have disrespected the procedures demanded of high officials of the federal government – which they deny.
In the case of Campos Neto, as will be seen below, there are concrete signs that the president of the Central Bank complied with the rules in force by not having made investments. The Economy Minister, on the other hand, did not want to declare anything about it.
Guedes keeps his offshore open. It did not respond directly if it made any changes, and, if so, the nature of these operations.
Campos Neto closed one of his companies 15 months after taking over the BC. Asked by the power360, says he has not made any remittance of funds to this company abroad or investments with the funds deposited there.
In your answer to the power360, a curiosity: uses the expression “companies”, in the plural. It’s that he keeps more offshore than those found and described in this report – everything is declared to the Internal Revenue Service and was also reported to the Senate when he was scrutinized for the position, in early 2019. There is an explicit written statement (whole) on abstaining from investing while occupying the presidency of the Central Bank:
The investigation
The project was named Pandora Papers in reference to the character in whose box would be all the ills of humanity, according to Greek mythology. “Pandora’s Box Summons Evil and Power”, explains one of the members of the consortium. Almost 12 million files were analyzed.
615 journalists from 149 vehicles in 117 countries participated in the investigation. The material has been analyzed for about 1 year for the preparation of the series. In Brazil, journalists from this digital newspaper are part of the investigation. power360, from the magazine Piauí, gives Public Agency and the website metropolises. At the power360, 7 journalists were mobilized to take care of this project, in addition to the entire team of professionals who made infographics and videos.
This is the largest collaborative survey ever carried out by the ICIJ. Journalists from 29 more countries participate than the members of the task force that produced the previous series, FinCen Files, in 2020.
On social networks, the series’ publications can be found from the hashtag #PandoraPapers.
The ICIJ only has member journalists by invitation. In Brazil, the editorial director of power360, Fernando Rodrigues, has been part of the ICIJ since 1999, when the consortium was still a section of another NGO, the Center for Public Integrity, conceived by the renowned American journalist Charles Lewis. both the CPI like the ICIJ have already been winners of the Pulitzer Prize, the most celebrated honor for the US journalism industry.
O power360 has been publishing reports in collaboration with the consortium for several years (since 2000, when this digital newspaper was still a journalistic operation of Fernando Rodrigues at UOL). Fortunes have already been revealed in tax havens of people mentioned in the Lava Jato operation, politicians, billionaire businessmen, owners of media groups, artists and football players, among other groups.
Below are the links to the pages of the investigations that had the direct participation of the power360. Click on the name of the series to have full access to what has been published:
- HSBC-Swissleaks (2015);
- Panama Papers (2016);
- Bahamas Leaks (2016);
- Paradise Papers (2017);
- Bribery Division (2019);
- Luanda Leaks (2020);
- FinCen Files (2020).
See what the ICIJ and the power360 found in recent previous investigations:
PUBLIC INTEREST
As will be recorded in several texts in the Pandora Papers series, having an offshore company or a bank account abroad is not a crime for Brazilians who declare these activities to the Federal Revenue and the Central Bank.
If it’s not a crime, why disclose information about people whose business abroad complies with Brazilian rules? The answer to that question is simple: o power360 and the ICIJ are guided by the principle of journalistic relevance and public interest.
As is well known, there is a difference in how Brazilians should register their companies.
For the vast majority of citizens with registered businesses within Brazil, the data is public. All you have to do is go to a notary office or a Board of Trade to find out who the owners of a particular company are. In the case of those who have an offshore company, even if declared, the information is not public.
There are, therefore, 2 types of Brazilian entrepreneurs: 1) those who have their companies in the country and are exposed to the scrutiny of any other citizen; two) those who are able to open the business outside the country and thus protect the data in secrecy.
Those are the rules. In this space it will not be analyzed whether they are iniquitous or not. That’s the law. It must be fulfilled. It is up to Congress, if it wishes, to improve the rules. Journalism is left with the mission of reporting the facts.
It is, therefore, a function of professional journalism to describe to society what is happening in the country and in the world. There are citizens who occupy a prominent position and who must always be subjected to greater scrutiny. In this category, among others, celebrities (who live off their public exposure and often receive state subsidy); journalistic media companies and journalists (since one of their functions is precisely to investigate what is right or wrong in the country’s daily life); big businessmen; who makes donations to political campaigns; public workers; politicians in general. And there are even more explicit cases: contractors cited in major scandals, money changers, bookmakers and drug dealers.
All investigations must be judicious and never expose anyone improperly. A large businessman who chooses to open an offshore company, duly declared, has every right to do so. But the obligation of professional journalism is also to investigate big business and say how a certain company takes care of its resources – always underlining, when applicable, that everything is in accordance with the current laws.
Many of the Brazilians mentioned in the Pandora Papers series, as the reports will demonstrate in the coming days, responded proactively to the power360. They presented proof of the legality of their business abroad. They are citizens who contribute to the common good by understanding the role of professional journalism in scrutinizing who is more politically exposed in society.
The Pandora Papers series is the 8th that the power360 did in partnership with ICIJ on companies in tax havens. It is a contribution of professional journalism to offer more transparency to society. The principle expressed in the sentence coined by the US Supreme Court Judge Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) about a century ago about access to data of public interest was followed in this report and in others already carried out: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant”. O power360 believes that in this way it fulfills its main mission as a journalism company: “Improving democracy by ascertaining the truth of the facts to inform and inspire”.