Guedes says he left offshore firm management before taking office

The lawyers of Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes will submit to the office of the country’s Prosecutor-General (PGR) and the Supreme Court clarifications according to which the minister withdrew from the management of offshore company Dreadnoughts in December 2018, one month before taking charge of the ministry. In an official note, the minister’s counsel denied Guedes worked in conflicting public and private interests.

The note reported that the documents to be sent to the two bodies show there was no transfer or withdrawal of amounts for the company, which operates in the British Virgin Islands, after Guedes took office as minister of the economy. His defense denied he was benefited privately from any decision concerning the Brazilian economic policy.

The papers and personal data on the minister were all sent to the Commission of Public Ethics and other relevant agencies early in his tenure, said the note that described the accusation that the minister used his post to increase his personal wealth as “speculations and lies.”

The text adds that Guedes will gather all necessary documents to demonstrate he violated neither the Code of Conduct of High Federal Administration or the Law of Conflicts of Interest. According to the statement, the minister remains available to provide any clarifications to public authorities and the National Congress.

The Senate’s Commission of Economic Affairs approved a request for both Guedes and Campos Neto, president of the Central Bank—who kept an offshore firm in Panama until October 2020—to provide clarifications. On Monday (Oct. 4), a preliminary inquiry on the case was opened by the PGR.

On Sunday (3), Guedes and Campos Neto reported that the offshore companies had been declared to the Federal Revenue Service, the Central Bank, the president’s Commission of Public Ethics, and the other relevant authorities. The firms registered under their names were brought to light by Pandora Papers, an investigation by an international consortium of journalists based on leaked documents from 14 law firms overseas.