Portugal’s AT tax authority is prepared to send at least one inspector to Washington, to study the Panama Papers and how they relate to 244 national companies, 255 shareholders, 23 private clients and 34 ‘beneficiaries’, reports national tabloid Correio da Manhã.
The AT has already asked for the help of the International Consortium of International Journalists behind the bombshell leak of 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.
CM explains that in the equally momentous Swissleaks scandal – another ‘coup’ by the ICIJ, which exposed 180 billion euros worth of tax evasion via HSBC bank in Switzerland – the AT sent one of its top brass to “pick up a CD containing all the names” of Portuguese with incriminating bank accounts burnt onto it.
The CD was then used to cross-reference data existing in Portugal, said CM.
“The way forwards with the Panama Papers is expected to be similar”, the paper adds – stressing that the petition set up earlier this week by the STI tax inspectors syndicate will not be officially launched until next week.
Nonetheless, dozens of people from the world of politics, taxation and economics have already put their names to the document, including Euro MPs Ana Gomes (PS) and Marisa Matias (BE).
Gomes is particularly keen to see fellow politicians brought to task, and is tweeting today about suspicions hanging over former CDS leader Paulo Portas, regarding Portugal’s billion euro submarine scandal and the so-called kickbacks that resulted in prosecutions in Germany.
Portuguese names coming out of Washington however remain under wraps for the time being, with disappeared businessman Idalécio de Oliveira still the only one publicly outed.
