Corruption probe arrest black eye for Panama law firm
THE ARREST of a Dominican businessman accused of involvement in the Odebrecht bribery scandal has again thrown the spotlight on the Mossack Fonseca (MF) law firm, center of the Panama Papers revelations.
In 2004 a representative of the Dominican firm Pellerano & Herrera contacted the offices of MF to acquire a Panama company reports La Prensa.
MF not only sold the firm a Panama company, Lashan Corp., but also advised it on how to hide the actual owners through the use of nominee shareholders, a practice that has been widely criticized within the industry.
MF recommended that a foundation be used and that a “protector” be appointed, who would not be the actual final beneficiary, but who would receive instructions from the actual owner.
“Under this structure we propose the appointment of nominee shareholders (protectors)…who would not be the real final beneficiary. The protector would have direct communication and a continuous relationship with the real beneficiaries and our work would consist only in acting under the precise instructions of the protector,” MF recommended in an email.
The final beneficiary of Lashan Corp. was Ángel Rondón, who this week was arrested on corruption charges related to the paying of $92 million in bribes by the Odebrecht company to Dominican officials.
Rondon wasn’t a government official, but rather a businessman who also worked for Odebrecht.
Emails between him and MF show that the firm was well aware that he was the final beneficiary of Lashan.
The company Lashan was active during the period when the bribes were paid, and MF opened bank accounts for it in the Bahamas, Panama and Antigua.
The bank account in Antigua was opened at Antigua Overseas Bank Ltd. That bank employed Vinicius Veiga Borin, who would later work at Antigua’s Meinl Bank, an institution that was bought by Odebrecht.
