Ecuador: President, brother mentioned in Panama Papers, focus of inquiry by Panama authorities in 2012

By Kevin G. Hall and Vera Bergengruen/
McClatchy Washington Bureau

In the weeks after the release of the documents now known as the Panama Papers, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa called out his country’s journalists and boasted that, unlike other countries, he and his government weren’t found in the leak.

However, the secret documents show that he and his estranged brother, Fabricio, caught the attention of anti-corruption authorities in Panama in 2012.

Panamanian prosecutors confirmed to McClatchy that investigators looked into an offshore company in Panama because of embezzlement concerns. And a secret email within the Panama Papers says Correa and his brother, Fabricio, were the focus of the inquiry.

“The president is a very honest person,” Omar Simon, the president’s top adviser, told McClatchy. “This is all absolutely false. And he’s not involved in any offshore company directly or indirectly.” Read Article

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