Eleven and a half million emails, letters, contracts and bank statements covering a period from 1977 to December 2015 have been leaked and dubbed the Panama Papers.
In summary, the biggest leak of all time.
The data come from an offshore company based in Panama, Mossack Fonseca, hence the name of Panama Papers given to all elements from this leak.
It reveals obscure maneuvers worldwide, traces the transfers of fortunes of many leaders, hardened criminals and also highlights financial arrangements of persons convicted or prosecuted by judiciary. Some of these people have been convicted for very serious crimes: drug trafficking, war crimes and prostitution of minors.
John Addo Kufuor, eldest son of Ghana’s former president, John Agyekum Kufuor, has been mentioned in the leaked documents. A trained accountant, the younger Kufuor has worked in the hotel industry.
Throughout 2005, local media in Ghana reported allegations that he gained lucrative government contracts and private sector business deals through paternal connections. An official commission later found no evidence of wrongdoing.
According to the leaked documents and data, the Mossack Fonseca offshore company controlled a $75,000 bank account for Kufour and his mother.
In early 2001, shortly after the start of his father’s first presidential term, Kufuor appointed Mossack Fonseca to manage The Excel 2000 Trust. Later that year, it controlled a bank account in Panama worth $75,000. His mother – Theresa Kufuor, then-Ghana’s first lady – was also a beneficiary.
A beneficiary is the person who is the true owner of a company and/or a bank account. In the offshore world, the identity of beneficial owners is often kept secret.
According to the leaked data, in November 2010, an employee in Mossack Fonseca’s compliance office in the British Virgin Islands suggested to colleagues that “due to the apparent prevalence of corruption surrounding Mr. Kufour we would not recommend us taking him on as a client or continuing business with him.”
Mossack Fonseca, however, continued to do business with Kufuor.
In 2012, Kufuor asked Mossack Fonseca to close the trust.
Files also connected Kufuor with BVI companies Fordiant Ltd and Stamford International Investments Group Limited. Both were registered when Kufuor’s father was president of Ghana and became inactive in 2004 and 2007.
Credit: Pulse Ghana
