#PanamaPapers | European Parliament sets up inquiry committee

Newsroom 08/06/2016 | 18:34

The European Parliament (EP) has set up a special inquiry committee to look into the Panama Papers revelations, a press release by the EP announces.

The Panama Papers, a massive leak of documents offering insight into the operations of off-shore companies and their ultimate beneficiaries, has led to believe there have been a great number of companies worldwide evading taxes. Some of the companies are open in Panama but some only involve Panama lawyers and have HQs in Seychelles, British Virgin Islands and other off-shore jurisdictions.

The committee is to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application by the EU Commission or member states of EU laws on money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion. It will have 65 members and twelve months to present its report.

Over 60 Romanian names were also mentioned in connection to the case, among them lawyer Robert Rosu and businessman Gabriel Comanescu, the founder of Grup Servicii Petroliere, the company providing services for the oil and gas industry.

Other businessmen such as Ionut Costea (Eximbank) and Vivian Nicolae Diaconescu (Sensiblu) are named, but also Frank Timis and Ion Tiriac.

The files also mention several personalities worldwide, including Vladimir Putin, the prime minister of Iceland, the president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, but also personalities from the world of sport, such as Lionel Messi and Michael Platini or Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar and actor Jackie Chan.