House summons Economy Minister to explain Pandora Papers leak

Economy Minister Paulo Guedes speaking before the Senate. Photo: Roque de Sá/SF/CC-BY 4.0

Two days after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed thousands of financial records exposing how the mega-rich stash their money in tax havens, the Brazilian House’s Labor Committee voted to summon Economy Minister Paulo Guedes. The Pandora Papers revealed that Mr. Guedes holds BRL 9.5 billion (USD 1.74 billion) in an offshore company headquartered in the British Virgin Islands.

Roberto Campos Neto, the chairman of Brazil’s Central Bank, was also featured in the reports, owning multiple offshore companies. Both deny any wrongdoing and claim they have reported these assets to revenue services.

In the Senate, the Economic Affairs Committee voted to invite both cabinet members to provide explanations on the Pandora Papers leak. Unlike the House’s decision to summon Mr. Guedes, however, the Senate’s invitation is optional.

UPDATE: Paulo Guedes was also summoned by the House’s Oversight and Control Committee to provide clarifications about his offshore accounts. Government-supporting members tried to make the invitation optional but were unsuccessful.

UPDATE II: On Wednesday afternoon, the House floor approved a request to summon the Economy Minister to appear before the entire chamber. Once again, he will be obliged to appear, otherwise he will have committed an impeachable offense.

Janaína Camelo

Janaína Camelo has been a political reporter for ten years, working for multiple media outlets. More recently, she worked for the presidency's press service and is now specializing in data journalism.