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 The impact of the leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm is
snowballing, with Iceland facing a political crisis after its prime
minister stepped aside on Tuesday following revelations about his
wife's finances.
Recently elected Infantino joined a growing list of public figures
and political leaders whose financial arrangements have come under
scrutiny after the release of the 11.5 million documents, which have
caused public outrage over how the rich and powerful can hide money
to avoid taxes.
Infantino said he was "dismayed that his integrity was being
doubted" by media reports which said the contract he signed several
years ago as a UEFA official sold broadcast rights at a low price to
a company which sold them on at a far higher price.
Reuters, which has not seen the documents, was unable to confirm
this and UEFA denied that the rights were sold at below the market
price.
"UEFA can confirm that today we received a visit from the office of
the Swiss Federal Police acting under a warrant and requesting sight
of the contracts between UEFA and Cross Trading/Teleamazonas," UEFA
said in a statement.
Infantino said in a FIFA statement the contract had been "properly
conducted" by UEFA.
British Prime Minister David Cameron also faced another day of
questions about his finances, because his late father was among the
tens of thousands of people named in the documents from law firm
Mossack Fonseca, which has denied any wrongdoing.
After having at first described it as a private matter, Cameron's
office said on Tuesday that he and his family did not benefit from
any such funds at present. Cameron also said he did not own any
shares or have any offshore funds.
But his failure to say whether he or his family would benefit in
future only intensified media speculation, with the story splashed
across many newspaper front pages on Wednesday.
"There are no offshore funds or trusts which the prime minister, Mrs
Cameron or their children will benefit from in future," a spokesman
for Cameron said on Wednesday.
INVESTIGATIONS
Among those named in the documents are friends of Russian President
Vladimir Putin, relatives of the leaders of China, Britain and
Pakistan, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Poroshenko said he set up an offshore trust to separate his business
and political interests after he became president and the
arrangements were carried out with full transparency. He said he was
not trying to minimize tax payments.
"There does not need to be an investigation," Poroshenko told
reporters in Tokyo, when asked about the planned investigation by
Ukraine's fiscal services.
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Iceland suffered further political fallout from the documents, with
the government hoping to avoid early elections by trying to pick a
prime minister to replace Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.
He stepped down after the documents showed his wife owned an
offshore company that held millions of dollars worth of debt from
failed Icelandic banks. Gunnlaugsson has said his wife's assets were
taxed in Iceland but the opposition has accused him of a conflict of
interest because his government was negotiating deals with claimants
on the banks. It was not clear whether Gunnlaugsson's wife had
received any payment from the banks.
Icelanders, already angry with the financial and political elite
after the 2008 banking crisis wrecked the economy, were expected
return to the streets on Wednesday. Protesters pelted parliament
with yoghurt and eggs earlier this week.
Other leading figures and financial institutions responded to the
leak with denials of any wrongdoing as prosecutors and regulators
began a review of the investigation by the U.S.-based International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and other media
organizations.
Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Sweden and the
Netherlands are among nations that have started inquiries.
In the Netherlands, the chairman of law firm Ploum Lodder Princen (PLP)
that reportedly helped wealthy individuals set up shell companies in
Mexico and Ecuador to channel cash flows offshore, stepped down.
PLP said it had sought an independent inquiry by the Dutch Financial
Supervision Office but could not "identify itself in any manner with
the accusations which have been brought forward in this publicity."
French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said he had questioned the head
of Societe Generale bank about its record creating shell companies
and opening client accounts in Panama.
(Writing by Anna Willard; Additional reporting by Andrew Callus and
Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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