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News > Latin America

Paradise Papers Link Brazil's Richest Man to Tax Havens

  • Paulo Jorge Lemann and his wife, Susanna Lemann.

    Paulo Jorge Lemann and his wife, Susanna Lemann. | Photo: EFE

Published 7 November 2017
Opinion

Paulo Lemann's total wealth is equivalent to that of the poorest 100 million Brazilians combined.

Jorge Paulo Lemann, the wealthiest man in Brazil, along with two business partners, have been cited in the Paradise Papers as being linked to no less than 20 offshore companies located in tax havens such as Bermuda, Bahamas and the Cayman Islands. 

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With a personal fortune estimated at approximately US$30 billion, Lemann tops the list of the sixth-richest people in Brazil. His wealth is equivalent to the poorest 100 million Brazilians combined, according to Oxfam.

A statement released by Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles indicated that they relocated their tax residences outside of Brazil due to the international expansion of their business ventures, according to Poder360.

A shareholder in companies such as InBev, owner of Ambez, Burger King and Snapchat, Lemann supported the impeachment of former leftist Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. He favors the ongoing privatization of Eletrobras, the country's state-owned electrical company and the largest in Latin America, according to Brasil 24/7.

Additionally, Pedro Parente, the president of Petrobras, Brazil's state-run oil company, appears as a member of the administration council of S-BR Global Investments Ltd., one of the offshore companies linked to Lemann.

Parente, for his part, claimed that he resigned from the post in June of last year when he was invited to serve as the president of Petrobras.

Oxfam's study into Brazil's wealth inequality also revealed that a mere five percent of the population retains the same income as the remaining 95 percent.

While Brazil's minimum salary currently pays roughly US$286 per month, according to today's exchange rate — a pittance barely capable of meeting rising food costs, housing, hygiene, transportation, education and other basic expenditures — it would take 36 years of spending US$1 million each day for the country's six richest to spend their vast fortune.

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The Paradise Papers is a new financial investigation headed by the International Consortium of International Journalists, which is unveiling multinational corporations and prominent figures in politics, sports and entertainment. Those linked have used and continue to use offshore tax havens to conceal their wealth and avoid paying their fair share for the public benefit.

Just some of the mega-rich and influential people exposed in the documents include Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Canadian leader's main campaign funder and his senior adviser Stephen Bronfman as well as rock star Bono. So far, nearly 120 politicians from 80 countries have been implicated in the documents.

Experts claim that the vast amounts of money which are tucked away in the form of tax havens have severe implications on national economies, as the tax evaded takes away from the social programs that could benefit low and middle-income groups.  

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