General News of Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Source: ghanabusinessnews.com

Panama Papers: Afoko listed as shareholder in West African Petroleum Co.

Paul Awentami Afoko - embattled NPP Chairman Paul Awentami Afoko - embattled NPP Chairman

Paul Afoko, the suspended Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is listed in the leaked Panama Papers.

Afoko, is shown in the documents released today, May 9, 2016 as a shareholder in a company known as West African Petroleum Company. The company registered in the jurisdiction of the British Virgins Island, one of the very popular tax havens, was incorporated on January 13, 2005 with an address in Amman, Jordan.

The documents indicate that the company is still active.

There is also a Thailand address about the same company linked to Afoko.

The document states the following address in Thailand- 159/75 Moo 2; Bo Phut; Chaweng Beach; Koh Samui; Suratthani 84320, Thailand.

Following the breaking of news about the leaked Panama Papers, showing how the world’s rich and powerful hide their wealth using shell companies in tax havens, some institutions like the Tax Justice Network, Transparency International and the US government have been calling for laws to regulate anonymous companies.

“All governments should join the UK, Norway, Netherlands and the Ukraine, who have pledged to require companies incorporated in their jurisdictions to collect and publically disclose their beneficial ownership information in a central register. If only a few countries sign up, it will remain difficult to track international financial flows,” Transparency International has said.