Wilbur Ross says reports he didn't disclose ties to Putin-linked firm are 'totally wrong'

Source: CNBC




Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly failed to clearly disclose to Congress that he retained an interest in a shipping firm that has close dealings with people linked to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The details are contained in the "Paradise Papers," a trove of millions of leaked documents that show widespread holdings of cash in off-shore tax havens by the rich and powerful.

David Reid | Geoff Cutmore | Holly Ellyatt
Published 3 Hours Ago Updated 1 Hour Ago

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said reports that he did not disclose ties to a firm linked with Russian President Vladimir Putin are wrong.

Ross was revealed to have business links to a Russian firm with close ties to Putin during a leak of financial documents at the weekend. The ties were disclosed in the so-called "Paradise Papers," a mass of documents leaked to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and reported Sunday.

The millions of documents mostly originate from a Bermuda-based legal services provider that works on offshore investments. Reports on Sunday suggested that Ross did not disclose an interest in a shipping company called Navigator Holdings, a company that has a business relationship with SIBUR. Ross, however, has since denied to CNBC that he didn't disclose these holdings.

"That's totally wrong. It was disclosed on the form 278 which is the financial disclosure form, in my case, three times," Ross said.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/06/commerce-secretary-wilbur-ross-says-its-totally-wrong-that-he-did-not-disclose-ties-to-putin-linked-firm.html