The 20 Biggest Peruvian Names Listed in The Panama Papers

The 20 Biggest Peruvian Names Listed in The Panama Papers
Published by Pedro Moreno Vasquez
May 12, 2016 12:23 pm

In the 1980’s, the Panamanian law firm of Mossak Fonseca sent its first delegation to Peru. Their mission was to investigate the Peruvian market and find potential clients. The first delegation was unsuccessful. Peru was then undergoing an economic crisis and stifling a vicious war instigated by terrorism.

In 1995, however, Fonseca befriended Juan Bakula Budge, former head of the Peruvian stock exchange. Both Budge and his assistant, Monica de Icaza Clerc, gave Mossak Fonseca’s recruiters a wide access to Peruvian influential circles. By 1999, their partnership had generated great dividends. Both of them were nominated as Fonseca’s “official delegates” in Lima.

Everyone is entitled to protect their money. Wealthy people use offshore companies to protect themselves from inflation, to remain safe from abusive governments, to prevent future disputes for their properties, and also to evade heavy taxes. Their actions do not constitute a crime. As Fonseca’s statement said, their mission is to “provide financial security and asset protection to expand business to other horizons”

Legal or not, the “tax evasion issue” is controversial for some. It emphasizes the issues of social inequality and the propensity for the wealthy to enmesh in dubious deals. Eduardo Sotelo, a financial regulator, said: “Tax havens are harmful because they undermine the Peruvian tax funds. Companies use them because they offer tax relief, opacity, and secrecy.”

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13. Nicolas Lucar, Influential Journalist and Ex-Member of Fujimori’s Propaganda Machine



During Fujimori’s dictatorship, journalist Nicolas Lucar was essential in keeping the crucial topics off the table. He has repeatedly admitted that he received bribes by Fujimori and Montesinos. Lucar resigned as soon as the dictatorship fell. Years later, he returned as a host for a TV news program.

In 2006, Lucar contacted Mossak Fonseca to establish the offshore Chester Investment Assets. This company was also partially owned by his wife Frances Crousillat, daughter of a Peruvian media mogul. Investigative sources revealed that Mossak Fonseca also attempted to make Lucar avoid paying taxes. However, Lucar has denied this accusation. He said he created the offshore company “to produce content for the international market.” Yet, this structure “never worked effectively. The company must have died since it has been inactive for years. But it was an absolute legal operation”, he said.

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