Former prime minister Jean Chretien says reports tying him to a bank account in an offshore tax haven are false.
(Jacques Nadeau / Le Devoir)
The 83-year-old adds he’s never held a bank account outside Canada.
Chretien’s name showed up in the so-called ‘Paradise Papers,’ a massive leak of offshore financial records.
Among them, a register of investors in Madagascar Oil, which lists Chretien as having received 100,000 stock options.
Madagascar Oil was a client of Heenan Blaikie, a now-defunct Canadian law firm.
Chretien was a lawyer with the firm and admits to doing some work for Madagascar Oil but insists all fees were billed by and paid to the law firm.
Meanwhile, another top Liberal identified in the ‘Paradise Papers’ has also responded.
The federal party’s chief fundraiser says in a statement he’s never funded or used offshore trusts.
(Andrew Vaughan / Canadian Press)
The leaked records suggest Stephen Bronfman and his family’s investment firm were linked to an offshore trust in the Cayman Islands that may have used questionable methods to avoid paying millions in taxes.
Bronfman says he’s never violated Canada’s tax laws through the use of offshore tax havens and that all his Canadian trusts have paid all federal taxes on their income.