Algeria: Minister of Industry Cited in “Panama Papers” Scandal

Algerian Minister of Industry, Abdesslam Bouchouareb has been cited in the Offshore Financial scandal revealed on Sunday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ.)

Bouchouareb is so far the only Algerian leader to be leaked. According to ICIJ’s cache of 11.5 million records, the Algerian minister owns an offshore company in Panama known as “Royal Arrival Corp” through a Luxemburg-based shadow company called CEC Group Limited.

Royal Arrival Corp was created in 2015 by Panama-based Mossack Fonseca; a law firm specialized in creating offshore companies.

CEC Group Limited pointed out it legally started the company in a bid to manage the minister’s assets. It also revealed that Bouchouareb who also owns an offshore account with Swiss bank NBAD Private Bank SA reportedly ordered the bank account and the company be closed as long as he is in office as minister.

Royal Arrival Corp is a company oriented towards commercial presence, business contracts, rail and maritime transport in Turkey, UK and Algeria.

Reports from Algeria say Bouchouareb is among the country’s leaders who have refused to disclose their assets before taking official positions as it is stipulated in the 2006 constitution in an attempt to fight corruption.

The leaked files published by the ICIJ mention the names of 12 current and former world leaders and some 128 politicians and public figures around the world including banned European Soccer governing Body boss Michel Platini and world top soccer player Lionel Messi.

The documents also include 33 people and companies blacklisted by the US government because of evidence that they’d been involved in wrongdoing, such as doing business with Mexican drug lords, terrorist organizations like Hezbollah or rogue nations like North Korea and Iran, the ICIJ said.

ICIJ revealed that a team of more than 370 journalists from 76 countries reviewed the leaked files acquired from Mossack Fonseca which has branch offices in Hong Kong, Miami, Zurich and more than 35 other places around the globe.