The Tribune

SPAIN’S industry minister, Jose Manuel Soria, has denied his involvement in a Bahamian-based offshore company revealed by the Panama Papers, after two Spanish news outlets said they had documents proving he headed the offshore firm with his brother.

“I totally deny that I have anything to do with any company based in Panama, or any other tax haven,” Mr Soria said on Monday after TV channel La Sexta said the minister had briefly administrated in 1992 the offshore company UK Lines Limited based in The Bahamas.

La Sexta and online newspaper El Confidencial said Mr Soria’s name was replaced in the papers by that of his brother Luis Alberto Soria after a letter was sent to Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca claiming an error had been made.

Soria is among scores of public figures worldwide who have been linked to 11.5 million leaked documents from Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in setting up offshore companies. The minister said he had told his lawyer to contact Panamanian authorities to determine if his name had actually appeared on the papers.

Politicians from all parties, currently struggling to form a coalition to head the next government after inconclusive elections in December, have called for Mr Soria’s resignation.

“The example to follow is Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson,” Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez tweeted, referring to the premier’s decision to step down last week after documents linked him to an offshore company.

Mr Soria’s ruling People’s Party (PP) has been plagued by a string of corruption scandals, pushing graft to the top of the political agenda and sending millions of voters looking for alternatives to the traditional two-party system.

Other public figures linked to the Panama papers by the Spanish press include Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi, Oscar-winning film director Pedro Almodovar and Literature Nobel Prize-winner Mario Vargas Llosa. They have all denied wrongdoing.

Reuters