A Criminal Conspiracy
Then the question to ask in regards to Guillermo Lasso the current president of Ecuador and who allegedly is the owner of Banco de Guayaquil is:
- Why would a banker have such a massive number of shell companies? Each company with significant amounts of assets, although most do not have their own activity or operations.
- What were they established for? Apart from the obvious reason to avoid taxes undoubtedly. Although no one who lives a normal life and no one who thinks in normal terms are going to find out what this implies. But totally legitimate businesses like all Warren Buffet companies do not depend on an infinite number of shell companies. Their businesses are conducted frontally and in this case, there must have been a reason.
Precisely the classic operation to avoid taxes is based on the purchase and sale through shell companies in tax havens (known as offshore companies) to hide authentic profits that have only one beneficiary, the man who is actually committing certain illegality. The main firm carries out its international operations (through a shell company, so that it does not have to report the amounts to its country, avoiding taxes. In this case, Guillermo Lasso, the original figurehead of Danilo Carrera Drouet uses a massive list of shell companies to hide something and obviously to avoid paying taxes in Ecuador. That something has been discovered. And it is something that has caused enormous damage to Ecuador.
I suspect that in large part it was to be able to play
various companies on the Guayaquil stock exchange and at the same time hide
money and evade taxes. Thus, several offshore companies were created with Danilo Carrera Drouet's wife, Mrs. María Eugenia Lasso Mendoza, and her
brothers-in-law Carlos Lasso Mendoza and Guillermo Lasso Mendoza, who appeared as
owners. Then several ghost entities that hide from each other create a huge
network of companies that control 5% of the Ecuadorian economy. Companies that
are involved in Real Estate, insurance companies, credit cards, etc. But Lasso
in 1990 was 25 years old and did not have any fortune, nor did he have
economic knowledge like Danilo Carrera Drouet, there can be no doubt that all
those corporations that were hiding under the veil of offshore shell companies were hiding millions to avoid paying taxes to Ecuador and any other nations. Now that Guillermo Lasso is president he simply claims he complied with the law but never mentions that regardless of whatever voting regulation, it still was being fraudulent about paying taxes. Indeed several companies such as The Pacific Investment, Brother's Investment corporations, and many others that
appear in the Panama Papers are clearly the birth of a tree that bears its
fruit to the largest money-laundering scheme in Ecuador, with the firm intention
of avoiding paying taxes. But there are many instances where the tax law was
violated not only in Ecuador but in the United States of America.
But that's just the beginning. The crime committed by Danilo Carrera Drouet and his front-man brother-in-law Guillermo Lasso Mendoza is that for many years they have been receiving huge amounts of money from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is actually an entity of the United States government, which is trying to promote the development of countries grant loans to certain banks to promote the development of countries. The bank describes it this way:
In this way, Guillermo Lasso has been the enemy of Ecuador. The United States has relied on a number of projects launched to promote the development of industries, enterprises and improve the economy of Ecuador. To achieve this they have granted the Bank of Guayaquil the duty to act as an intermediary and manage and administer loans for women, indigenous or other sectors obtain loans that allow the development of Ecuador. But Lasso has taken advantage of the fact that most of those loans call for "50% should be used towards the goal of the project" and that is key. Lasso has used the money provided to him by the United States government through the Interamerican bank of Development as his piggy bank and has used it to get rich beyond any expectations because he also has given those loans of the other 50% at 17% of interest.
My accusation and the evidence will show that Guillermo Lasso in the most corrupt and criminal way in partnership with Danilo Carrera Drouet and his partners from the Guayaquil bank have created all these companies as fronts to justify using the money given by the United States, playing the United States government for fools and enriching themselves under apparently legal operations. But there is no doubt that they took those monies granted by the IDB and distributed them to so many shell companies for the enrichment of their families, their wallets, and their pockets. In a nutshell. Guillermo Lasso has been taking IDB loans for the last thirty years and using them to his enormous benefit. The operation would then work like this and began in the 1990s with Danilo Carrera, taking control of the Guayaquil bank:
1) The Guayaquil
bank obtains preferential loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
under the pretext of launching projects that will boost Ecuador's economy.
2) Upon
receiving the money from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Banco de
Guayaquil grants a percentage of 50% of those monies to legally requested loans and the other 50% is money that is distributed as loans to these fictitious entities created by
Lasso, his cronies, and his family, entities created in tax havens and by such money immediately
leaves Ecuador and is invested in Miami Florida and other investments, greatly
benefiting Lasso, his family, and his partners. The dates of huge real estate
acquisitions and purchases by these companies coincide with the loans granted by the IDB.
3) Lasso or the
Bank of Guayaquil has been requesting and getting loans from the North
American government under one pretext or another, those loans granted by the IDB.
But it is Lasso and his family-controlled shell companies who benefit the most and I assume that other entities belonging to
Danilo Carrera Drouet are the biggest beneficiaries of these bank loans with
very low-interest rates. While Lasso corruptly bought and acquired a number of
properties at half price when the US went through the collapse of 2008 and in
each financial crisis, thus doubling his money.
4) The injured
party is the Ecuadorian people and in fact, the same United States that grants
loans trying to do good and that have been used by Guillermo Lasso and his
associates in the most corrupt way possible.
5) Pandora
Papers reveals the number of offshore companies that had a connection with
Guillermo Lasso. What it does not reveal is that the very existence of so many
shell companies shows that Lasso and his partners were dedicated to laundering
money, taking advantage of loans obtained under false pretenses, and not paying taxes to either Ecuador or other jurisdictions. All the while grabbing that money and posing as a bank, only
they could approve left and right whatever loans to themselves without fear of suffering repercussions.
6) All those companies owned abroad by Guillermo Lasso are registered by people that were his employees or are related to him, they mostly do not have clients, do not have a social purpose, cultural investment,
public service, business goals or objectives, education, etc. So the whole purpose of the loans provided by the IDB of service objective, none have created
products, or distributed any products, have not maintained or created scientific
research or of Medicine. All Guillermo Lasso companies are created with loans
that I suspect are with the money provided by the Inter-American Development
Bank (IDB), then that money is given as a loan to all their own shell
companies to acquire a number of buildings, houses, and win enormously without
losing a dime.
The Bank of Guayaquil as an instrumental, interposed, or
screen company
An intermediary, instrumental or screen society, in economics and business, is that society, or company that is created with the aim of avoiding taxes, tax evasion, and bank corruption. Large corporations, business groups, and large banks sometimes act with instrumental companies in tax havens. But in this case, the companies of Danilo Carrera Drouet Multi BG and Andean investment use the bank as an instrumental company in Ecuador as a legal entity, even if it is to cover up a fiduciary objective of limitation of liability.
Contenido
del sitio web del IDB.
“An uncommitted credit line of US$12 million for Banco de
Guayaquil in Ecuador was given in 2018. The objective of the Program is to
support economic reactivation and growth through the expansion of international
trade financing to Latin American and Caribbean companies. It is expected that
the Program will: (i) contribute to facilitating imports of critical capital
goods and intermediary goods into the region (ii) allow Issuing Banks to extend
more financing to local exporters and importers through the additional
liquidity provided by Confirming Banks”.
Lasso used that money to buy whatever his heart desired in
Florida. The dates of the creation of several funds and entities under the Lasso
umbrella coincide with the time this project was given. Again, the description
of such project says:
Investment Description
Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)
Financial Intermediary
Financial Intermediary: A commercial bank or financial
institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial
intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the
form of loans, bonds, guarantees, and equity shares. Financial intermediaries
include insurance, pension, and equity funds. The direct financial relationship
is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Banco
de Guayaquil (Financial Intermediary)
Another Loan is provided and Lasso takes advantage again
“IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) Group, provided a $50 million loan to Banco Guayaquil. The funds will be
used to finance the growth of Banco Guayaquil's micro, small and medium-sized
business (MIPYME) portfolio and 50 percent will be destined to finance
micro-enterprises led by women.”
The loan, which has a tenor of up to five years, provides
long-term financing to Banco Guayaquil to increase the availability of
resources for the country’s MSME. The project also allows for increased access
to more financing for women-led microenterprises and to implement a strategy
with a gender focus with which Banco Guayaquil seeks to attract
microentrepreneurs in the country.
MSME in Ecuador has enormous potential to generate output,
employment, and income. According to the Ministry of Industry and Productivity
of Ecuador, 89 percent of the country’s businesses are microenterprises, and
these are concentrated in Quito and Guayaquil. Its capacity to reach higher levels
of participation in the local and international market is conditioned by the
lack of funding. Less than half of Ecuadorian SMEs have access to bank loans and
only 6 percent of the country’s microcredit comes from private banks.
This transaction is expected to potentially contribute to
six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations: No Poverty (SDG
1), Gender Equality (SDG 5), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Industry,
Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) and
Responsible Production and Consumption (SDG 12).
The IDB Invest deal is complemented by technical assistance
that will support Banco Guayaquil to attract the women's market and will carry
out market research to develop a program for the inclusion of persons with
disabilities. The gender and inclusion strategy consists of developing a value
proposition for women-led SMEs and microcredit for rural women. It will also
analyze the needs of access to financial services of the disabled population in
two aspects: internally, with corporate practices that attract this type of
talent, and externally, with a market study to know their needs as clients.”
It is rather strange that if Banco de Guayaquil carried out
such a great deed Lasso never mentioned once any of this in his political
campaign. The reason is obvious. He knew if there was scrutiny, they will
discover the source of his massive wealth. But it continued and many more loans
are provided.
So, another loan was provided for $122 million.
The proceeds of the loan will be used to support the
expansion of the small, and medium enterprise loan portfolio of Banco Guayaquil
S.A.
(“Banco Guayaquil”) with at least 50% of loans, proceeds to be
dedicated to women-owned or women-led businesses (the “Project”).
Proposed DFC Loan/Guaranty
$92,000,000 Direct Loan with a tenor of up to 8 years
All-Source Funding Total $122,666,667
Policy Review: Developmental Objectives The Project is
expected to have a positive developmental impact in Ecuador through the provision
of a loan facility to a major bank for on-lending to small and medium
enterprises (SMEs), with half of DFC loan proceeds for on-lending to
women-owned or women-led SMEs. The Project will support these SMEs at a
critical period, with Ecuador’s 2020 real GDP forecast to decline 6.3 percent
according to the International
Monetary Fund, the country’s worst performance in over 40
years if realized. As of 2018, the International Finance Corporation reported
Ecuador’s SME financing gap at $15.7 billion (or approximately 16 percent of
GDP), with women-owned and women-led SMEs accounting for approximately $1.3
billion of the total.
Environment and Social Assessment
The Project has been reviewed against the DFC’s 2020
Environmental and Social Policies and Procedures (“ESPP”) and has been
determined to be categorically eligible. Loans to financial intermediaries for
microfinance are screened as a Category C for environmental
and social assessment. These downstream investments are expected to result in
minimal adverse environmental and social impacts.
To ensure that Banco Guayaquil’s investments in microfinance
lending are consistent with the DFC’s statutory and policy requirements, the
DFC loan made to Banco Guayaquil will be subject to conditions regarding the
use of proceeds. The primary environmental and social issues identified in this
transaction relate to the need for an Environmental and Social Policy (“ESP”)
that meets the 2012 IFC
Performance Standards.
About IDB Invest IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB) Group, is a multilateral development bank committed to
the economic development of its member countries in Latin America and the
Caribbean through the private sector. IDB Invest finances sustainable companies
and projects so they can achieve financial results and maximize the region’s
economic, social, and environmental development. With a portfolio of $12.1
billion in assets under administration and 329 clients in 21 countries, IDB
Invest provides innovative financial solutions and advisory services in
response to its clients’ needs in a variety of sectors.
So, Lasso is in reality the great beneficiary of these
programs. The very description of the IDB describes Banco de Guayaquil as “one
of the main financial institutions in Ecuador, with 95 years of experience and
AAA rating, the highest in Ecuadorian banking. It has a total of $6 billion of
more contingent assets, a credit portfolio of $3.2 billion, and $3.4 billion in
deposits from the public. The Bank offers a wide variety of financial services
through more than 6,000 physical care points and provides innovative solutions
through its digital channels. Banco Guayaquil handles the Visa, Mastercard, and
American Express brands.”
But in careful analysis of the massive use of so many
offshore companies I came to realize that Lasso was using great parts of the
money provided to help women, to help the country to help himself in the most
corrupt way. Lasso took advantage of the real estate crisis of 2008 and bought
tons of properties such as the building at 2440 NW 33rd Street, Apartment 1811,
Oakland Park — which was valued at US$161,000 in June 2005 — for US$98,500 just
six months before its price was nearly doubled.
The massive network of shadow companies has been using former
employees of Banco de Guayaquil. Such as Euvenia Touriz, former manager of
Lasso's bank, Banco Guayaquil in Spain, Miguel Macias Yerovi, former financial
vice president of the same bank, and Guillermo Lasso Alcivar, the oldest son and
executive vice president of the bank.
The initial venture of Danilo Carrera Drouet creating a
network of shadow companies to hide all the deals he made as minister of
several governments, the rules he wrote himself at the Bolsa de Valores de
Guayaquil, as well as when he was Gerente de la Sucursal Mayor Guayaquil,
Gerente del Banco Central del Ecuador and Presidente de la Junta Monetaria del
Banco Central del Ecuador. Hw
was Minister of Industrias Comercio e Integración, además de ministro
Plenipotenciario en el Pacto Andino. So there was no one as well versed
in the Ecuadorian economy and he knew all the loopholes that he copund take
advantage. The new generation of testaferros is venturing now and Gullermo
Lasso Junior is leading the way.
In 2009, according to the Florida Division of Corporations,
Guillermo E. Lasso — the candidate’s son — registered several entities. The
American government and the FBI must analyze the loans made by the IBD to Banco
de Guayaquil and follow the money and I could bet you they will find the money
at the several LLC’s created in Florida, such as Nora Investment US, Bill
Investments and so many other I have listed below. Ever since June 2009 to
December 2014, several holding companies, LLC’s funds buy and sell themselves,
consolidate themselves, and revolve around a massive number of properties which
they buy and sell among themselves. They initially purchased 59 properties,
which they still own today, in Florida’s Broward County according to publicly
available records. The purchases, mostly condos, totaled $5.7 million.
There are a number of companies that were registered by his
former employees and are the registered agents of a huge list of shadow
companies. Miguel Macias and Euvenia Touriz. Both were previously officials at
Banco Guayaquil, and both are currently listed as directors at the Banisi Bank
in Panama that is owned by Lasso. From 2011 to 2013, Lasso (the candidate’s
son), Macias, and Touriz registered 10 LLCs in Florida in which they are all
listed as directors. The additional LLCs were also used to purchase properties
in Florida.
In August 2014, following Ecuador’s implementation of new
regulations concerning offshore assets, Lasso’s son’s name was systematically
removed as a director from all 10 companies, the public records show. But
Macias and Touriz continued to open additional holding companies. It is
important to note that while LLCs list directors, the so-called beneficial
owner — or true owner — is concealed.
In June 2017, Macias and Touriz — Lasso associates from
prior shell companies and banks — were listed as officers on a newly created
shell company, DEBLEN USA 1, LLC. Two months later, the company purchased a
luxury home in Miami for $1.475 million. There is no record of a mortgage,
suggesting that the purchase was likely made in cash. Beginning in 2018,
however, both Macias and Touriz appeared to be systematically removed as
officers from the vast majority of the shell companies’ corporate records.
By 2020, in the months preceding the presidential elections
of Ecuador most of the previously identified shell companies went through an
infinite number of mergers, deactivations, reactivations, officer resignations,
name changes, and dissolutions. Many of the companies had their names changed
within a week of their dissolution. All but four of the property-holding
companies associated with Lasso have now been merged into new entities. In
total, I have identified 50 active companies registered in Florida, including
DEBLEN USA 1, mentioned above, associated with Lasso’s business associates.
Ecuador, Latin America and the Caribbean
Florida Company Director: MACIAS, MIGUEL
There are about 25 results for companies with a director named
"MACIAS, MIGUEL":
MACIAS CUSTOMS INC
Document No: P15000017820Effective Date: 2015-02-23Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 22320 SW 118 PL MIAMI, FL 33170
NORA HOLDINGS US, LLC
Document No: L17000258475Effective Date: 2017-12-19Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA STE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
BILL INVESTMENT ONCE US LLC
Document No: L17000206917Effective Date: 2017-10-05Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
BILL INVESTMENT DIEZ US LLC
Document No: L17000206907Effective Date: 2017-10-05Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
DEBLEN USA I LLC
Document No: L17000140197Effective Date: 2017-06-28Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA #PH-1, STE. 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
MYM INVESTMENTS DOS US LLC
Document No: L17000137962Effective Date: 2017-06-26Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA, SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
BILL INVESTMENT SIETE US, LLC
Document No: L15000208941Effective Date: 2015-12-16Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA #PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
BILL INVESTMENT SEIS US, LLC
Document No: L15000208936Effective Date: 2015-12-16Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA #PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
BILL INVESTMENT CINCO US, LLC
Document No: L15000193333Effective Date: 2015-11-16Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA #PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
BILL INVESTMENT CUATRO US, LLC
Document No: L15000180458Effective Date: 2015-10-23Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA #PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
BILL INVESTMENT TRES US, LLC
Document No: L15000143279Effective Date: 2015-08-20Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA #PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
BILL INVESTMENT DOS US, LLC
Document No: L15000129264Effective Date: 2015-07-29Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH-1, SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT DOCE US, LLC
Document No: L15000107381Effective Date: 2015-06-19Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA #PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT ONCE US, LLC
Document No: L14000174749Effective Date: 2014-11-10Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA #PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT DIEZ US, LLC
Document No: L13000175730Effective Date: 2013-12-20Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT NUEVE US, LLC
Document No: L13000175724Effective Date: 2013-12-20Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT OCHO US LLC
Document No: L13000112781Effective Date: 2013-08-09Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT SIETE US LLC
Document No: L13000097062Effective Date: 2013-07-09Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT SEIS US LLC
Document No: L13000093461Effective Date: 2013-06-28Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA, PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT CINCO US LLC
Document No: L13000093459Effective Date: 2013-06-28Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH-1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT CUATRO US, LLC
Document No: L12000113327Effective Date: 2012-09-04Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA, PH1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT TRES US, LLC
Document No: L12000012738Effective Date: 2012-01-26Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA, PH1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT DOS US, LLC
Document No: L12000012719Effective Date: 2012-01-26Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH1 SUITE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT UNO US LLC
Document No: L11000037515Effective Date: 2011-03-29Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH 1 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
NORA INVESTMENT US , LLC
Document No: L09000041979Effective Date: 2009-04-30Status:
INACTIVEAddress: 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA PH 1, STE 1602 CORAL GABLES, FL 33134
TOURIZ,
EUVENIA MGR 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA STE 1602 CORAL GABLES,
FL 33134
MACIAS,
MIGUEL MGR 121 ALHAMBRA PLAZA STE 1602 CORAL GABLES,
FL 33134
Companies of the same agent name -
TOURIZ, EUVENIA
Name Date of
Incorporation Status
BILL INVESTMENT ONCE US LLC 2017-10-05 INACTIVE
BILL INVESTMENT DIEZ US LLC 2017-10-05 INACTIVE
DEBLEN USA I LLC 2017-06-28 INACTIVE
BILL INVESTMENT SIETE US, LLC 2015-12-16 INACTIVE
BILL INVESTMENT SEIS US, LLC 2015-12-16 INACTIVE
BILL INVESTMENT CINCO US, LLC 2015-11-16 INACTIVE
BILL INVESTMENT CUATRO US, LLC 2015-10-23 INACTIVE
BILL INVESTMENT TRES US, LLC 2015-08-20 INACTIVE
BILL INVESTMENT DOS US, LLC 2015-07-29 INACTIVE
NORA INVESTMENT DOCE US, LLC 2015-06-19 INACTIVE
Entity Name Date
Registered Number of Real Estate Holdings Value of Florida Property
BROWARD TWO LLC 1/8/18 45 $8,229,770
BROWARD ONE LLC 1/8/18 50 $6,913,150
BRICKELL TWO LLC 1/8/18 6 $5,472,758
BRICKELL ONE LLC 1/8/18 5 $3,848,943
LOCAL EQUITY THREE LLC 1/8/18 4 $3,629,950
NORA INVESTMENT UNO US 3/29/11 14 $2,740,000
DORAL
LLC 1/8/18 10 $1,452,370
MALENA
UNO US LLC 7/29/13 1 $683,636
MALENA US LLC 7/29/13 1 $680,288
Total 136 $33,650,865
Notes: Nora Investment Uno US is no longer an active
company, despite still being listed as the owner of 14 properties. Several
violations and the IRS will have their hands full
15 additional companies are currently active but do not
appear to directly own real estate in Miami-Dade or Broward counties.
“BILL INVESTMENT CINCO US, LLC,” with Macias and Touriz
listed as officers, a house purchased for $2.2 million.
“LOCAL EQUITY THREE LLC.” Involving Macias and Touriz again.
“DIRECT MANAGEMENT LLC.”
“FREEDOM MANAGEMENT LLC.” Instead of individuals, the only
officers of these newly created companies are additional shell companies. Every
one of the merged companies now lists one of these two companies as the manager.
Both “DIRECT MANAGEMENT LLC” and “FREEDOM MANAGEMENT LLC”
are registered in Delaware, another jurisdiction infamous for its corporate
secrecy. Interestingly, Delaware corporate records reveal that both of these
companies were created on the same date: December 18, 2017. The Florida
corporate reshuffling started shortly thereafter.
While Lasso’s associates no longer appear on the corporate
records, there can be no doubt that the actual owner of the properties remains
unchanged. Of the 144 properties owned by the companies in 2017, 10 were sold
and 16 still list the original shell company as the owner. For the remaining
properties, while the name of the owner changed, the actual owner did not.
Here, it is important to clarify that, as is the nature of shell companies,
the actual “beneficial owner” of the asset remains entirely secret.
Two of the Lasso-linked shells made new real estate
purchases in 2020: BRICKELL ONE LLC and BRICKELL TWO LLC. Florida real estate
records show that the former, BRICKELL ONE, is itself the result of a merger of
four different shell companies: NORA INVESTMENT CINCO, NORA INVESTMENT SEIS,
NORA INVESTMENT SIETE, and NORA INVESTMENT NUEVE. The first purchase was of a
$665,000 condo in April 2020. The second took place in October 2020.
The shell company BRICKELL ONE LLC paid $1.25 million late
last fall for a Coral Gables apartment. The Miami-Dade property appraiser
assessed the house as worth just $734,894 in 2020. Interestingly, the seller of
that home was Miguel Macias, who had purchased the home in January 2016 for
$900,000. That raises additional questions. For example, why would a shell
company Macias had previously managed then purchase a home from him for well
above the apparent market value?
The most significant real estate deal, however, involved
DEBLEN USA 1 LLC’s 2017 purchase of the luxury home in Miami. In August 2020,
just three years after the purchase, the home was sold for $5 million.
Curiously, the shell company provided the buyer with a $2.25 million mortgage.
DEBLEN isn’t the only company that has moved into the mortgage business. GLOBAL
EQUITY SEVEN LLC, according to Florida records, is currently the lender on
seven mortgages totaling $1.2 million. It appears the shell companies have
moved from being simply owners of real estate to serving as direct lenders in
the state of Florida.
Overall, as can be seen in Table 1 above, we identified 136
properties owned by shell companies associated with Lasso. It is certainly
possible there are others that remain hidden. Together, those identified have a
current assessed market value of $33 million, according to Miami-Dade and
Broward County property records. In addition, currently, active shell companies
hold $3.45 million in mortgages.
Though Guillermo Lasso’s name does not appear directly on
any of the South Florida corporate or real estate records, the involvement of
family members and close business associates, as well as the recent moves
toward even greater anonymity, certainly raises questions about the involvement
of the president of Ecuador. The Florida connections are far from the only
questions, however.
In 2017, Lasso admitted that he owned the bank, Banisi S.A.
Nevertheless, the CNE rejected the complaint. The bank continues to operate
today with both Macias and Touriz listed as directors as well as two of Lasso’s
sons. Banisi has capital totaling $60.4 million, according to the Panamanian
superintendency of banks.
One thing has not changed since 2017: the media — both
international and Ecuadorian — are completely ignoring Lasso’s offshore
financial holdings. In great part due to the powerful Trident Trust of the
Rothschild’s involvement and who are now holding two fidecomisos of the
President of Ecuador. In short, they got a lot of his money. That raises
another issue. Who is pulling the string of the puppet?
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario