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Panama Papers details are correct but do not implicate me, says Putin
Source: The Guardian
Panama Papers details are correct but do not implicate me, says Putin
Russian president says information about his old friend Sergei
Roldugin is accurate while insisting it shows no illegal activity
Shaun Walker in Moscow
Thursday 14 April 2016 15.34 BST
Vladimir Putin has said the revelations from the Panama Papers published in the Guardian concerning an old friend of his are true.
However, the Russian president went on to say that the files demonstrate no illegal activity on his part. The papers link the cellist Sergei Roldugin to a number of offshore companies with cash flows of up to $2bn (£1.4bn).
During his annual phone-in with the nation, Putin discussed the documents with an irate caller who asked why he had not sued western media for spreading lies concerning the unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca.
“However strange it may seem, the information is correct,” he said. “I have the feeling that it was prepared not by journalists but by lawyers, given the way it is presented. And it doesn’t actually accuse anyone of anything, and that’s the whole point. They are just trying to cause confusion, saying that some of my friends are involved in business, and suggesting that some of the money from these offshore accounts finds its way to officials, including the president.”
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Russian president says information about his old friend Sergei
Roldugin is accurate while insisting it shows no illegal activity
Shaun Walker in Moscow
Thursday 14 April 2016 15.34 BST
Vladimir Putin has said the revelations from the Panama Papers published in the Guardian concerning an old friend of his are true.
However, the Russian president went on to say that the files demonstrate no illegal activity on his part. The papers link the cellist Sergei Roldugin to a number of offshore companies with cash flows of up to $2bn (£1.4bn).
During his annual phone-in with the nation, Putin discussed the documents with an irate caller who asked why he had not sued western media for spreading lies concerning the unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca.
“However strange it may seem, the information is correct,” he said. “I have the feeling that it was prepared not by journalists but by lawyers, given the way it is presented. And it doesn’t actually accuse anyone of anything, and that’s the whole point. They are just trying to cause confusion, saying that some of my friends are involved in business, and suggesting that some of the money from these offshore accounts finds its way to officials, including the president.”
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/14/vladimir-putin-panama-papers-correct-sergei-roldugin
