Paradise Papers: Democrats want probe into US commerce chief Wilbur Ross’s business link to Putin son-in-law
US Commerce Secretary faces questions about business ties he did not disclose to Congress and the government
Ross, Donald Trump’s billionaire commerce secretary, is under pressure after The Guardian and international partners revealed his holding in a shipping company that does lucrative business with a firm co-owned by Kirill Shamalov, who is married to the Russian president’s daughter.
Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Ross had misled Congress and the US public by concealing his ongoing stake in the company, Navigator, which has a haulage contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars with the Russian energy company Sibur.
“Only after a thorough investigation can Americans be sure Secretary Ross really has their best interests at heart,” said Blumenthal.
Ross’s Russian interests emerged from the Paradise Papers, a leak of 13 million documents from 19 tax havens which shed new light on how corporations and the global elite keep their wealth in offshore jurisdictions imposing no taxes and offering secrecy.
The leak showed that the Britain’s Queen Elizabeth had millions of pounds worth of offshore interests, linking her to a retailer accused of exploiting poor Britons. The investments also connected the British monarch to the Threshers chain of wine shops.