Company in Aruba covered up huge tax evasion
Jump to full article: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), 2002-01-21
Author: Joop Bouma
Intro: These articles were originally published on Jan. 21, 2002 in the Dutch daily Trouw, which provided the following translation. They are reposted here with permission.
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - The American tobacco industry has smuggled billions of cigarettes through Aruba to Colombia and Venezuela. A company in Aruba's free trade zone was used as a cover. Drug money was used to pay for the cigarettes.
This allegation is made by a former CFO of the Aruban import and export company. In his opinion, the tobacco industry deliberately evaded taxes and duties by creating this smuggling route. His allegations are supported by internal documents from the industry. The transactions on Aruba and in Latin America provided the industry with a huge illegal market. . .
The documents that show BAT's involvement in the black trade in Colombia come from Romar Freezone, a company located on Aruba. Alex Solagnier (44) worked for twenty years for the company, the last ten of which as CFO.
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