| Revenue advisor denies reports of wrongdoing | | Print | |
| Thursday, 14 April 2011 10:00 | |||
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One of the consultants hired by the European Union to advise the Turks and Caicos Islands interim government on improving its revenue system denies news reports that he was convicted of misappropriating state funds in Peru where he once served as an economy minister. “This is false,” Jorge Baca told the fp. “These were the charges but not the result.” “I have been convicted of minor things that have not meant jail terms or major fines, and they have been appealed to clear my name once for all,” Baca said. The TCI interim government said it was unaware of allegations against Baca when it awarded the revenue study contract to a company that chose Baca to lead the team. Had it known, the government said it “would not have considered him suitable for this role.” The government “wish to stress, however, that his analysis was carried out as one member of a team, and that we do not believe the revenue work, which was the result of the whole team’s efforts and which is now complete, to be invalidated,” the government said in a statement. “The (government) view is that the entire team conducted itself in a completely professional and credible manner throughout their period of work in the TCI.” Baca said he was victim of a “witch hunt” in which all ministers were charged by the political opposition of former Peruvian President Alberto Ken’ya Fujimori. “When I was Technical Advisor of the (International Monetary Fund) and delivering a mission on Argentina, I was detained in Buenos Aires by Interpol on allegations that I illegally assisted a Peruvian bank to avoid bankruptcy,” Baca said. “IMF lawyers interceded, and I was released.” “The truth is that all this was part of a witch hunting exercise from political parties opposed to Mr. Fujimori that charged all Finance Ministers that served Mr. Fujimori’s administration,” Baca explained. “In 1998 the Russian financial crisis affected the Peruvian financial system, and the banking system was in the brink of a meltdown,” Baca said. “It was decided to rescue Bank Latino to avoid the meltdown of the Peruvian Financial System, and this was done successfully. This was recognized by IMF and other multilaterals. However, this case has been used by opponents of Mr. Fujimori to claim that all Finance Ministers that served Mr. Fujimori are corrupt.” Fujimori served as president of Peru from 1990 until 2000. He was convicted in 2007 of ordering an illegal search and seizure, and was sentenced to six years in prison. In 2009, Fujimori was convicted of murder, bodily harm and kidnapping and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the actions of the Grupo Colina death squad during his government’s battle against leftist guerrillas in the 1990s.
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