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Offshore Leaks Database

Data from
Paradise Papers - The Power Players
Former prime minister, Canada (1993-2003)

Jean Chrétien

About

Jean Chrétien was prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003, winning two re-election campaigns.

In the data

Bermuda-registered Madagascar Oil Limited awarded options to Chretien in July 2007 as a consulting fee, according to documents in the Appleby files. Madagascar Oil was formed to explore and drill for oil in Madagascar and shares revenue with the government there. Madagascar Oil went public in November 2010 at a valuation of $284 million.

Madagascar Oil Limited was shareholder of two companies registered in 2004 and 2010 in Mauritius. One of them, Madagascar Oil Services Ltd. was created to “be a holding company of a group of companies involved in the exploration and development of heavy oil”.

The Appleby files contain no evidence that Chretien exercised the options.

Response

In an interview with ICIJ media partner the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Chretien said that he has worked for Madagascar Oil “only for a few days, a few weeks.” “I have never had any [stock] option,” he said. “I was never sent any document, I have never received an annual report of anything.” Chretien added that Madagascar Oil “probably used … my name, to show there was a link with me. But [the company] never sent me any document on this.” He told CBC that he was not aware that he had options.
This visualization contains relevant information in relation to the profiled individual. Some additional connections might show up once we release the full structured data connected to the Paradise Papers investigation in the coming weeks. Record manually added from leaked documents.

Disclaimer

There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. The inclusion of a person or entity in the ICIJ Offshore Leaks Database is not intended to suggest or imply that they have engaged in illegal or improper conduct. Many people and entities have the same or similar names. We suggest you confirm the identities of any individuals or entities included in the database based on addresses or other identifiable information. The data comes directly from the leaked files ICIJ has received in connection with various investigations and each dataset encompasses a defined time period specified in the database. Some information may have changed over time. Please contact us if you find an error in the database.

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