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Offshore Leaks Database

Data from
Panama Papers - The Power Players
Head of national oil company

Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua

Held offshore companies when in charge of energy and the national oil company

Related to

Congo

About

Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua rose to power in the Republic of Congo through his family’s close association with President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, first serving as the president’s hydrocarbons adviser, then becoming head of the national oil company (SNPC) in 1998. Itoua was implicated in a massive diversion of company funds that came to light in 2003. A lawsuit two years later by one of Congo’s creditors accused Itoua and the SNPC of conspiring to "divert oil revenues ... into the pockets of powerful Congolese public officials.” After a U.S. federal appeals court ruled in 2007 that American courts did not have jurisdiction over the suit against the SNPC because it was a government agency, the creditor did not pursue its case against Itoua.

In the data

Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua had power of attorney to represent two offshore companies in 2004, while he was energy adviser to the President of the Republic of Congo and CEO of SNPC, the Congolese national oil company. The companies, Denvest Capital Strategies Inc., based in the British Virgin Islands, and Grafin Associated SA, based in Panama, had previously issued unregistered shares which belong to the person who physically holds them. The companies became inactive in 2006 and 2007 respectively, according to Mossack Fonseca's records.

Response

Itoua declined to respond to a request for comment from ICIJ and Le Monde.
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.

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.

There are legitimate uses for offshore companies and trusts. Read more