April 08, 2016
LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted on Thursday that he had held a £30,000 stake in an offshore company set up by his father, after days of pressure following publication of ‘Panama Papers’.
Cameron said he sold the stake in the Bahamas-based trust in 2010, four months before he became prime minister, in an interview with ITV television channel.
According to British media, the 10 Downing Street has issued four statements on the affair this week following Sunday's publication of the leaked Panama Papers, which showed how Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca had helped firms and wealthy individuals set up offshore companies.
"We owned 5,000 units in Blairmore Investment Trust, which we sold in January 2010. That was worth something like £30,000 (US$42,000)," Cameron said.
"I sold them all in 2010, because if I was going to become prime minister I didn't want anyone to say you have other agendas, vested interests."