Finance minister denies being a part-owner of offshore entities

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada, (CMC):

Finance Minister Nazim Burke on Thursday scoffed at documents published on a website claiming that he and his wife had joint ownership of five offshore companies.

"I state categorically that neither my wife nor I have any knowledge of, or connection with any of the mentioned companies/entities, either now or in the past," Burke said in a statement.

"We have no interests in these companies and have never had any dealings with these companies. We have never been associated in any way with the transfer of funds into, or out of, any of these companies, or their related accounts."

Burke said he was fully satisfied that the manufacturers of the documents and the associated forgeries committed therewith are the work of a few local and international criminals acting in concert, highly motivated, for different selfish, political and economic reasons to discredit his and his wife's names and, in particular, to undermine his credibility as Minister of Finance and Energy.

Mischief and confusion

"It is clear that these persons are out to make mischief and create confusion in the minds of the Grenadian people," he said.

In September 2009, Burke claimed that he and his wife received threatening emails promising to expose their offshore investment. The emails were trace to a Russian Internet provider.

Burke, at the time, said that the sender were Russians who wanted the Government of Grenada to provide them with an oil exploration contract.