Subject to rumors, Esteves says: "Mine is with TAM"
Owner of an extravagant $40 million Dassault Falcon X-7 jet, the president of BTG Pactual clarifies to 247 that his aircraft was not included in the raid by the tax authorities and the Federal Police; agents seized 13 planes belonging to millionaires who failed to pay taxes; the owners' names have not yet been officially revealed; tension among the wealthy.
Marco Damiani _247 – The president of BTG Pactual bank, André Esteves, had his name involved in intense rumors this Thursday, the 21st. Nothing to do with another acquisition by the institution or with the fluctuation of his bank's shares on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. While the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Police were cross-referencing information from the operation that, in the last 24 hours, seized no less than 13 executive jets belonging to "people of very high purchasing power," according to delegate Marcelo Siqueira, for failure to pay taxes, news circulated in the business community that Esteves's plane was among the seized aircraft.
The rumors also involved other businessmen, not as rich and famous as the billionaire investor. According to the police, the Brazilian owners bought the aircraft from a company based in a Caribbean tax haven. However, with the intention of avoiding taxes of up to 15% on the value of the asset, they kept their planes in the names of foreigners, leaving them here for periods never exceeding 90 days, so as not to constitute a formal import. For Federal Police delegate Marcelo Siqueira, this scheme constitutes gross tax fraud, estimated, in total for the lot, at more than R$ 100 million. "These owners have all the means to pay these taxes" (read more), he said in an interview this Thursday, the 21st. To put an end to the rumors and all the tension surrounding the millionaires of the "private jet" club, the best thing would be for the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Police to release the list of aircraft, the 'front men' and their true users and, therefore, owners, as soon as possible. A statement from the authorities is expected in the coming hours.
Speaking to 247 through BTG's press office, Esteves clarified the situation. "My plane has the registration PRTPCT and is in the TAM hangar at Congonhas airport," he said. Now the owner of a publicly traded company, after the IPO (initial public offering) in April, when the bank raised R$ 3,6 billion, Esteves stated that the aircraft is his private property, not the bank's. The rumors only matched reality in one point: Esteves's jet is indeed a magnificent Falcon X-7, manufactured by the French company Dassault, valued at US$40 million. For more information about this object of desire and, perhaps, to begin negotiations for a legal purchase, directly from the factory and therefore without intermediaries, access the link http://www.dassaultfalcon.com/7x/