Money laundering and tax evasion Court acquits all defendants in the "Panama Papers" case
The publication of the "Panama Papers" was an international scandal. Shady financial transactions involving hundreds of politicians and celebrities came to light. Now a court in Panama has acquitted all the defendants.
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- A court in Panama City has acquitted all 28 defendants in connection with the Panama Papers for lack of evidence.
- The revelations of the "Panama Papers" led to political resignations and tax investigations worldwide.
- The proceedings against Ramón Fonseca Mora, the co-founder of the law firm that operated the financial constructs, were discontinued after his death. The law firm has been dissolved.
Eight years ago, the financial scandal surrounding the "Panama Papers" put politicians, athletes and celebrities from all over the world under pressure. A Netflix film was even made about it - starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas.
Now, on Friday evening (local time), a court in Panama City acquitted the 28 defendants who, according to the public prosecutor's office in the Central American country, had pulled the strings in setting up letterbox companies in tax havens - due to a lack of evidence.
Judge Baloísa Marquínez ruled that the allegations had not been sufficiently and conclusively substantiated. Furthermore, the chain of evidence was not traceable in the collection of evidence on the servers of the now defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca.
On Friday, Marquínez also ordered the criminal proceedings against Ramón Fonseca Mora, who died in May, to be dropped. There was also an acquittal in the related "Lava Jato" bribery scandal.
One law firm, 215,000 letterbox companies
In the "Panama Papers" affair, the defendants were accused of money laundering by setting up 215,000 letterbox companies in tax havens. The co-founder of the law firm, German-born lawyer Jürgen Mossack, always denied the accusations.
In spring 2016, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and other media of the Investigative Journalists' Network (ICIJ) revealed the business activities of the Panama-based shell companies. A huge data leak resulted in 11.5 million documents being leaked to the newspaper. Almost 400 reporters from more than 80 countries took part in the research.
Among other things, the names of 140 politicians and close confidants emerged. In Iceland, the publication of the documents led to the resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson. In Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was removed from office.
Pulitzer Prize for revelatory network
The ICIJ received the Pulitzer Prize, the highest award in US journalism, for the revelations of the Panama Papers in 2017. The revelations triggered tax investigations in many countries and subsequently led to millions in additional tax revenue in Germany.
The law firm Mossack Fonseca was also accused of being involved in a Brazilian corruption network. The "Lava Jato" scandal involved bribes in the awarding of construction projects. The focus was on the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. The judge ruled that it had not been proven in this case that money from illegal Brazilian sources had flowed into the Panamanian financial system.
dpa
