Panama Papers: Trials of 27 accused in worldwide money laundering case begins
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Photo: Associated Press
Panama City: A criminal court in Panama opened the trial of 27 persons accused of money laundering in connection with the worldwide “Panama Papers” scandal on Monday.
Among those on trial are the owners of the Mossack-Fonseca law firm, which was important to the massive document leak of 2016.
A compilation of 11 million confidential financial records is included in the Panama Papers that show how some of the wealthiest people on the planet conceal their wealth.
Wide-ranging consequences resulted from the disclosures, including the resignation of Iceland's prime minister and increased scrutiny of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese politicians, and leaders of Argentina and Ukraine.
Money laundering accusations were brought against attorneys Juergen Mossack, Ramón Fonseca, and other former firm employees in the trial, which has been running behind schedule.
Mossack was in the courtroom; Fonseca's attorneys claimed he was in a Panamanian hospital, Associated Press reported.
The case focuses on claims that the company used shell corporations to use funds from the Car Wash, or Lava Jato in Portuguese, a massive corruption scheme in Brazil to purchase properties in Panama.
The company, which shut down in 2018, according to Fonseca, had no control over how its clients used the offshore vehicles that were made for them. Mossack and Fonseca both have citizenship of Panama, and the country does not extradite its own nationals.
In 2022, the two were acquitted of other accusations.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists received access to the information after they were initially leaked to the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung. In 2016, the group started working with news organisations on collaborative reporting projects.
Mossack Fonseca is accused by US federal prosecutors of circumventing US laws in order to protect its clients' riches and hide taxes to be paid to the IRS. They claimed that the scheme started in 2000 and involved shell companies and fake foundations in the British Virgin Islands, Panama, and Hong Kong.