Panama Papers expose collapses as court acquits defendants

Admin I Saturday, June 29, 2024

 

PANAMA CITY – All of the defendants in a money laundering trial that followed the publication of the leaked Panama Papers have been acquitted, a court in Panama City said on Friday, eight years after the scandal first broke.

The sensational publication of the so-called Panama Papers in 2016 involved some 11.5 million leaked documents.

They came from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and were evaluated by journalists around the world. They found that numerous politicians, athletes and other celebrities had assets in offshore companies.

Mossack Fonseca was accused of having set up 215,000 letterbox companies in tax havens where politicians, celebrities and athletes from all over the world were able to conceal their assets and avoid paying taxes.

Eight years after the scandal emerged, 28 defendants, including German-born lawyer Jürgen Mossack, accused of money laundering went on trial in Panama in April.

According to a court statement on Friday, Judge Baloísa Marquínez found the evidence collected from Mossack Fonseca’s servers did not comply with the chain of custody, while “the rest of the evidence was not sufficient and conclusive to determine the criminal responsibility of the accused,” leading her to acquit the defendants.

The sensational publication of the papers triggered tax investigations in many countries.

During the investigations, the names of 140 politicians and close confidants emerged. The revelations put them under significant pressure.