Twenty-seven people will stand trial on Monday on money laundering charges in connection with the “Panama Papers” tax evasion scandal, which revealed, exposed many of the world’s famous rich hiding assets in offshore companies, Euractiv reports.
The 2016 revelations shook governments, exposed high-profile individuals, sparked dozens of investigations around the world and dealt a blow to Panama’s reputation as an offshore financial centre.
Among the defendants due to face a Panamanian criminal court are Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca Mora, founders of the now-defunct law firm at the centre of the scandal.
The leak of 11.5 million files from their company Mossack Fonseca implicated powerful figures including billionaires, politicians and even famous athletes. Iceland’s Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson resigned after it emerged that his family had offshore accounts. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was barred from office for life after the documents revealed.
Other figures include former British Prime Minister David Cameron, football star Lionel Messi, then Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar and many others.
The files were leaked to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Many of those at the centre of the scandal explained their offshore presence and said they had not acted illegally. Despite this, in 2018, Mossack Fonseca announced its closure due to “irreparable damage” to its reputation.
Panama passed new legislation after the scandal broke, but the Central American country remains on the European Union’s blacklist of tax havens.
The fact that some of its anti-money laundering laws did not exist at the time of the Panama Papers revelations could complicate the judiciary’s efforts to secure convictions.
In Panama, tax evasion has only become punishable since 2019 and for amounts exceeding $300,000 a year.
In 2023, Mossack and Fonseca appeared before a Panamanian court on money laundering charges in the Brazilian “Car Wash” corruption scandal involving construction group Odebrecht.
The prosecution has requested up to 12 years in prison for both in the case. The verdict has not yet been announced. The latest trial will last until 26 April, judicial officials said.
