Criminal proceedings - "Panama Papers": defendants acquitted in financial scandal
Eight years after the worldwide financial scandal of the "Panama Papers" was revealed, the 28 accused individuals were surprisingly acquitted by the court in Panama City on Friday. Among them was the German attorney Jürgen Mossack.
The judge, Baloísa Marquínez, also ordered the termination of the criminal proceedings against the now deceased Ramón Fonseca Mora.
In the collection of evidence from the servers of the now defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca, the chain of evidence was not clear. The other evidence was furthermore not sufficient and conclusive, the judge ruled.
The accused were charged with money laundering through the founding of 215,000 letterbox companies in tax havens, in which politicians, celebrities, and athletes were alleged to have hidden their assets.
In the spring of 2016, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and other media outlets of the investigative journalists network (ICIJ) exposed the businesses of the Panama-based letterbox companies. Through a massive data leak, 11.5 million documents were leaked to the newspaper. Almost 400 reporters from over 80 countries participated in the investigations.
- Despite the international outrage and evidence from the Panama Papers, involving banks in Panama and financial scandals, the court in Panama City ultimately dismissed criminal proceedings against 28 individuals, including Jürgen Mossack.
- The acquittals, eight years after the unveiling of the Panama Papers financial scandal, sparked controversy due to the involvement of high-profile individuals, such as politicians and celebrities, in offshore accounts registered through Mossack Fonseca's letterbox companies.
- The Panama Papers publicized details of criminal proceedings against Ramón Fonseca Mora, a co-founder of Mossack Fonseca, which was at the center of the international financial scandal, but the judge ultimately ended these processes due to insufficient and unclear evidence.
- Banks and financial institutions around the world were implicated in the Panama Papers scandal, showing how international crime can utilize letterbox companies for money laundering purposes, leading to tax evasion and financial misconduct.
- The acquittals and termination of the criminal proceedings brought about by the Panama Papers investigation raised questions about the effectiveness of international processes in combating financial crime and ensuring accountability for those involved in international financial scandals.
