A Panamanian court on Friday acquitted 28 people accused of money laundering in connection with the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, the epicenter of the international “Panama Papers” tax evasion scandal.
Judge Baloisa Marquinez “acquitted 28 people accused of violating the economic order through money laundering” in the “Panama Papers” case, the court said in a statement.
Among the acquitted defendants are the founders of the firm, Ramon Fonseca, who died on May 9 in a Panamanian hospital at the age of 71, as well as Jürgen Mossack.
During the trial, the prosecutor in charge of the fight against organized crime, Isis Soto, requested the maximum sentence – 12 years in prison – against MM. Mossack and Fonseca.
The judge, however, considered that the evidence collected on the law firm’s servers “did not respect the chain of traceability” and did not allow for establishing with “certainty (…) their authenticity and integrity”.
“Furthermore, the judge determined that the remaining evidence was not sufficient and conclusive to determine criminal liability” of the defendants, the statement said.
Baloisa Marquinez also ordered “the lifting of provisional measures” imposed on the defendants, according to the same source.
The case broke in 2016 after the publication of an investigation, known as the “Panama Papers”, carried out by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (CIJI).
Drawing on the leak of 11.5 million documents from the Mossack Fonseca firm, it revealed that heads of state and government, leading politicians and figures from finance, sports and the arts hid properties, businesses, capital and profits from the tax authorities.
To this end, they created opaque companies, through the Panamanian cabinet, to open bank accounts and create shell companies in several countries, in order to hide money, in some cases coming from illegal activities, according to the consortium’s investigation.
Among the personalities mentioned are, among many others, Russian President Vladimir Putin, former heads of government of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and the United Kingdom David Cameron (current British Foreign Minister), former Argentine President Mauricio Macri, as well as football star Lionel Messi and Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar.
The scandal led to the closure of the Mossack Fonseca firm and Panama’s image was seriously damaged.
– “Justice has been done” –
During the trial, the prosecution accused Mr Mossack and Mr Fonseca of having facilitated, through their law firm, the creation of opaque companies in which executives of the German multinational Siemens deposited millions of euros outside the company’s real accounts. This “cash B” was allegedly used to hide money related to the payment of commissions.
The prosecution also argued that the Panamanian firm was used to store money from a massive scam in Argentina.
“Justice has been done, we are extremely satisfied with the judge’s decision,” Guillermina Mc Donald, lawyer for several defendants including Mr. Mossack, told AFP after the announcement of the acquittal.
During the trial, Mr. McDonald had reported “flaws” in the procedure, and that his clients should therefore be acquitted if “no punishable act was accredited.”
“A great injustice has truly been done, not only to me, but to all the people who have worked with me, and there are many of them,” Mr. Mossack said at the end of the hearing.
“Both my partner (Mr. Fonseca, deceased, editor’s note) and all the people who worked with me were serious, honest and correct people,” he said.
