A Panamanian court on Friday acquitted 28 people accused of money laundering in connection with the Mossack Fonseca law firm, the epicenter of the “Panama Papers” scandal. According to the judge, it is not possible to establish with certainty the authenticity of the evidence.
The prosecutor in charge of the fight against organized crime had requested the maximum sentence of twelve years in prison for money laundering against the two directors of the firm, Jürgen Mossack, 76, and Ramon Fonseca, 71, who has since died in a hospital in the capital.
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 it to be established with “certainty” […] their authenticity and integrity.”
“In addition, the judge determined that the other evidence was not sufficient and conclusive to determine the criminal responsibility” of the defendants, the press release said. The judge ordered “the lifting of the provisional measures” which weighed on the defendants.
Shell companies
The affair broke out 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 Russian President Vladimir Putin, the former heads of government of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and the United Kingdom David Cameron (current head of British diplomacy), the former Argentine President Mauricio Macri, as well as Argentine 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 affected.
A “B box”
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,” said the lawyer for several defendants, including Mr. Mossack, after the announcement of the acquittal.
“A great injustice has truly been committed, not only against me, but also against all the people who have worked with me, and there are many of them,” declared Mr. Mossack at the end of the audience.
“As my partner [M. Fonseca, ndlr] that all the people who worked with me were serious, honest and correct people,” he said.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
