A Panamanian court said in a statement that it had acquitted Friday 28 people accused of money laundering in connection with the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, the epicenter of the international tax evasion scandal known as the “Panama Papers.”
Among the acquitted defendants are the firm’s founders, Ramon Fonseca, who died on May 9 in a Panamanian hospital at the age of 71, and 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 Jürgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca.
Judge Baloisa Marquinez, however, found that the evidence collected on the law firm’s servers “did not respect the chain of traceability” and did not allow 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 press release indicates.
Baloisa Marquez also ordered “the lifting of provisional measures” which weighed on the defendants, according to the same source.
A scandal involving Messi, Cameron or even Almodovar
The case broke in 2016 after the publication of an investigation, known as the “Panama Papers”, conducted 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.
