Historic Leak Exposes Global Network of Tax Havens Larisa Epatko - PBS NewsHour
go to original April 4, 2016

#PanamaPapers explained: Watch Hari Sreenivasan’s full interview with ICIJ Director Gerard Ryle. (Hari Sreenivasan)

Update: The Panama Papers Scandal Has Toppled Its First Government (AskMen)

More than 11 million documents from a Panamanian law firm were released over the weekend in a massive data dump that purported to show the company helped clients launder money and evade taxes.

A source (unnamed in the media reports) gave the financial and legal documents to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism. More than 100 media outlets have participated in analyzing the documents so far.



A yearlong investigation by the ICIJ said the law firm based in Panama, Mossack Fonseca, helped companies and individuals with tax havens, including those that have been sanctioned by the U.S. and UK for dealing with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“I think the leak will prove to be probably the biggest blow the offshore world has ever taken because of the extent of the documents,” said Gerard Ryle, director of ICIJ. He said the documents spanned four decades of the company’s work.

Mossack Fonseca’s services include incorporating companies in offshore jurisdictions and administering the companies for an annual fee.

Read the rest at PBS NewsHour

Related: What Are the Panama Papers? A Guide to the Biggest Data Leak in History (The Guardian)

Related: A Well-Connected Mexican Tycoon Stashes a Fortune Overseas (McClatchyDC)

Related: Panama Papers: Rich and Powerful Respond to Leaked Report Claiming They Hid Billions Offshore (CNN Wire)

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