US prosecutors investigate Mossack Fonseca staff

SEVERAL EMPLOYEES of  Panama firm Mossack Fonseca (MF) are being investigated by  US Federal  prosecutors  to determine if they were involved in criminal activities.

The information was reported in Wall Street Journal,(WSJ) which added that US authorities are looking into cases of money laundering, tax evasion and abetting corruption.

“The investigation will focus on a handful of employees of Mossack Fonseca, but they plan to then expand,” said the publication, which explained that the process is still in its early stages.

Prosecutors want to know whether individuals at  MF., the law firm at the center of the “Panama Papers” scandal, knowingly helped its clients launder money or evade taxes, according to people familiar with the matter.

“Mossack Fonseca has been in the global spotlight since early April, when a consortium of journalists published a trove of leaked documents showing that the Panama-based firm created hundreds of thousands of shell companies and offshore accounts for rich and powerful people around the world,.”says the WSJ

A spokeswoman for Mossack Fonseca directed all inquiries to the firm’s website, which says the firm “has never been accused or charged in connection with criminal wrongdoing.”

The main focus of this process, according to the newspaper, is to determine if the firm committed illegal acts in cases involving Americans.

The firm also said it “does not advise clients on tax issues or how to operate the companies that it creates.”