Panama Papers scandal firm closes doors around world
Mossack Fonseca, the Panama law firm at the center of the Panama Papers revelations which reverberated around the world affecting political leaders sports and entertainment icons and thousands of businessmen is putting up the shutters in all of its offices.
Its founding partners remain under house arrest, and the company is still under investigation for alleged links to the Odebrecht bribery scandal.
The closure announcement was made on Wednesday, March 14.
TVN News reports that only 36 employees remain, of the 600 at work when the scandal broke. They will be terminated this week and the offices will close by month’s end but will be accessible to investigating authorities.
Only 36 employees remain out of 600 who worked when the scandal broke and they will be terminated this week. The offices will remain accessible to the authorities.
The firm gained international notoriety in April 2016, when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), published the called “Panama Papers revealing how the wealthy hid profits and assets offshore to avoid tax
The investigation, which included a leak of millions of Mossack Fonseca confidential documents led to the law firm being the target of investigations by the Public Ministry, in spite of close connections to President Juan Carlos Varela.
It was also implicated in Latin America’s biggest corruption plot the Brazilian corruption plot “Lava Jato.”
The firm founded by Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca Mora in 1977, specialized in asset management, tax, international structures and commercial law.
Mossack Fonseca offered its services in the jurisdictions of the United Kingdom, Malta, Hong Kong, Cyprus, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas, British Anguilla, Seychelles, Samoa, Nevada and Wyoming (United States).
Register now for FREE Newsroom daily updates