Former Panama Papers client jailed in US

Harald Joachim Von der Goltz, 83, a former client of the defunct  Panama law firms Mossack Fonseca at the center of the Panama Papers scandal was sentenced Monday, September 21, to four years in prison for evading more than $ 3 million in taxes.

The case was one of those revealed after the investigation by members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

Before a US federal court on February 18, Von der Goltz pleaded guilty to having participated in conspiracies to evade taxes and launder money.

He also accepted that he did not properly inform the US authorities of his finances and made false statements to the authorities.

According to a Daily News report, Von der Goltz used a complex network of shell companies, bank accounts, and a false base to hide his investments from US authorities with the help Mossack Fonseca.

“No matter how complicated the plan is, the US government will bring to justice those who attempt to evade their tax obligations under the law,” Acting Manhattan US Attorney Audrey Strauss told the Daily News

Although Von der Goltz was born in Germany and lived in Guatemala, his status as a resident of the United States required him to pay taxes and meet all the financial requirements of that northern nation.

This is the first case linked to the 2016 ICIJ investigation that results in a conviction in the United States and the name of the defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca appears repeatedly in the more than 60 pages of the indictment, as well as the name of lawyer Ramsés Owens, who worked in that firm.

But Von Der Goltz did not mention them by name during his guilty plea. He limited himself to saying that, with the goal of avoiding taxes in the United States, “I committed these acts alone and with the assistance of my lawyers.”