The Panama Papers Trial on now

You may remember back to June of 2022 when a Panamanian judge, Baloisa Marquínez Moran, acquitted thirty-nine people in a money laundering case.  She’s back again as the Panama Papers is in the courts today.   Among those acquitted in 2022 were lawyers Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca, who were key figures in the Panama Papers case.  Both Mossack and Fonseca have Panamanian citizenship.  Mossack and Fonseca, faced charges of money laundering and creating offshore accounts that were used by the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht to move bribes.  Judge Baloisa Marquínez Moran ruled that the prosecution did not prove that the law firm Mossack Fonseca handled illicit funds from Brazil, or try to hide them.

Fonseca has claimed they were the victims of “scapegoating” to hide who accepted bribes from Odebrecht.  The Panama Papers included a collection of eleven million secret financial documents that illustrated how some of the world’s richest people hide their money. The records were leaked in 2016, and the repercussions were far-ranging. This leak prompted the resignation of the Prime Minister of Iceland and brought scrutiny to leaders of Argentina, Ukraine, China and Russian President Vladimir Putin.  US federal prosecutors have alleged that the Mossack Fonseca firm conspired to circumvent American laws to maintain the wealth of its clients.  They allegedly also concealed tax dollars that they owed to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Fonseca said that the firm, which closed in 2018, had no control over how its clients used offshore vehicles created for them.

Here is some of the action as court came to order on Monday April 8th 2024.  Baloisa Marquínez, second liquidating judge of criminal cases, entered the room at 9:40 am. She informed each of the defendants that, by means of mixed order 2 of January 19, 2022, corrected with order 144 of August 2 of 2023, the court opened a criminal case against them (calling them to trial) considering them alleged violators of the provisions contained in chapter IV, title seven of the second book of the Penal Code, for the alleged crime of money laundering.  All responded that they were not responsible for the crime. They all pleaded not guilty.  The first to speak was Jürgen Mossack, pictured below entering the court, one of the founders of the defunct law firm Mossack & Fonseca.  His colleague and partner Ramón Fonseca Mora did not attend the event.  His lawyer, Dayka Indira Levy, stated that he is hospitalized at the Medica Norte Hospital in Santiago, Veraguas.  The medical certificate, she said, is from April 7.  When he arrived at the Gil Ponce Palace, where the trial is being held, Mossack said he felt “very optimistic.” “If there is real justice, we will get out of this,” he added. The Mossack and Fonseca law firm closed in March of 2018.  During the first day of the trial, the defunct firm, Financial Pacific got a mention, as did Odebrecht, Fifa Gate, Casa Grande Development SA, and Panama’s infamous ‘black box’ of 1976.  The trial continues………