Prosecutors Appeal Panama Papers Acquittal Ruling

The Panamanian Prosecutor’s Office on Friday appealed the ruling that a week ago acquitted 28 defendants of money laundering related to the defunct Panamanian law firm that was the epicenter of the “Panama Papers ” scandal in 2016, according to the agency itself. 

On June 28, a Panamanian judge acquitted the 28 executives and employees of the Mossack Fonseca law firm, which was used by figures around the world to hide money according to the Panama Papers, a journalistic investigation published in media in many countries based on the leak of millions of documents from this firm.  In the ruling, Judge Baloísa Marquínez also acquitted all those accused in the “Lava Jato” case, in which prosecutors accused the Panamanian law firm of laundering money from bribes paid by Brazilian construction companies, including Odebrecht, to officials in several Latin American countries in order to win contracts. 

Since the crimes and defendants were the same, the judge consolidated the Panama Papers and Lava Jato cases into a single case and then acquitted all the defendants.  Among them is 76-year-old lawyer Jürgen Mossack, one of the founders of the firm, who said on Wednesday that he had woken up from “a nightmare” after being acquitted along with his colleagues.  His partner and co-founder of the firm, Ramón Fonseca, died in May at the age of 71, almost three weeks after the end of the trial hearings.  The scandal forced the firm to close, while the creation of shadow companies in the country fell sharply.  In several countries, senior officials had to resign and others accused of these investigations were convicted. 

Panama’s new president, José Raúl Mulino, claimed that the Panama Papers scandal was an “international hoax” to undermine the country’s financial system.  The firm’s lawyers used the same argument, but none of them have provided details of the alleged conspiracy.  However, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which published the Panama Papers, defended their publication.  “By revealing hidden truths, as we did with the Panama Papers, we provide the public with the information they need to demand accountability and drive reform,” ICJC Executive Director Gerard Ryle said after the ruling.