PANAMA - A Panamanian court has surprisingly acquitted all 28 people accused of money laundering in cases related to the Panama Papers, the DPA news agency reported today, citing a court in Panama City.
Among those acquitted, according to the DPA, is Jürgen Mossack, a German-born lawyer and one of the founders of the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which, according to the indictment, co-organized the tax evasion. In addition, Judge Baloísa Marquínez stopped the prosecution of another co-founder of the firm, Ramón Fonseca Mora, who died in May.
In gathering evidence from the servers of the now defunct Mossack Fonseca, it was not possible to secure a chain of evidence. In addition, the other evidence was insufficient and inconclusive, the judge said.
In early April, the court began looking into the activities of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which ceased operations in 2018. In 2016, global media reports on the so-called Panama Papers described how some of the law firm's clients hid money from their countries' financial administrations. The media based its investigative work on some 11.5 million documents leaked from the law firm. They documented, among other things, various financial structures and practices to hide money from taxation.
The leaked documents involved more than 214,000 entities from 200 countries. Hundreds of well-known personalities from the world of business, politics, sports and many celebrities founded or used shell companies. They included five heads of state and close relatives of the top officials of 40 other countries. Nearly 400 investigative journalists from more than 80 countries were involved in uncovering the case.
Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíd Gunnlaugsson and Spanish Industry Minister José Manuel Soria resigned over the Panama Papers case. The Panama Papers were also used by people from the circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian ex-president Petro Poroshenko and Argentine head of state Mauricio Macri. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is currently Foreign Secretary, has faced criticism over his father's offshore investment fund. Argentine footballer Lionel Messi and Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar have also been implicated in the case.
CTK/gnews.cz-jav_07
https://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/panamsky-soud-zprostil-viny-obvinene-v-kauze-panama-papers/2538071
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