'Panama Papers' law firm Mossack Fonseca shuts down
Citing negative press and unwarranted action by authorities on Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers global tax evasion scandal announced, it would shut down its operations. "Reputational deterioration, media campaign, financial consequences and irregular actions by some Panamanian authorities have caused irreparable damage, resulting in the total ceasing of public operations by this month," Mossack Fonseca said.
The Panama Papers scandal started on 3 April 2016. It exposed a leak of 11.5 million files from Mossack Fonseca's digital archive that revealed how wealthy and influential figures across the world had created offshore businesses to safeguard assets. The information was obtained by German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, who shared it with International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It was released as a searchable database.
Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson was forced to resign after it was revealed his family had offshore accounts, while former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified for life from office after being implicated in the documents. Other figures implicated included former British premier David Cameron, football star Lionel Messi, Argentina's President Mauricio Macri, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, to name but a few.
