'Panama Papers' trial starts. 27 people charged in the worldwide money laundering case [View all]

Source: AP

Updated 12:30 PM EDT, April 8, 2024


PANAMA CITY (AP) — The trial of 27 people charged in connection with the worldwide “Panama Papers” money laundering started Monday in a Panamanian criminal court. Those on trial include the owners of the Mossack-Fonseca law firm that was at the heart of the 2016 massive document leak.

The Panama Papers include a collection of 11 million secret financial documents that illustrate how some of the world’s richest people hide their money. The repercussions of the leaks have been far-ranging, prompting the resignation of the prime minister of Iceland and bringing scrutiny to the leaders of Argentina and Ukraine, Chinese politicians and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others.

The often-delayed trial opened Monday, with lawyers Juergen Mossack, Ramón Fonseca and other ex-employees of the firm facing money laundering charges. Mossack was present in the courtroom; lawyers for Fonseca said he was in a hospital in Panama.

The case centers on allegations the firm set up shell companies to acquire properties in Panama with money from a sprawling corruption scheme in Brazil known as the Car Wash, or Lava Jato in Portuguese.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/panama-papers-trial-money-laundering-ff16769071b2535ad3678c8099ad0e9e