Panama Papers: Fireworks of Global Corruption and Tax Evasion
An investigation led by German publication Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) took the world by surprise, exposing disturbing and controversial leaked information that came from a law firm that specializes in making offshore shell companies for international clients.
Dubbed as "Panama Papers," the documents came from Mossack Fonseca, the law firm based in Panama. It reportedly contains an unparalleled amount of information that links several politicians, government officials, sportsmen, and businessmen to acts that constitute corruption or tax evasion. The articles published through the efforts of several global news groups showed confidential files that seem to suggest that those names involved created offshore bank accounts for the purpose of concealing their wealth.
While it is still very early to say if the names involved are guilty of committing an illegal act, the fact that most of them are government officials will certainly put them on the spotlight and scrutiny. Among the names included are people closely linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of Chinese head man Xi Jinping, Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi, and Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson of Iceland.
Right after the articles were published, questions started to flood the internet and news in general, raising concerns about the level of corruption in the global setting. All in all, the 11.5 million documents were anonymously sent by a source to the German paper about a year ago, but it only was revealed by the paper after an investigation that took one year, with the help of several other news agencies and organizations.
The articles simultaneously published revealed that Mossack Fonseca may have created or is linked to over 200,000 offshore shell companies and about 14,000 clients, 143 of which are known politicians and their close associates. Other than Putin and Gunnlaugsson, other names linked to the offshore companies are Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine, and President Mauricio Macri of Argentina.
