Panama Papers: Court acquits all 28 charged with money laundering
A Panamanian court acquitted 28 individuals, including Mossack Fonseca founders, of money laundering charges related to the Panama Papers scandal due to insufficient evidence. The trial revealed flaws in evidence collection.
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A Panamanian court has acquitted all 28 individuals charged with money laundering in connection with the Panama Papers scandal. The trial, which began in April, concluded with the court stating that the evidence presented was not sufficient to establish criminal responsibility. Among those cleared were Jurgen Mossack and the late Ramon Fonseca, founders of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm central to the scandal. The prosecution had sought a 12-year sentence for money laundering, but both defendants denied any illegal actions. The Panama Papers leak in 2016 exposed how wealthy individuals used tax havens to conceal their assets. The trial in Panama City lasted 85 hours, heard from 27 witnesses, and reviewed over 50 pieces of evidence. The judge ruled that evidence obtained from Mossack Fonseca's servers did not adhere to due process, leading to the dismissal of all charges. The Panama Papers leak implicated numerous high-profile figures, including politicians and celebrities, in financial misconduct.
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9 commentsMany other people around the world have been charged in connection with the Panama Papers leak.
It’s not very surprising that a judge in Panama is dropping charges related to the leak. The entire reason this scheme was operated in Panama was because the legal system there is favorable to such schemes.
That doesn’t mean people are free to evade the laws of their own home countries, though. Prosecutions continue based on what was released. Several people in the US have been successfully prosecuted, for example.
The headline makes it sound like everybody got away with everything everywhere, which plays into the doomerism angle. It’s just bait though. Panama was always going to go easy on the Panamanian charges. That’s exactly why they did this in Panama!
Well, that looks about right to me. I don't see how you can mount a valid prosecution based on evidence derived from a giant hack.
> hey remember when the panama papers came out and revealed that all the rich people in the world are part of enormous criminal conspiracy to dodge taxes and hoard stolen wealth in offshore accounts and literally nothing happened
That seems fucked.
Yeah I mean, that's not like they have a real legal system anyways, the whole purpose of the place is to stash funds.
… and then we gave him $600 Billion of our citizens’ money.
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