Panama Papers: Leaks Spur Global Investigations

Investing funds in offshore accounts is not necessarily illegal, but avoiding taxes is a violation of local and national laws. “Eleven million documents were leaked from the secretive Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca,” reports BBC News. “They show how the company has helped some clients launder money, dodge sanctions and avoid tax.” The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists coordinated the review of documents covering more than 214,000 offshore entities, connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories, including 12 current and former politicians. An interactive link shows clients from China, the United Kingdom and Russia, but none from the United States. The top countries for intermediary operations are Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States. France, Australia, the Netherlands and other nations have launched investigations. Mossack Fonseca denies wrongdoing and a company founder describes the leak as an attack on Panama, which has not yet committed to an exchange of tax information with other nations. More than 100 global news organizations analyzed the documents. – YaleGlobal