“Panama Papers” – All defendants in financial scandal acquitted!

According to extensive research by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and other media, top politicians, billionaires, arms dealers, sports stars and criminals were accused of being involved in transactions with shell companies in various tax havens around the world. The person who revealed the NSA scandal, Edward Snowden, even spoke on Twitter (now X, note) about the “biggest leak in the history of data journalism”.

However, the suspects have now been acquitted, the court in Panama City announced on Friday (local time). Furthermore, the judge responsible, Baloísa Marquínez, ordered the termination of the criminal proceedings against the now deceased Ramón Fonseca Mora.

Chain of evidence incomprehensible
When collecting evidence from the servers of the now liquidated law firm Mossack Fonseca, the chain of evidence was untraceable. The judge ruled that the remaining evidence was insufficient and convincing. The defendants were accused of money laundering by setting up 215,000 shell companies in tax havens in which politicians, celebrities and athletes allegedly hid their assets.

In the spring of 2016, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and other media outlets of the Network of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) announced the activities of the shell companies established in Panama. As a result of a major data breach, 11.5 million documents were leaked to the newspaper. Nearly 400 reporters from more than 80 countries participated in the survey.