Panama detains Mossack Fonseca founders on corruption charges, alleging firm is ‘a criminal organisation’
Mossack Fonseca was at the centre of a separate case known as the Panama Papers, which involved millions of documents stolen from the firm and leaked to the media in April 2016
The two founders of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca were arrested on Saturday, the attorney general’s office said, after both were indicted on charges of money-laundering in a case allegedly tied to a wide-ranging corruption scandal in Brazil.
Firm founders Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca were detained because of the risk they might try to flee the country.
Attorney General Kenia Porcell told reporters on Saturday that the information collected so far “allegedly identifies the Panamanian firm as a criminal organisation that is dedicated to hiding assets or money from suspicious origins”.
Porcell said the one-year investigation that led to the arrests has been aided by prosecutors in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Switzerland and the US.
Mossack Fonseca is also at the centre of a separate case known as the Panama Papers, which involved millions of documents stolen from the firm and leaked to the media in April 2016.
The fallout from the leaks provoked a global scandal after numerous documents detailed how the rich and powerful used offshore corporations to hide money and potentially evade taxes.