5, April
2016 The Panama Papers
A document
known as the “Panama Papers” has exposed the sordid details of how the rich and
powerful hide their wealth by using tax havens to avoid paying taxes. It’s by
far the largest leak in journalism history.
The world’s fourth largest offshore Panama based law firm, Mossack
Fonseca, set up a massive global nefarious scheme to service their clients.
Last Sunday, journalists released 11.5 million secret files from Fonseca’s
database.
Thus far, the
revelations have incriminated 12 heads of state and a number of other
politicians, their family members and close associates, including friends of
Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain,
Iceland and Pakistan, the son of Malaysian prime minister, the Saudi monarchy
and the president of Ukraine. The prime minister of Iceland has already
resigned and more heads are sure to follow. Relatives of at least eight current
or former members of China’s top ruling body are also mentioned. In a desperate
effort of damage control, Chinese news groups were ordered to purge all references
of the Panama Papers. Panama’s
“Snowden,” responsible for the leak, has not been identified, and has used an
encrypted chat to communicate with the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung
newspaper, the prime recipient of the leak. The International Consortium of
Investigative Journalists spanning many countries set aside their usual
competitive nature by printing their stories on the same day. This is journalism
at its finest.
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