Mossack Fonseca

Mossack Fonseca & Co. was a Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider.[3][4] At one time it was the world's fourth-largest provider of offshore financial services. From its establishment in 1977 until the publication of the Panama Papers in April 2016, the company remained mostly obscured from public attention, even though it was a major firm in the global offshore industry and acted for approximately 300,000 companies. Prior to its dissolution, the company employed roughly 600 staff members spread across 42 countries.[5]

The firm received worldwide media attention in April 2016, when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published information about the financial dealings of the firm's clients in the Panama Papers articles. These articles were the result of analyzing an enormous cache of documents, dated from 1970 and 2015, which were leaked to the news media,[6]

Controversies

The firm had allegedly helped foreign citizens circumvent their local tax laws[24] and sometimes even international sanctions.[25][26] The firm's founder argued that it simply helps its clients achieve privacy, and that it complied with "know your customer" regulations.[16] On 20 October 2020, Germany issued international arrest warrants for the two founders of the firm.

Argentine money laundering

In 2014, MF Corporate Services was subpoenaed by a hedge fund seeking to recover money from the Argentinian government. The fund alleged that MF had created shell companies to pass money from the government to Lázaro Báez, an ally of the Kirchner family.[25][21] Jürgen Mossack testified under oath that M.F. Corporate Services (Nevada) Ltd. had no affiliation with the Panamanian Mossack Fonseca, but the Panama Papers show that it was in fact a wholly owned subsidiary and Mossack Fonseca tried to hide the relationship, ordering emails and other computer footprints deleted.[27][28] Despite Mossack Fonseca's claim that it did not own MF Corporate Services, a Nevada judge ruled that the subpoena against Mossack Fonseca was valid.[21][29][30] The firm was fighting an order that it turn over the details of 123 shell companies created by an associate of a former President of Argentina.[27][31]

Commerzbank

In February 2015, the firm was implicated in the German government's investigation of money laundering and tax evasion schemes at Commerzbank.[32][33]

Petrobras

In January 2016, employees of the firm's Brazilian office were charged in relation to the ongoing Petrobras corruption scandal. In that case, a judge alleged that "Mossack Fonseca provided services for the opening of offshore societies, and at least four agents were involved in a scheme to launder money."[34] The firm has responded that the Brazilian office is a "franchise" and not controlled by the main office in Panama.[21] The firm's founder resigned from his advisory position to the Panamanian government to focus on the Brazilian allegations, and says the firm has been cleared.[16]

Panama Papers leak

On 3 April 2016, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) announced that 11.5 million confidential documents from the firm had been leaked to them. These documents, dubbed the Panama Papers, reveal how clients hid billions of dollars in tax havens.[35] Comprising documents dating from the 1970s to the present, the 2.6 terabytes of data was given to SZ in 2015 by an anonymous source. Because of the amount of data, SZ enlisted the help of the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).[36][37][38]

The firm says that this coverage has "misrepresented" their work.[39] In its full statement[40]

headquarters	Mossfon Building Calle 54 Este Panama City, Panama
num offices	44‡R1R‡
num employees	500+
key people	Rubén Hernández, CEO‡R2R‡
date founded	1977
founder	Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca
homepage	mossackfonseca.com
dissolved	March 2018

History and practice areas

Offices and international practice

Controversies

Argentine money laundering

Commerzbank

Petrobras

Panama Papers leak

In popular culture

See also

External links

References