The Panama Papers — hundreds of thousands of leaked documents detailing the alleged secret offshore holdings of global elite —have hit the world as storm triggering protests and calls for probe and action against those who stashed alleged ill-gotten money or avoided and evaded taxes in their country of residence. But about a year on after the leaks, the Panama Papers, popularly known as Panamagate scandal, lost its appeal or some say authenticity and integrity.
With the UK’s refusal to cooperate with the EU’s Panama Papers inquiry, the Papers have lost credibility.
Following the Leaks, some 79 countries launched probe into the details of offshore companies owned by the respective countries citizens, but about one year after launching such probe no tangible progress has been made by the investigators.
The leak made headlines all-over the world, but its impact was probably most keenly felt in Iceland.
Just two days after the leak appeared, Iceland’s prime minister had to resign from his office over protests by the people. Thousands of people had taken to the streets demanding that Gunnlaugsson quit his office.
Now, more than 10 months after the Panama Papers first appeared — and two months after a snap election brought a new governing coalition to power — Iceland finally has a full-time replacement for Gunnlaugsson. But despite the public outcry last April, Iceland’s new prime minister was also named in the Panama Papers.
However, unlike Gunnlaugsson, he refused to resign, even though some polls had suggested a majority of the public thought he should. But Benediktsson recently faced further criticism after admitting that his government had not released the results of an investigation into offshore banking ahead of the election.
A German journalist who was part of the consortium of investigative journalist which leaked the Papers admitted that expect Pakistan nowhere in the world serious question were raised over the leaks.
A few months ago, police in Panama arrested the founders of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal, on money-laundering charges after authorities raided the firm’s headquarters as part of investigations into Brazil’s largest-ever bribery scandal.
The firm’s founding partners, Ramón Fonseca and Jürgen Mossack, were taken into police custody, according to the men’s lawyer. Kenia Porcell, Panama’s attorney general, released a statement that said evidence gathered by her office indicated that the law firm was a potential “criminal organisation” that concealed and removed evidence related to “illegal activity.”
The chairman of the EU’s Panama Papers inquiry has slammed the UK Treasury’s refusal to meet investigators, raising concern over Britain’s commitment to the high-level investigation.
In Malta, the Prime Minister and ministers refused to meet the EU Panama Inquiry Committee. The committee was constituted by EU Parliament following the leak, to hold inquiry into money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion, known as the PANA committee, to investigate the issues and develop reforms. After months of discussions, it visited London on 9-10 February to take evidence from academics, researchers, accountants, lawyers, banks, HSBC, parliamentary committees, regulators and ministers.
According to a DW report, Panama has suspended a probe into the so-called Panama Papers, a trove of documents that brought to light widespread tax avoidance among some of the world’s most powerful leaders, prosecutors said.
Attorney General Kenia Porcell said a legal challenge on constitutional grounds required the suspension, adding that it was now in the hands of the Supreme Court to decide whether to reactivate the investigation.
A Daily Mail article says that the investigative reporting alliance known for uncovering the massive Panama Papers scandal has become an independent entity, a move that may help it expand globally, the group said.
The Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has been spun off the non-profit Centre for Public Integrity, according to statements from both organizations.
According to Washington Post, Pakistan’s political drama has moved from streets to courtroom. Today, the threat of violent confrontation in the streets — averted at the last minute when the Supreme Court intervened — has been replaced by a drawn-out courtroom duel between two political camps. The country has been riveted by the clash of titans, with its blizzards of documents, grandiloquent speeches and competing versions of convoluted financial transactions that took place years ago in London, the Middle East and the British Virgin Islands.
