In the past 12 months, around 400 journalists from more than 100 media organizations in over 80 countries have taken part in researching the documents.
The company at the center of all these stories is Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian provider of offshore companies with dozens of offices all over the world. It sells its shell firms in cities such as Zurich, London, and Hong Kong – in some instances at bargain prices. Clients can buy an anonymous company for as little as USD 1,000. However, at this price it is just an empty shell. For an extra fee, Mossack Fonseca provides a sham director and, if desired, conceals the company’s true shareholder. The result is an offshore company whose true purpose and ownership structure is indecipherable from the outside. Mossack Fonseca has founded, sold, and managed thousands of companies. The documents provide a detailed view of how Mossack Fonseca routinely accepts to engage in business activities that potentially violate sanctions, in addition to aiding and abetting tax evasion and money laundering.
12 heads of state directly tied to the leak:
Mauricio Macri, president or Argentina.
Bidzina Ivanishvill. ex PM of Georgia
Sigmundur something something, PM of Iceland.
Ayad H. Allawi, ex PM of Iraq.
Ali Abu al-Ragheb, ex PM of Jordan.
Hamad Jasim J.M. Al-Thani, ex PM of Qatar.
Sheik Al-Thani, Emir of Qatar.
HRH Prince Salman, King of Saudi Arabia
Ahmad Al-Nirghani, ex-president of Sudan
Sultan Al-Nahyan, president of the UAE.
Pavlo Lazarenko, ex-PM of Ukraine.
Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine.
Apparently, there are many from the US on the list and are soon to be revealed.
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