Panama Papers leak: Mossack Fonseca law firm offices raided

AUTHORITIES in El Salvador have raided the local offices of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, seizing documents and equipment, the country’s attorney general’s office says.

The Panama-based law firm is at the centre of an international data leak scandal that has embarrassed several world leaders and shone a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies.

“A large quantity of computing equipment has been found in the office of Mossack Fonseca,” the attorney general’s office said on Twitter.

Attorney General Douglas Melendez personally oversaw Friday’s raid, his office said.
He told reporters that around 20 computers and a quantity of documents were confiscated, and seven employees questioned but not detained.

The authorities decided to conduct the raid when they observed staff removing the law firm’s sign from outside the building, he said.

“We are going to carry out a complete investigation in compliance with the law,” Melendez added.

He called on Salvadoran law firms that did business with Mossack Fonseca to come forward to speak with prosecutors.

Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents, dubbed the “Panama Papers,” from the law firm that span four decades.

The papers have revealed financial arrangements of prominent figures, including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain and Pakistan and of China President Xi Jinping, and the president of Ukraine.

Officials from Mossack Fonseca in Panama were not immediately available to comment.

Founding partner Ramon Fonseca told Reuters in Panama this week that his firm, which specialises in setting up offshore companies, had broken no laws and that all its operations were legal.

He also said his firm had never destroyed any documents or helped anyone evade taxes or launder money.

Meanwhile, France is under fire after deciding to put Panama back on its list of tax havens in the wake of the Panama Papers revelations.

Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela said the decision was “wrong”.

“I want to be very clear that the decision taken by France’s government is a wrong and unnecessary step, even more so given the communication between both heads of state and the fact the world needs multilateral cooperation from all countries to tackle global problems,” he told reporters.