# News & Current Events > World News & Affairs >  Panama Papers: German paper publishes biggest leak in history on corruption

## Suzanimal

> Germanys Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) has released the biggest leak in journalistic history, posting 11.5 million documents from a Panamanian law firm online and providing rare insights into a world that can only exist in the shadows.
> 
> SZ said it received the law firms documents a year ago from an anonymous source who wanted neither financial compensation nor anything else in return.
> 
> The German paper obtained further documents in an investigation that followed, involving 400 journalists from more than 100 media organizations in over 80 countries.
> 
> SZ said it decided to analyze the data in cooperation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
> 
> 
> ...



The information in the leak covers the activities of the Mossack Fonseca firm over a period from the 1970s to spring 2016.

The Panama Papers include approximately 11.5 million documents  more than the combined total of the Wikileaks Cablegate, Offshore Leaks, Lux Leaks, and Swiss Leaks, SZ said.

The data is presented in the form of e-mails, pdf files, photo files, and excerpts from the Panaman firms database.

...

The leak claims to expose the offshore holdings of 12 current and former world leaders, including prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the president of Ukraine, and the king of Saudi Arabia.

It also provides data on the financial activities of 128 other politicians and public officials from different countries.

The associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin are also identified for allegedly having operated shell firms.

----------


## Suzanimal

> Head Of "Transparency International" In Chile Resigns After "Panama Papers" Revelations
> 
> Define irony.
> 
> While the global media has been almost entirely focused on the "circle of close Putin friends" who have emerged as some of Mossack Fonseca's clients, and moments ago the Panama Papers even had their first official casualty when the Iceland prime minister resigned, far more amusing examples of "shell firm" perpetrators have emerged, if deep under the radar.
> 
> As Reuters reports with barely a trace of humor, the president of the Chilean branch of Transparency International resigned on Monday after documents from a Panamanian law firm showed he was linked to at least five offshore companies.
> 
> For those who are unfamiliar, Transparency International is a German-based organization that seeks to monitor and root out corporate and political corruption worldwide.
> ...


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-0...rs-revelations

----------


## dannno

> As long as it's their own money I really dont care.


It isn't..

----------


## undergroundrr

> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-0...rs-revelations


Yeah, a government-linked organization with the purported mission of reducing corruption is kind of a non-starter.

----------


## ChristianAnarchist

Goons gonna profit from their gooning...

----------


## Suzanimal

> Panama Papers Scandal Brings Down Iceland’s Prime Minister
> 
> LONDON — The prime minister of Iceland submitted his resignation on Tuesday, according to his deputy, succumbing to political pressure two days after an enormous leak of documents from a secretive Panamanian law firm about offshore shell companies and tax shelters.
> 
> The resignation of the prime minister, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, was the first prominent political fallout from the document leaks known as the Panama Papers, which have shed a harsh light on the private financial activities of many rich and powerful people.
> 
> Officials around the world, from Europe to Asia to the Americas, were scrambling on Tuesday to contain the fallout — particularly in Britain, where Prime Minister David Cameron, who has portrayed himself as a champion of financial transparency, was battling revelations in the leaks that British-governed territories are vast havens of hidden wealth, including for members of his own family.
> 
> ...


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/wo...land.html?_r=0

----------


## luctor-et-emergo

> http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/wo...land.html?_r=0


Ooops and that with the BREXIT vote upcoming. *popcorn*

Not that I'm in favor of high taxes but I'm not shedding a tear.

----------


## Suzanimal

FB comments




> D - Innit kinda funny that virtually all of the politicians exposed in the Panama Papers are "democratic socialists"?
> Like · Reply · 12 · 33 mins
> J - They're very generous....with other people's money. See how that works?

----------


## Suzanimal

> ...
> 
> China, on the other hand, dismissed as "groundless" reports that the Panamanian law firm had arranged offshore companies for relatives of at least eight present or past members of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China.
> 
> Among those named in the leaked documents was the brother-in-law of President Xi Jinping. State media have ignored the reports and searches of websites and social media for the words "Panama documents" were blocked.
> 
> China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he would not discuss the reports further and declined to say whether the individuals named would be investigated.
> "For these groundless accusations, I have no comment," Hong told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.
> 
> ...


http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/nations-...lout-1.2845670

----------


## Suzanimal

> *Surveying the fall-out from the Panama Papers, Boobus will clamor for “reform” instead of anarcho-capitalism. When will he learn that corruption is government’s nature? And no reform on earth will ever prevent it, any more than we can reform the wetness from water.*
> 
> https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog...r-leak-oh-fun/





> WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Tuesday championed federal steps to deter a corporate financial practice known as "tax inversions" and called on Congress to close the loophole "for good."
> 
> Obama called it "one of the most insidious tax loopholes out there" because it shortchanges the country. He said less tax revenue means the government can't fully spend on schools, transportation networks and other things to keep the economy strong. He said the practice also hurts middle-class Americans because "that lost revenue has to be made up somewhere."
> 
> He commented one day after the Treasury Department announced a series of steps to make inversions less financially appealing.
> 
> Inversions happen when U.S. companies relocate their business interests on paper to take advantage of lower tax rates. Their use has sparked a political outcry.
> 
> "When companies exploit loopholes like this it makes it harder to invest in the things that are going to keep America's economy going strong for future generations," Obama said at the White House. "It sticks the rest of us with the tab and it makes hard-working Americans feel like the deck is stacked against them."
> ...


http://bigstory.ap.org/d73da872d798413585a98b38c9d50858

----------


## Pauls' Revere

https://news.yahoo.com/arrest-warran...052343724.html

Germany has issued international arrest warrants for the two founders of the firm at the centre of the tax haven scandal exposed by the Panama Papers data leak, German media reported.

Mossack Fonseca founders Juergen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca, suspected of tax evasion and associating with criminals, will be arrested if they enter the European Union, German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported late Monday.

A spokesman for the Cologne public prosecutor's office confirmed that two international arrest warrants had been issued in connection with ongoing investigations, but did not identify those involved.

Mossack and Fonesca hold Panamanian passports and are currently in the Caribbean archipelago, which does not have any extradition treaties, the newspaper said.

----------

