According to US Attorney Geoffrey Berman, the defendants face years of imprisonment. The defendants are a 50-year-old Panamanian lawyer working for Mossack Fonseca, a 54-year-old German investment manager, an 81-year-old German and a tax accountant from Massachusetts.
A defendant still on the run
According to the authorities, the Panamanian lawyer is still fleeting and the other defendants have been arrested. One German was arrested last Monday in London, the other on 15 November in Paris. The American was caught on Tuesday in Boston.
The indictment, which was released in New York, is the first of the US authorities dating back to the scandal. According to the prosecution, it refers to an „intercontinental money laundering system“ with a law firm based in Panama.
The Panama Papers include eleven million secret financial documents that reveal how some of the richest people in the world hide their money from the Treasury.
The prosecution charges the law firm of Mossack Fonseca with plotting to bypass US laws in order to retain their clients‘ assets and hide money that had to be paid to the IRS. The money laundering system goes back to 2000. It includes false foundations and letterbox companies in Panama, Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands.
