Select a region
Police in Panama have raided the offices of Mossack Fonseca – the law firm at the heart of the “Panama Papers” scandal – and say that raids on their subsidiaries will follow.
The offices were raided yesterday by police working with officials from an organised crime unit, and the raid was supervised by prosecutor Javier Caravallo, who specialises in organised crime and money laundering.
Mossack Fonseca have an office in Jersey, but the States of Jersey Police have refused to say whether they have been asked to take any action here.
Mossack Fonseca’s activities in Jersey are not regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission – the JFSC say that the office is effectively there for marketing and to introduce clients to other parts of the global business.
A comment from the States of Jersey Police said: “So as not to prejudice any investigation, it is not our policy to comment on live investigations or to offer up any information with regards to investigations that may result in court proceedings.”
Mossack Fonseca has consistently denied any wrongdoing since the “Panama Papers” broke ten days ago, and have said that the leak of 11.5 million documents was the result of a criminal hack of their systems.
In a statement after Tuesday’s raids, the Panamanian Attorney General’s office had been undertaken “to obtain documentation linked to the information published in news articles that establish the use of the firm in illicit activities".
A statement from the Jersey branch of Mossack Fonseca last week said: “Mossack Fonseca & Co. (Jersey) Limited maintains the highest professional standards and has operated in compliance with appropriate Jersey laws for many years.
“We are advised that an investigation is currently underway at the Mossack Fonseca head office.”
Note: Black Horse, part of Lloyds Banking Group, have asked us to make clear that although they occupy part of the same building in Old Street, they are not associated with Mossack Fonseca.
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.