The Panama Papers is an investigation that reveals how the world's rich and powerful hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions.

Launched April 3, 2016

How do blacklisted companies accused of funneling resources into war zones continue to do business? How do criminals maintain companies behind a veil of secrecy? How do corporations try to dodge millions in taxes while impoverished governments struggle to provide citizens with basic health care?

Behind many major global scandals in recent decades has been one common thread: the shadowy world of offshore finance. The Panama Papers exposes the inner workings of this secretive industry through an investigation based on more than 11.5 million leaked records from a little-known but powerful law firm based in Panama: Mossack Fonseca.

The firm is a key player in a sprawling industry that the world's rich and powerful use to hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions. The leaked files, obtained by reporters from German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 other media partners, reveal an alarming list of clients involved in bribery, arms deals, tax evasion, financial fraud and drug trafficking.

http://pulitzercenter.org/projects/panama-papers

An obscure law firm in Central America is at the centre of the world's largest data leak.

The massive security breach shows how a global industry of law firms and big banks sells financial secrecy to politicians, fraudsters and drug traffickers as well as billionaires, celebrities and sports stars.

The exposé of Panama-based Mossack Fonseca has been made possible by an unprecedented leak of more than 11 million documents to German investigative newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The leak came from an anonymous source and was then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) which organised an investigation by news organisations around the world.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-04/explained-what-are-the-leaked-mossack-fonseca-panama-papers/7270690

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).

https://www.rt.com/news/338270-panama-papers-corruption-report/

They are attacking Putin with it right now, among others. Three popcorns: