28 acquitted in Panama Papers, ‘Operation Car Wash’ scandals

Panama City, June 29

A Panamanian court has acquitted 28 persons who were charged with money-laundering under cases linked to the Panama Papers and “Operation Car Wash” scandals, the country’s judicial branch said in a statement. However, it did not provide names of the people who were acquitted.

Judge Baloisa Marquinez ordered that precautionary measures be lifted against all the defendants. The Judge added that one criminal process was now cancelled due to the death of an unnamed defendant.

Ramon Fonseca, who co-founded now defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca alongside German national Jurgen Mossack, died in May after being hospitalised since early April.

Mossack Fonseca entered the spotlight in 2016 after leaked confidential documents exposed accounts that were housed in tax havens and linked to individuals including former Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Argentine football star Lionel Messi.

Marquinez, who ordered fines of $100 each on 10 witnesses, who did not comply with summons, said evidence collected from Mossack Fonseca’s servers did not comply with the chain of custody. Regarding Operation Car Wash, a massive anti-corruption probe that originated in Brazil, Marquinez ruled that it could not be determined that money from illicit sources had entered Panama from Brazil with the purpose to conceal crimes. — Reuters