The ‘Panama Papers’, which represents a gigantic database of documents relating to more than 200,000 offshore accounts has now been posted online for all to view.
The papers accounts for eleven million documents obtained through hacking from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca and subsequently passed to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, this was then shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
The database became accessible from 18:00 GMT at offshoreleaks.icij.org.
The Panama Papers have exposed how some wealthy and corrupt individuals use offshore firms to stash their loot, evade tax and avoid sanctions.
The papers were leaked by an anonymous source simply known as “John Doe”. The company that owns the exposed documents, Mossack Fonseca, has denied any wrongdoing.
Mossack Fonseca , last week issued a “cease and desist ” order to prevent the database being made public but the organisation that has the documents, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), went ahead.
The documents have revealed the hidden assets of hundreds of politicians, officials, current and former national leaders, celebrities and sports stars. Critics have equally questioned why names of American individual are absent from the list
They list includes more than 200,000 shell companies, foundations and trusts set up in more than 20 tax havens around the world.
According to Mossack Fonseca, they have never been accused or charged with criminal wrongdoing, they are just a victim of a hack.
