A judge has acquitted 28 people accused of money laundering in an international case known as the Panama Papers, including the co-founder of a law firm that authorities say was at the center of a conspiracy to hide money linked to illegal activities.
Jürgen Mossack founded Mossack & Fonseca with then associate Ramón Fonseca, who died in May. Mossack was acquitted on Friday along with others after a Panamanian judge found that the evidence against Mossack didn’t comply with the chain of custody after authorities raided the office of the now defunct firm.
Prosecutors had accused Mossack, Fonseca and others of creating offshore companies and using complex transactions to hide money from illegal activities related to the so-called car wash corruption scandal involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to a charge related to using shell companies to hide millions of dollars in bribes paid worldwide to win public contracts.
The judge noted that other evidence in the Panama Papers case “was not sufficient and conclusive to determine the criminal responsibility of the accused.”
The bribe wasn’t paid in advance, so it’s a totally cool and legal gratuity. -U.S. Supreme Court
The most insane ruling—until overturning chevron.
Yippee. Things are going so well.
It’s rather disturbing that Germany and Japan may be the last major powers with an actual functioning democracy. The irony.
Well with the anti immigrant sentiment surging in Germany, I dunno how much longer that will be the case.
I don’t know why the article isn’t explicit but this was a Panamanian judge, not an American one. Most of the Panama Papers prosecutions of the actual law firm were in Panama.