Data leak of Panama hit a record; huge wealth of bigwigs has been exposed

It is reported by foreign science and technology media TechInsider that law office called Mossack Fonseca in Panama recently leaked great amount of data which has exposed great hidden wealth of global bigwigs including president of Russia Putin.

Mossack Fonseca is a humble law office in Central America which has offices around the world. Leaked data includes great numbers of emails and confidential files, which have exposed how bigwigs including Russian president Putin and Iceland Prime Minister had covered their business trade using offshore tax avoidance paradise and shell companies.

In the past year, hundreds of journalists from all over the world secretly analyzed the leaked data of Mossack Fonseca. Their research results turned into a paper named Panama Papers, issued on April 3.

How did it happen?

About a year ago, an anonymous person got in touch with German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung, bringing the data of Mossack Fonseca. Mossack Fonseca is very good at creating shell companies hidden in the countries with strict private laws. They are used to cover up secret business trade.

Süddeutsche Zeitung and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists as well as more than a hundred media including BBC and The Guardian cooperated on the analysis and the report of leaked data.

What data has been leaked?

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, the amount of data leaked by Panama Papers is more than Wikileaks Cablegat, Offshore Leaks, Lux Leaks and Swiss Leaks combined, which makes it the biggest data leak event in history. Leaked data includes:

> 2.6 TB data, the time span is from 1977 when Mossack Fonseca was founded to December 2015

> 11.5 million files including emails and legal contracts

> List of 214 thousands shell companies used by 12 heads of government, 128 government officials and 29 billionaires listed in Forbes.

Influence of the leak

Further influence of this leak hasn’t emerged yet. At present, the spotlight focuses on the great fortune hidden by president of Russian Putin and prime minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson. In next few days and weeks, media may release more information.