The documents are an unprecedented leak of 11.

5m encrypted confidential files

from the database of the world’s fourth biggest Panama-based offshore law firm,
Mossac Fonseca. They comprised of personal financial information about a
number of wealthy individuals and public officials that had previously been kept
private. Among those named in the leak were a dozen current and former world
leaders, 128 other public officials, and politicians and hundreds of celebrities,
business people and other rich individuals. The documents were released on
April 3, 2016, by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), dubbing
them the “Panama Papers.” The group of documents was referred to as the
"Panama Papers" because of the country that they were leaked from. However,
the government of Panama has registered strong objections to the name, as it
appears to put some blame or negative association on the country itself, despite
its lack of involvement in the actions of Mossack Fonseca. Nonetheless, the
nickname has persisted, although some media outlets that have covered the
story have referred to as the "Mossack Fonseca Papers."

The records were obtained from an anonymous source by the German

newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The ICIJ then shared them with a
large network of international partners, including the Guardian and the BBC.

The document exposed the network of more than 214,000 tax havens involving
people and entities from 200 different nations. A yearlong team effort by SZ and
the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) went into
deciphering the encrypted files before the revelations were made public.

Offshore business entities are legal in general, and most of the documents
showed no inappropriate or illegal behavior. But some of the shell corporations
set up by Mossack Fonseca were revealed by reporters to have been used for
illegal purposes, including fraud, tax evasion and the avoidance of international
sanctions.

Source of leak

In 2015, Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) was contacted by an anonymous source

calling him or herself "John Doe," who offered to leak the documents. Doe did not
demand any financial compensation in return, according to the SZ. The total
volume of data comes to about 2.76 terabytes, making it the biggest data leak in
history. The data pertains to the period spanning from the 1970s to the spring of
2016.
Initially, only select names of politicians, public officials, businessmen, and others
involved were revealed.

One of the immediate consequences of the revelations was the April 4, 2016,
resignation of Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.

On May 9, all of the 214,488 offshore entities named in the Panama

Papers became searchable via a database on the website of the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

“John Doe” the whistleblower who leaked these documents to German Journalist
“Bastian Obermayer” from the newspaper “Suddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ) remains
anonymous even to the Journalists on the investigation, John Doe told them that
“My life is in Danger”. In May 6 John Doe cited income inequality as the main
reason of his actions and said that ‘I leaked the documents simply because I
understood enough about their contents to realize the scale of the injustices they
described’.

He added that he never worked for any Government or Intelligence agency and
expressed his willingness to help prosecutors if immune to prosecution. After SZ
verified that the statement did come from the Panama Paper source, the
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) finally posted full
documents on its website.
·

What is Mossack Fonseca?

It is a Panama-based law firm whose services include incorporating companies in

offshore jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands. It administers offshore
firms for a yearly fee. Other services include wealth management.

Where is it based?

The firm is Panamanian but runs a worldwide operation. Its website boasts of a
global network with 600 people working in 42 countries. It has franchises around
the world, where separately owned affiliates sign up new customers and have
exclusive rights to use its brand. Mossack Fonseca operates in tax
havens including Switzerland, Cyprus and the British Virgin Islands, and in the
British crown dependencies Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

The firm was founded by German lawyer Jürgen Mossack in 1977 and joined by Panamanian
novelist/lawyer Ramón Fonseca in 1986.[7] It later added a third director, Swiss lawyer Christoph
Zollinger.[8]
It specialized in commercial law, trust services, investor advisory, and international business
structures.[9] It also offered intellectual property protection and maritime lawservices.[1][10] An internal
memorandum revealed in the 2016 Panama papers leak noted that 95% of the company's work
consisted of "selling vehicles to avoid taxes".
In 2013, the firm was described as one of seven that collectively represented more than half of
the offshore companies incorporated in Panama.[12] The firm also housed several Panama-
incorporated companies within its offices.[13] It was one of the largest firms in the corporate services
industry.[14] However, the founder claims that its volume represents only around 5% of the global
financial services legal industry.[15] According to The Economist, the firm has 5 to 10% of the global
shell company market,[16] and it has been described as "tight-lipped"