The recent disclosure of more than 11,000 documents has sent the news media into a frenzy. The contents of these documents have implicated many of the world’s most powerful leaders and vicious criminals. No one knows the identity of the whistleblowers who leaked the material, but their actions have sparked a series of in-depth investigations that could have far-reaching consequences.
This is the Panama Papers, and they exposed the offshore accounts of everyone from Iceland’s current former prime minister to the world’s most notorious drug dealer. The Panama Papers: The Shady World of Offshore Companies investigated the shady dealings of Mossack Fonseca, which managed each of the more than 214,000 accounts listed in the documents, as well as the potentially illicit activities of its clients.
A large number of these offshore accounts are set up to create tax havens for the wealthy. In some cases, they are suspected of hiding more sinister activities, such as money laundering and financing terrorist groups.
Mossack Fonseca is a Panama-based company, led by Jergen Mossack, described in the film as a “lawyer without conscience,” that provides tax breaks to various companies and individuals around the world. The film follows a team of more than a hundred investigative journalists who work together to uncover the depths of their operations. In doing so, they discovered many shady practices. One example involves a company called Elite Industrial Holdings. After buying part of the popular Olympia typewriter business, Elite deposited its holdings in offshore accounts escrowed by Mossack Fonseca. The account gives them great financial flexibility and the ability to avoid paying over $5 million owed to the company’s loyal retirees.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Panama Papers: The Shadowy World of Offshore Companies, set in Germany, where the story originally originated, also revealed links to Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron. The film shows us how easily anyone with money can open their own offshore account and calls for more accountability for those who have long evaded taxes under the guise of anonymity.
