Panama Papers' documented web of hidden cash and offshore shell corporations revealed an alternate financial world that linked a single law firm with a global rogue's gallery of moguls, criminals, shady agents, and politicians.
The Panama Papers had focused attention towards links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose identity does not appear in the documents. The leaked files also exposed new details about illegal activities dating back decades. The Panama Papers' cases, however, had little in common with the other leaks than the mention of the law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The connections were sometimes tangential, and the company insisted it did nothing illegal.
Ramon Fonseca, co-founder of Mossack Fonseca, stated that the people involved with the companies were not the firm's clients. Fonseca claimed that they were clients of bank intermediaries that purchased one of their incorporated companies and sold it. He said that those people utilized it for who knows what. But the information illustrated the breadth of the illegal economic network which was exploited by extravagantly wealthy individuals, according to a feature from NBC News.
In November 1983, a group of masked robbers carried out what observers dubbed as the most lucrative and brazen heists in modern history. The bandits stole three tons of gold worth about over $100 million, two boxes of diamonds and bags of cash from a Brink's-Mat warehouse close to London's Heathrow Airport. The group was caught, but most of the stolen items were never recovered. The money was allegedly laundered to hide the conspirators' tracks, according to a feature from BBC News.
The Panama Papers leak detailed connections between the 1983 gold heist in London to a company set up by Mossack Fonseca. The documents also revealed that the law firm helped protect a shell company owned by one of the individuals who handled the Brink's-Mat haul.
