The investigation, which began in 2014, uncovered widespread corruption rings and jailed dozens of Latin American political and business leaders
A Panamanian court acquitted the 28 accused of money laundering, a case linked to the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which is at the center of the international tax evasion scandal that has become known as the “Panama Papers”.
The president of the court, Baloisa Markines, ordered the lifting of preventive measures against all the accused and stated that the criminal proceedings are now canceled due to the death of an unnamed accused.
According to the information of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) , which brought the case to light, all defendants were acquitted, including law firm co-founder Jürgen Mossack.
It is noted that one of the main defendants in the case, lawyer Ramon Fonseca, who co-founded the Mossack Fonseca law firm with German citizen Jürgen Mossack, died in May after being hospitalized since early April.
Mossack Fonseca caught the attention of the authorities in 2016 when the leak of confidential documents revealed accounts in tax havens linked to the likes of former Argentine president Mauricio Macri, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Argentine footballer Lionel Messi.
< p>Marquines also ordered fines of 100 balboas ($100) to each of the 10 witnesses who failed to comply with the subpoenas.
Regarding Operation Car Wash, a massive anti-corruption investigation launched by Brazil, Marquines ruled that it could not be established that money from illegal sources entered Panama from Brazil to help cover up crimes.
The investigation, which began in 2014, revealed extensive rings of corruption throughout the region and sent to prison dozens of Latin American political and business leaders, including several former presidents.
