May 28, 2016
Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers scandal, is to close its offices in Jersey, Isle of Man and Gilbraltar, and admits decision is in part due to the April 3 leak. The announcement made by the company Friday comes nearly eight weeks after more than 10 million documents from the firm were published. The papers exposed how a raft of prominent leaders, politicians, celebrities and wealthy individuals around the world used Mossack Fonseca to start up or run offshore entities to hold their assets.
Officially the company has said the closures are part of a ‘consolidation of its branch network’ but also admitted the change was connected to what it called its ‘head office data intrusion’. The tweet from the company read: ‘It is decision has been taken with great regret, as Mossack Fonseca has had a presence in these locations for more than 20 years.’ At its peak, the company had a global network that extended to more than 40 countries.
Although offshore companies are not in themselves illegal, the sudden publication of the information drew attention to possible tax avoidance and money laundering crimes in some cases, and embarrassed some figures trying to keep their finances secret. News of the closure of Mossack Fonseca’s offices in Jersey and Isle of Man — two Crown dependencies of Britain — and Gibraltar — a British overseas territory jutting off from Spain — was reported earlier this week by local media in those territories and the BBC.
The law firm in Panama did not confirm the information on Thursday when contacted by AFP.
While its tweets Friday said those closures were happening, they made no mention of another report circulating this week in US media, about Mossack Fonseca’s affiliate in the state of Nevada resigning as the agent for 1,000 companies it administered there.