PANAMA CITY: The founders of the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal Mossack Fonseca, have been arrested in Panama City Friday as part of an investigation into a sprawling graft case involving Brazilian construction group Odebrecht, The Guardian reported on Friday.
Juergen Mossack and his colleague Ramon Fonseca, a former adviser to Panama’s president Juan Carlos Varela, were taken into custody and transferred to police cells in the capital overnight for further questioning on Friday, their defence attorney Elías Solano was quoted telling reporters.
Varela denied the accusation, saying “there were no donations from the Odebrecht company” to his 2014 electoral campaign. Fonseca used to be a high-ranking adviser to Varela but was dismissed when the Panama Papers scandal surfaced in April last year.
The vast data leak from the Mossack Fonseca law firm detailed how the world’s wealthy stashed assets in offshore companies.
Panamanian prosecutors raided the offices of Mossack Fonseca on Friday. In a news conference, Panama’s attorney general Kenia Porcell said she had information that identified Mossack Fonseca “allegedly as a criminal organisation that is dedicated to hiding money assets from suspicious origins”.
