Germany issues international arrest warrant against founders of Panama Papers firm: Report

Germany has reportedly issued international arrest warrants against two founders of the offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca, which was at the centre of the Panama Papers data leak. According to German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca, both Panamanian passport holders, will be arrested if they enter the European Union.

Mossack and Fonseca, suspected of tax evasion and associating with criminals, are currently residing in the Central American nation which does not have any extradition treaties. The unprecedented leak of 11.5 million files from Mossack Fonseca exposed how rich and famous people hid their money offshore to evade tax. 

The records were first obtained by Süddeutsche Zeitung in 2016 and were shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The explosive financial and corporate documents that exposed the world of offshore money laundering and tax dodging by world leaders and celebrities.

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Nawaz Sharif disqualified as Pak PM

As many as twelve national leaders, their families and close associates from around the world were using offshore tax havens, according to Panama papers. Pakistan’s Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, disqualified Nawaz Sharif from the prime ministership after Panama Papers revealed his family’s offshore assets. 

The case was National Accountability Bureau, country’s top anti-corruption authority, for an investigation into his family’s offshore assets. An interim Prime Minister was appointed to serve until the 2018 elections. The PML-N founder was sentenced to serve 10 years of prison time but was allowed to leave Pakistan on medical grounds. 

Sharif was the second world leader to lose his post over his links to the Panama Papers after Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson was forced to resign as Iceland PM, shortly after his wife’s interest in an offshore company was revealed in the investigation. Imran Khan also gained politically from the court’s decision, winning the general elections in 2018 to become the next Prime Minister of the country.

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