A massive data leak from a Panama-based law firm is shining new light on a secret financial underworld — one where dirty money goes in and comes back untraceable on the other side.
To an outside observer, the law firm Mossak Fonseca might seem like your standard global wealth management company.
But a deeper look into the 11.5 million leaked files reveals that the firm appears to have acted as a middleman for many unsavory characters, including embezzlers, thieves and more than one hundred politicians and public officials from around the world.
Tim Johnson is a reporter and editor for The McClatchy Company and is one of the few American journalists given access to the files. He’s followed the paper trail of Mexican tycoon, Juan Armando Hinojosa Cantu, who worked with the law firm to move at least $100 million.