Panama Papers: Computers seized in Mossack Fonseca raid

Mossack Fonseca's El Salvador office raided.

London - "At this moment we cannot speak about any crime"

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By IANS

Published: Sat 9 Apr 2016, 2:06 PM

Last updated: Sat 9 Apr 2016, 6:07 PM

Prosecutors in El Salvador have raided the offices of Mossack Fonseca, the Panamian law firm at the centre of the global data leak for allegedly facilitating people to open offices in tax havens, and siezed a host of documents and computers.
El Salvador Attorney General Douglas Melendez himself supervised the raid after noticing that the company had removed the sign board, his office said in a tweet. The employees, however, said that the board was removed since they were moving offices.

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"A good amount of computer equipment was found inside the offices of Mossack Fonseca," said the Attorney General's office after the raids at their premises in Colonia Escalon, an area in the Central American country's capital city, San Salvador.
Melendez later told the media that seven employees were queried and 20 computers had been seized, but no detention was made. At this moment we cannot speak about any crime," he said, adding the El Salvador office could have been helping in processing global information for the law firm.
A global expose by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and over 100 global media organisations involving millions of leaked documents of Mossack Fonseca reveal how it allegedly facilitated the rich and the powerful to open offshore companies.
Those who have been named thus far include friends of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, relatives of Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan and Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, who has regigned.
Over 500 Indians and nearly 200 Pakistanis are also said to have opened such accounts.
Following the leak, the Prime Minister of Iceland has resigned, while there is an online movement brewing up in the UK demanding PM David Cameron's resignation. Both Pakistan and India have also initiated probes.
 

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Mossack Fonseca's office raised
IANS

Published: Sat 9 Apr 2016, 2:06 PM

Last updated: Sat 9 Apr 2016, 6:07 PM

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