PANAMA CLAIMS 'SOLID CASE' AGAINST MOSSACK FONSECA

[Judi Lynn]

By Will Fitzgibbon March 27, 2017, 6:00 am
Rómulo Bethancourt, Panama


Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers affair, sold shell companies and held bank accounts that were used to help conceal bribes paid across South America, a Panamanian prosecutor alleged at a press conference on Thursday.

Rómulo Bethancourt, one of Panama’s organized crime prosecutors, is currently investigating Mossack Fonseca’s alleged role in an international corruption probe. The investigation, known as Lava Jato, is tracing dozens of companies that allegedly paid bribes to politicians and officials in Brazil in exchange for contracts with the state-owned oil company.

“We have a solid case,” Bethancourt said about his agency’s investigation of Mossack Fonseca, which began earlier this year. A separate investigation is ongoing into Mossack Fonseca and the Panama Papers.

Bethancourt told reporters that his office had identified two bank accounts in Panama that received “irregular” payments that were linked to Mossack Fonseca’s office in the Brazil.

More:
https://www.icij.org/blog/2017/03/panama-claims-solid-case-against-mossack-fonseca