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A former U.S. resident and taxpayer who was charged along with three others in connection with a decades-long criminal scheme perpetrated by Mossack Fonseca & Co. (Mossack Fonseca), a Panamanian-based global law firm, and its related entities, pleaded guilty today to wire and tax fraud, money laundering, false statements and other charges. Harald Joachim von der Goltz, aka “H.J von der Goltz,” “Johan von der Goltz,” “Jochen von der Goltz,” “Tica,” and “Tika,” 82, a citizen of Germany and Guatemala who last resided in Needham, Massachusetts, and Key Biscayne, Florida, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit tax...

“Hundreds of billions of dollars are lost every year because people like the defendant choose to shirk their responsibilities as taxpayers,” prosecutors wrote. “Put bluntly, meaningful sentences must be given in cases such as this to forewarn others of the consequences for engaging in multi-year tax fraud.”The New York Times, in collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, reported on von der Goltz’s work with Mossack Fonseca in June 2016. One day after the story, prosecutors said, von der Goltz left a voicemail with Gaffey.“Unfortunately,” von der Goltz said, “with the interview I had with the IRS [Internal Revenue...

A widening investigation into allegations of high-level corruption on the island of Malta, first levelled by murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, stretches to China and a $400 million investment into Europe by a Chinese state power company, Reuters has found. Caruana Galizia was murdered in October 2017 as she investigated a web of companies that she believed were funneling bribes to Maltese politicians. Now, Reuters and a consortium of journalists have traced two firms involved in that web to relatives of a senior Chinese executive for Accenture, the global consultancy firm. The executive, 43-year-old Chen Cheng from Shanghai, negotiated investments...

‘Panama Papers’ Implicate Client of Clinton-Linked Lobbying Firm Podesta Group registered to lobby for bank subsidiary weeks before tax haven leak BY: Lachlan Markay April 5, 2016 A firm with ties to senior members of the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign registered to lobby on behalf of a major Russian bank just weeks before a massive leak exposed the bank’s role in a web of secret financial dealings that have enriched members of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. The “Panama Papers” are being called “the Wikileaks of the mega-rich.” Corporate documents leaked from the law firm Mossack Fonseca show how...

It’s being called the “Panama Papers” — a trove of 11.5 million leaked internal documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, showing how hundreds of thousands of people with money to hide used anonymous shell corporations across the world. Fusion’s investigative unit was one of the more than 100 media organizations that dove into the files — and found drug dealers, arms traders, human traffickers, fraudsters. We also found no shortage of politicians or their family members. Here is a listing of current and former world leaders connected to the files. Check out Dirty Little Secrets, Fusion’s full investigation...

Car bomb kills journalist behind Panama Papers offshore tax evasion investigation 'days after she received threats to her safety' (Full Title) A journalist who led the Panama Papers offshore tax evasion expose was killed today when a bomb blew up her car. Investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia - dubbed a "one-woman WikiLeaks" - was killed as she was driving near the village of Bidnija in northern Malta. She had filed a complaint to police a fortnight ago after receiving personal threats to her safety, local media said. Caruana Galizia ran a hugely popular blog relentlessly highlighting cases of alleged corruption,...

The reporter who exposed corruption within the Clinton Foundation was found dead after a car bomb exploded with her inside. Maltese Investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, was responsible for leaking millions of documents from the Panama Papers, which exposed high-level government corruption from around the world, reports Conservative Fighters.

Venezuela's ousted chief prosecutor and her husband — two of President Nicolas Maduro's most outspoken critics — fled the country and landed Friday afternoon in Colombia. Luisa Ortega Diaz and German Ferrer arrived in Bogota aboard a private plane traveling from Aruba, Colombian migration authorities said in a statement. The couple didn't request asylum, according to a senior Colombian official speaking on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to discuss the politically sensitive case. Ortega and Ferrer have long been aligned with Venezuela's ruling socialist party but recently broke with Maduro, publicly denouncing his push to convene a constitutional...

Caruana Galizia had been investigating alleged corruption within the government. Her family and protesters have accused Muscat of trying to shield members of his inner circle from the ongoing investigation into her death. Her journalism-- including her research into Maltese citizens implicated in the Panama Papers -- had made her some very powerful enemies. The Panama Papers are the name for the leak of millions of files from the database of a Panama law firm called Mossack Fonseca in 2016. The journalist had suffered intimidation over the years -- her dog's throat was cut, and in 2006 her house was...

U.S. prosecutors unsealed Tuesday an indictment against four people affiliated with the Panama City law firm Mossack Fonseca, the first such American charges related to the 2016 Panama Papers leak. The charges, filed in the Southern District of New York, include defrauding the United States, wire fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, and making false statements to investigators. An accountant, an investment advisor, and a former client of Mossack Fonseca’s are under arrest while a Mossack Fonseca partner, Ramses Owens, remains on the lam, the Wall Street Journal reports. The American law enforcement action follows a Panama Papers-related raid on Deutsche...

The revelations of the so-called Panama Papers that are roiling the world’s political and financial elites this week include important facts about Team Clinton. This unprecedented trove of documents purloined from a shady Panama law firm that arranged tax havens, and perhaps money laundering, for the globe’s super-rich includes juicy insights into how Russia’s elite hides its ill-gotten wealth. Almost lost among the many revelations is the fact that Russia’s biggest bank uses The Podesta Group as its lobbyist in Washington, DC. Though hardly a household name, this firm is well known inside the Beltway, not least because its CEO...

The German government on Monday said it hoped the revelations from the so-called “Panama Papers” will spur global efforts to combat tax evasion and money laundering. “We hope the current debate will turn up the heat,” finance ministry spokesman Martin Jäger told a news briefing. […] The Panama Papers are a massive leak of 11.5 million documents allegedly exposing the secret offshore dealings of a host of world leaders, celebrities and sports stars, implicating figures from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Barcelona striker Lionel Messi. […] The documents, from around 214,000 offshore entities covering almost 40 years, came from Mossack...

A huge leak of confidential documents has revealed how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth. Eleven million documents were leaked from one of the world's most secretive companies, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. They show how Mossack Fonseca has helped clients launder money, dodge sanctions and evade tax. The company says it has operated beyond reproach for 40 years and has never been charged with criminal wrong-doing. The documents show links to 72 current or former heads of state in the data, including dictators accused of looting their own countries. Gerard Ryle, director of the...