PANAMA CITY – Following a raid of its offices late Tuesday by Panamanian authorities, the Mossack Fonseca law firm said Wednesday that it is “ready, willing and eager” to collaborate with the Panamanian Attorney General’s Office, which is investigating the murky dealings detailed in leaked documents from the firm, which have come to be known as the “Panama Papers.”

The AG Office continues to search the firm’s offices and the international data center of the telephone company that provides it with computer support.

“As we’ve always done over nearly 40 years of doing business, we stand ready, willing and eager to cooperate with authorities again on their latest investigations to ensure this situation is brought to a just conclusion,” Mossack Fonseca said Wednesday in a brief statement.

“In this case, we’re the ones against whom a crime has been committed. Our systems having been unlawfully breached by parties external to the firm,” the statement said.

Mossack Fonseca is at the epicenter of a worldwide scandal sparked by the leak of millions of its documents that have unmasked many shady companies and hidden assets of important people around the globe, while awakening suspicions about money laundering and tax evasion.

The Central American nation is thoroughly entangled in the scandal, President Juan Carlos Varela acknowledged Tuesday, after repeating once more that his country is not a tax haven.

On April 3, when international media began publishing the thousands of Mossack Fonseca documents, Panama Attorney General Kenia Porcell announced the start of an investigation to determine whether any criminal act related to the scandal has been committed on Panamanian soil.

 

Offices raided by authorities

Panama’s attorney general late on Tuesday raided the offices of the Mossack Fonseca law firm to search for any evidence of illegal activities, authorities said in a statement.

The Panama-based law firm is at the centre of the “Panama Papers” leaks scandal that has embarrassed several world leaders and shone a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies.

The national police, in an earlier statement, said they were searching for documentation that “would establish the possible use of the firm for illicit activities.” The firm has been accused of tax evasion and fraud.

Police offers and patrol cars began gathering around the company’s building in the afternoon under the command of prosecutor Javier Caravallo, who specializes in organized crime and money laundering.

Earlier, founding partner Ramon Fonseca said the company had broken no laws, destroyed no documents, and all its operations were legal.

Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents, dubbed the Panama Papers, from the law firm that span four decades.

The papers have revealed financial arrangements of prominent figures, including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain and Pakistan and of China’s President Xi Jinping, and the president of Ukraine.

Reporting by Reuters (Open) and EFE.  Additional reporting and editing by The Costa Rica Star.