A Panamanian court has acquitted 28 defendants in the Panama Papers case, a leaked law firm document that linked individuals around the world to a vast tax evasion ring. They were accused of a crime against the economic order in the form of money laundering linked to the now-defunct law firm Mossack Fonseca. According to the judge, the evidence collected at the office “did not comply with the chain of custody as well as the principles governing digital evidence, mainly due to the lack of ‘hash values’.” [algoritmo matemático para transformar blocos de dados] This would allow us to be confident in its authenticity and integrity.”
Moreover, “the remaining evidence was not sufficient and convincing to establish the defendant’s criminal liability.” The judge also ordered the dismissal of criminal proceedings against one of the defendants, lawyer Ramon Fonseca Mora, who died in May at age 71 from pneumonia. Precautionary measures were also lifted against all the defendants, including German lawyer Jurgen Mossack, a founding partner of the firm with Fonseca Mora. The Justice Department had requested the maximum sentence of 12 years in prison for Mossack and Fonseca.
The Panama Papers scandal erupted in 2016 when the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published more than 11 million confidential Mossack Fonseca documents containing data from safe haven companies involving dozens of individuals, including Lionel Messi and 72 current and former heads of state. for example, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Author: Rita Monteiro
Source: CM Jornal
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