U.S. Launches Criminal Investigation Into “Panama Papers” Practices

The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into the kinds of tax avoidance schemes exposed in the Panama Papers data leak. The leak, initially reported on by newspapers around the world after it was brought to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, exposed widespread international practices meant to avoid paying taxes, and centered on Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonesca. “There is no doubt that the problem of global tax avoidance generally is a huge problem,” President Obama said earlier this month, noting that the scale of the schemes amounted to trillions of dollars. “The problem is that a lot of this stuff is legal, not illegal.” Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, is already investigating several of the more than 200 U.S. citizens named in the leak.