Panama Papers scandal: Mossack Fonseca says it is still waiting for a call from the taxman
Ramon Fonseca, the founding partner of the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal, is showing the world that you're never too well known to find yourself sat by the phone, waiting for it to ring.
The founding partner of Mossack Fonseca said in an interview on Saturday that his firm is still yet to be contacted by the authorities, despite numerous countries announcing that they would be launching investigations, following the publication of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' (ICIJ) Panama Papers report.
The report, which was published last week, was based on more than 11m leaked files belonging to the Panama-headquartered law firm and implicated a string of high-profile figures in offshore tax dealings.
However, Fonseca told German newspaper Bild that his firm was yet to hear from the authorities, remarking: "Every time there's something in the newspapers, the authorities announce they'll launch investigations. We're fully cooperating but we haven't been contacted by anyone yet."
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Fonseca went on to add that it was his firm which had lodged a complaint with the authorities, not the other way around. Last Tuesday, Fonseca told Reuters that he believed that the data breach had been caused by an outside hack rather than an insider.
On Monday, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced that it had requested access to the information obtained by the ICIJ. Tax authorities in Austria, Sweden, Netherlands, Australia and a number of other countries are also believed to be launching their own investigations.
Meanwhile, the office of the Attorney General for El Salvador tweeted on Friday that it has carried out a raid on the firm's office in the country.
Fiscalía realiza allanamiento en empresa Mossack Fonseca, vinculada al caso Panamá paper, en colonia Escalón. pic.twitter.com/FxTWOA6XQG
— Fiscalía General de la República El Salvador (@FGR_SV) April 8, 2016
A statement on Mossack Fonseca's website remarks that, in the almost 40 years that it has been up and running, it has never been charged with criminal wrongdoing or been formally investigated on such allegations.