PANAMA CITY — The trial of 27 people charged in connection with the worldwide “Panama Papers” money laundering started Monday April 8, 2024 in a Panamanian criminal court.

On trial include the owners of the Mossack-Fonseca law firm that was at the heart of the 2016 massive document leak.

Eight years ago, leaked financial records from the law firm sparked international outrage at the use of offshore companies by wealthy individuals to commit tax fraud and hide assets.

The leaked Panama Papers include a collection of some 11 million secret financial documents that show how some of the world’s richest ‘hide’ their money.

Nawaz Sharif, then Prime Minister of Pakistan, and Sigmundur Daviõ Gunnlaugsson, Prime Minister of Iceland, were both forced from office amid public fury at hidden offshore wealth connected to their families.

Sharif was disqualified from office and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by the Pakistani supreme court after reporters discovered undeclared real estate secretly owned by his family through offshore companies. Gunnlaugsson was forced to resign after it was revealed that he had never declared his family’s ownership of an offshore company with a $1m claim against one of Iceland’s failed banks. 

The repercussions of the leaks have been far-ranging bringing scrutiny to the leaders of Argentina and Ukraine, Chinese politicians and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others.

The trial which has often been delayed, opened on Monday with lawyers Juergen Mossack, Ramón Fonseca and other former representatives, lawyers or ex-employees of the firm facing money laundering charges.

Mossack who was present in the courtroom, said “I am not guilty of such acts.”

Lawyers for Fonseca said he was in a hospital in Panama.

The case centers on allegations the firm set up shell companies to acquire properties in Panama with money from a sprawling corruption scheme in Brazil known as the Car Wash, or Lava Jato in Portuguese. 

The records were first leaked to the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung, and were shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which began publishing collaborative reports with news organizations in 2016.

U.S. federal prosecutors have alleged that Mossack Fonseca conspired to circumvent American laws to maintain the wealth of its clients and conceal tax dollars owed to the IRS. They alleged the scheme dates to 2000 and involved sham foundations and shell companies in Panama, Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands.

Both Mossack and Fonseca have previously denied any allegations against them, arguing that they had no control over the offshore companies that the firm set up for its clients. 

If convicted, they reportedly face up to 12 years in prison. The two were acquitted on other charges in 2022.