11.5 tax symptoms of Mossack Fonseca – a law firm in Panama have just been published, revealing a huge network of `ghost` companies in the world.
Mossack Fonseca was founded by two lawyers – Juergen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca Mora.
Mossack founded the company in 1977 and in 1983 merged with Fonseca.
Both initially pursued offshore business, opening many offices in the British Virgin Islands.
Juergen Mossack (left) and Ramon Fonseca Mora.
Mossack Fonseca also expanded its operations into the Pacific Ocean, to a small island called Niue.
When the British Virgin Islands had to limit regulations that allowed company owners to remain anonymous, Mossack Fonseca moved operations to Panama and the island of Anguilla.
According to ICIJ, Mossack Fonseca established offshore companies to hide the activities of the real owners.
Mossack Fonseca once spent quite a bit to remove information on the Internet claiming that they were tax evasion and money laundering.
One of the two founders – Jurgen Mossack is also suspected of being involved in helping the notorious thieves in the Brink’s-Mat warehouse robbery (UK) keep money.
ICIJ said that from its headquarters in Panama City, this company created a series of unidentified companies in Panama, the British Virgin Islands and many other tax havens.
`The law firm has close ties with major banks and law firms in places like the Netherlands, Mexico, the US and Switzerland, helping clients transfer money or evade taxes,` ICIJ said, `A study
On AFP, Ramon Fonseca denied the above information: `This is clearly a serious crime. It is an attack on Panama, because some other countries do not like the fact that we attract more companies.`
