Panama Papers: Law firm, Mossack Fonseca, shuts down

Mossack Fonseca, the offshore law firm which 11.5 million leaked files led to revelations in the Panama Papers global investigation, has indicated that it will shut down its remaining offices by the end of March.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in a statement unveiled that the firm said it has suffered “reputational deterioration” leading to irreparable damage.

The law firm’s reputation downfall began after the revelations from the Panama Papers investigation published about two years ago which revealed the offshore ties of some of the world’s most powerful people.

The firm’s leaked internal files contained information on more than 214,000 offshore entities tied to 12 current or former heads of state, 140 politicians and others which eventually brought down the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan.

Revelations from the investigations have helped governments in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas recover more than $500 million.

“The reputational deterioration, the media campaign, the financial siege and the irregular actions of some Panamanian authorities have caused irreparable damage, whose obligatory consequence is the total cessation of operations to the public,” it said in its statement.

The firm said it would “continue to call for justice” and would cooperate with authorities to “demonstrate that no crime has been committed.”

Founded in 1986, the Panama law firm grew into an offshore empire with more than 40 offices around the world, from the British Virgin Islands to New Zealand. In 2013, it employed more than 600 people and its billings exceeded $42 million.