The largest leak of secret documents in history was just released – here are its key findings

            

This article explains the recent electronic document leak that exposed the Panama based global law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The leaked data is mainly concerning ways to avoid paying taxes, and provides information about 140 politicians and public officials around the world. Mossack Fonseca defends itself saying that none of the transactions uncovered are explicitly illegal.

            One of the most important points of this article is the magnitude of the data dump. Around three terabytes of data was uncovered, which is larger than any other previous leak. One of the most famous data dumps in history was by Wikileaks in 2010, in which 1.7 gigabites of data was exposed by the Guardians of the Peace hacker group (Mejia). This leak is 1,500 times larger than that of Wikileaks. Gerard Ryle, the director of the ICIJ was quoted saying, “the leak will prove to be probably the biggest blow the offshore world has ever taken because of the extent of the documents” (Bertrand). The data provides information on more than 214,000 offshore entities in connection with more than 200 countries.

            Another important point is the high profile clients that the data is connected to. The information “reveal[s] the offshore holdings [of] 140 politicians and public officials around the world” (Bertrand). Some of the most famous public figures affected are the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan and the presidents of Ukraine and Syria. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin is not directly named in the data, many of his close friends and colleagues are, which gives him an implied connection.

            Although a lot of the information shows obvious corruption in many governments around the world, it’s important to note that none of the transactions are explicitly illegal. Massack Fonseca said in a statement, “it is legal and common for companies to establish commercial entities in different jurisdictions for a variety of legitimate reasons, including conducting cross-border mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, estate planning, personal safety, restructuring and pooling of investment capital from different jurisdictions in neutral legal and tax regimes that does not benefit or disadvantage any one investor” (Bertrand). Nevertheless, this information does expose how many people concealed wealth, laundered money, and evaded taxation.

            I wish the article had gone into more detail about the people who were affected by this data dump. It talks about the politicians, but I would have liked more information on how the offshore accounts affect the average citizens of the countries. I would also have liked to have more information about any steps being taken to address the corruption that has been exposed. The question remains if any of the politicians involved are going to be held accountable for their actions. Finally, the article does not explain how the data itself was uncovered. It says that people had been reviewing it for a year before unveiling it to the public; I would like to know more about that process and why they chose to wait so long.

Works Cited:

Bertrand, Natasha and Jacobs, Harrison. “The largest leak of secret documents in history was just released – here are its key findings.” Business Insider. 3 April 2016.  Web.

URL: http://www.businessinsider.com/panama-papers-main-findings-2016-4

Mejia, Paula. “Wikileaks’ Latest Dump: More Sony Documents.” Newsweek. 21 June 2015. Web.

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/wikileaks-latest-dump-more-sony-documents-345428