Law firm’s founders among those to face money laundering charges after leak of 11.5m files in 2016
A criminal trial of 27 employees working for the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers on money laundering charges has commenced in a Panamanian court.
Eight years ago, leaked financial records from the law firm Mossack Fonseca sparked international outrage at the use of offshore companies by wealthy individuals to commit tax fraud and hide assets.
Continue reading...Guy Black, deputy chair of Telegraph newspapers, says draft legislation sets too low a bar on what constitutes spying
The UK’s proposed national security bill could have a “chilling effect” on investigative journalism because it sets too low a bar on what constitutes spying, the deputy chair of the Telegraph newspapers has warned.
Guy Black told the House of Lords that he was concerned the draft legislation could “potentially criminalise” reporters and whistleblowers because it says simply that a crime is committed if it “may materially assist a foreign intelligence service”.
Continue reading...Unmasking tax dodgers, sexual predators and corrupt officials can be lonely, daunting, unnerving work. But it can change the world
Investigative journalism is costly, time-consuming, risky and difficult, and sometimes results in legal threats, personal abuse to our journalists – or no publishable story at all. So why do we do it? Six of our investigative journalists answer questions from editor Mark Rice-Oxley.
Why does the Guardian feel it has to do this work – isn’t investigation for the police, or parliament?
Make a contribution from just £1.
Become a digital subscriber and get something in return for your money.
Join as a Patron to fund us at a higher level.
Continue reading...An ensemble cast of Guardian reporters and editors reflect on why investigative journalism is so important for a healthy democracy and what it feels like, on a more personal level, to be going up against powerful governments, tax-dodging billionaires, institutional racism, human rights abuses and more
Support investigative Guardian journalism
Malta’s attorney general formally lays charges against businessman Yorgen Fenech over journalist killing
Malta’s attorney general has called for a life sentence for the businessman Yorgen Fenech for allegedly masterminding the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, which rocked the country four years ago.
The attorney general, Victoria Buttigieg, laid formal charges against Fenech, who was arrested in November 2019 trying to leave Malta on his yacht, accused of complicity in the murder and criminal conspiracy. He has since been undergoing a pre-trial compilation of evidence where he pleaded not guilty.
Continue reading...Global Witness says only six states including UK meet demands on measures to fight money-laundering
Most EU member states have failed to meet a legal deadline to introduce public registers of the real owners of companies, a transparency measure seen as key to fighting money laundering, according to a review by anti-corruption campaigners.
In May 2018, the European Union passed a directive obliging member states to publish the beneficial owners of firms registered in their jurisdictions by January this year.
Continue reading...Son of murdered journalist says Robert Abela is ‘continuity candidate’ and must break with ‘corrupt legacy’
Malta’s new prime minister, Robert Abela, has a few days to prove whether he will break with “the corrupt legacy” of the past, a son of the murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galiziahas said.
Abela, an outsider who beat the favourite to become leader of Malta’s ruling Labour party on Sunday, will be sworn in as the island’s 14th prime minister on Monday.
Continue reading...PM Joseph Muscat under pressure after arrests in relation to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s killing
The future of Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, hangs in the balance after his chief of staff and two ministers stepped down in rapid succession amid controversy over the murder of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The ministerial departures on Tuesday followed a series of arrests in the hunt for those behind the assassination of Caruana Galizia, a renowned investigative reporter who was killed by a car bomb near her home in October 2017.
Continue reading...Alleged middleman offered pardon in return for sharing evidence on death of journalist
A suspected middleman in the murder of the prominent Maltese anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been offered a presidential pardon in return for sharing potentially crucial evidence.
Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, confirmed what could be a major breakthrough in the hunt for those who ordered the killing in a statement on the steps of his office on Tuesday morning.
Continue reading...Partners Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca want US court to stop the film being released on Friday
The partners of the offshore law firm whose confidential files were exposed in the Panama Papers leak, Mossack Fonseca, have launched defamation action against Netflix over a movie about the scandal that is due to be released on Friday.
In a US lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca say The Laundromat, in which they are respectively played by Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas, portrays them as “ruthless uncaring lawyers who are involved in money laundering, tax evasion, bribery and/or other criminal conduct” and ask the court to stop it from being screened.
Continue reading...Daphne Caruana Galizia, who wrote a popular anti-corruption blog, was killed by a car bomb outside her home
Following international pressure, the government of Malta has said it will launch an independent public inquiry into the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Caruana Galizia, who wrote a popular anti-corruption blog, was killed by a car bomb outside her home on the island on 16 October 2017.
Continue reading...Trial over anti-corruption journalist’s killing may not take place for years, say experts
Three men have been formally charged over the 2017 murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese anti-corruption journalist and blogger who was killed by a car bomb in November 2017.
Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio, and Vincent Muscat, all in their fifties, were arrested in December of that year.
Continue reading...Investigation is linked to Panama Papers and part of money laundering allegations
Eleven banks and eight private homes and offices across Germany have been raided by police and tax investigators as part of a wide-ranging investigation into tax evasion.
The raids, which began at dawn on Wednesday and went on into the afternoon, were part of the same investigation started last November over money laundering allegations linked to the so-called Panama Papers scandal, alleged to involve Deutsche Bank.
Continue reading...In the wake of the scandal, it became harder to launder money through investment in Panamanian real estate for Venezuelans who grew rich on the back of their political connections
On Avenida Balboa, Panama City’s premier seafront avenue, the 50 story tower blocks form a near continuous wall of glass to the Pacific Ocean. At night, however, most of the luxury apartments remain in darkness and the basement casinos are eerily deserted.
Panamanian real estate was a favourite investment of the boliburgues, Venezuelans who grew rich on the back of their political connections to the late president Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro.
Continue reading...