FCPA Scorecard Blog
‘Panama Papers’ Law Firm Raided, Founders Arrested, Tied to Odebrecht Bribery Investigation
On February 8, authorities in Panama raided the offices of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the sprawling Panama Papers scandal, and arrested the firm’s founders, Juergen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca. Reuters reports that Panama’s Attorney General announced on Twitter that the raid and arrests were tied to the investigation of Odebrecht S.A., the Brazilian construction company that in December reached a $3.5 billion combined global settlement with U.S., Brazilian, and Swiss authorities to resolve FCPA allegations. Until now, the investigations spawned by the 2016 release of millions of documents stolen from the law firm were focused on money laundering and tax evasion. The tie to the Odebrecht investigation brings anti-bribery investigations into the mix.