Panama Papers Trial Begins for 27 Defendants
The Facts
Roughly eight years after the Panama Papers were revealed, 27 people connected to the scandal are on trial for money laundering and tax evasion charges in a Panamanian court.
At the center of the 11M-page financial document dump scandal was the Mossack-Fonseca law firm, whose owners — Juergen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca — are accused of setting up shell companies to help some of the world's richest people hide their money.
The Spin
Narrative A
The system is working well when a phenomenal piece of journalism leads the authorities to scrutinize the wrongdoings of the elites. Tax evasion hurts smaller countries as well as the biggest, so hopefully this trial provides justice for taxpayers and holds accountable those who worked to help wealthy individuals avoid paying taxes.
Narrative B
The Panama Papers probe, and investigations like it, do a great job of holding some wrongdoers accountable, but there is wider-spread systemic corruption than these US State Department-funded reports are showing. Those who are friendly with the US should face the same justice as those who oppose American influence worldwide.