The Panama Papers is an unprecedented investigation that reveals the offshore links of some of the globe’s most prominent figures.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, together with the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other media partners, spent a year sifting through 11.5 million leaked files to expose the offshore holdings of world political leaders, links to global scandals, and details of the hidden financial dealings of fraudsters, drug traffickers, billionaires, celebrities, sports stars and more.
The trove of documents is likely the biggest leak of inside information in history. It includes nearly 40 years of data from a little-known but powerful law firm based in Panama. That firm, Mossack Fonseca, has offices in more than 35 locations around the globe, and is one of the world’s top creators of shell companies, corporate structures that can be used to hide ownership of assets.
ICIJ’s analysis of the leaked records revealed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories.
The data includes emails, financial spreadsheets, passports and corporate records revealing the secret owners of bank accounts and companies in 21 offshore jurisdictions, including Nevada, Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands.
ICIJ’s data and research unit indexed, organized and analyzed the 2.6 terabytes of data that make up the leak, using collaborative platforms to communicate and share documents with journalists working in 25 languages in nearly 80 countries.
Special thanks go to the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR), Code for Africa, the International Center for Journalists and Shutterstock.
The Team:
Project Managers: Marina Walker Guevara and Gerard Ryle
Data Editor: Mar Cabra
Research Editor: Emilia Diaz-Struck
Editors: Michael Hudson, Martha M. Hamilton, Gerard Ryle, Marina Walker Guevara and Tom Stites
Online Editor: Hamish Boland-Rudder
Data and Research Unit: Rigoberto Carvajal, Matthew Caruana Galizia, Cécile Schilis-Gallego and Miguel Fiandor Gutiérrez
ICIJ reporters: Will Fitzgibbon, Jake Bernstein, Ryan Chittum, Martha M. Hamilton, Michael Hudson, Marcos Garcia Rey, Alexa Olesen and Delphine Reuter
Süddeutsche Zeitung reporters: Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier
Researcher: Mago Torres
Fact checkers: Richard H.P. Sia and Peter Smith
Web design and development: Álvaro Ortiz, Fernando Blat and Jorge Sancha from Populate
Main image: Arthur Jones and Shutterstock
The Power Players interactive: Kiln
Reporters:
- Lyas Hallas (Algeria)
- Mariel Fitz Patrick (Argentina)
- Hugo Alconada (Argentina)
- Ricardo Brom (Argentina)
- Momi Peralta (Argentina)
- Maia Jastreblansky (Argentina)
- Iván Ruiz (Argentina)
- Santiago O’Donnell (Argentina)
- Sandra Crucianelli (Argentina)
- Sol Lauria (Argentina, Panama)
- Kristine Alghalaryan (Armenia)
- Dave Bloss (Georgia)
- Sally Neighbour (Australia)
- Marian Wilkinson (Australia)
- Elise Worthington (Australia)
- Mario Christodoulou (Australia)
- Morag Ramsay (Australia)
- Lisa Main (Australia)
- Sophia O’Rourke (Australia)
- Ali Russell (Australia)
- Stephen Oxley (Australia)
- Ruth Fogarty (Australia)
- Neil Chenoweth (Australia)
- Edmund Taros (Australia)
- Misa Han (Australia)
- Primrose Riordan (Australia)
- Jonathan Barrett (Australia)
- Florian Klenk (Austria)
- Josef Redl (Austria)
- Ulla Kramar-Schmid (Austria)
- Jakob Weichenberger (Austria)
- Kaspar Fink (Austria)
- Stefan Daubrawa (Austria)
- Günther Hack (Austria)
- Lars Bové (Belgium)
- Kristof Clerix (Belgium)
- Alain Lallemand (Belgium)
- Xavier Counasse (Belgium)
- Joel Matriche (Belgium)
- Drew Sullivan (Bosnia )
- Miranda Patrucic (Bosnia )
- Alvin Ntibinyane (Botswana)
- Mbo Mguni (Botswana)
- Joel Konopo (Botswana)
- Jose Roberto de Toledo (Brazil)
- Daniel Bramatti (Brazil)
- Rodrigo Burgarelli (Brazil)
- Guilherme Jardim Duarte (Brazil)
- Isabela Bonfim (Brazil)
- Franz Vacek (Brazil)
- Mauro Tagliaferri (Brazil)
- Diego Vega (Brazil)
- Fernando Rodrigues (Brazil)
- André Shalders (Brazil)
- Douglas Pereira (Brazil)
- Mateus Netzel (Brazil)
- Alexenia Dimitrova (Bulgaria)
- Gino Harel (Canada)
- Frédéric Zalac (Canada)
- Ronna Syed (Canada)
- Robert Cribb (Canada)
- Tanya Talaga (Canada)
- Marco Oved (Canada)
- Alberto Arellano (Chile)
- Carlos Eduardo Huertas (Colombia, Panama)
- Nathan Jaccard (Colombia, Panama)
- Giannina Segnini (Costa Rica)
- Alejandra Fernández-Morera (Costa Rica)
- Antonio Jiménez (Costa Rica)
- Henry Arroyo (Costa Rica)
- Mauricio Arroyo (Costa Rica)
- Ernesto Rivera (Costa Rica)
- Javier Córdoba (Costa Rica)
- María Florez Estrada (Costa Rica)
- Diego Arguedas Ortiz (Costa Rica)
- Álvaro Murillo (Costa Rica)
- Pavla Holcova (Czech Republic)
- Søren Kristensen (Denmark)
- Michael Klint (Denmark)
- Maria Lyhne Høj (Denmark)
- Maria Andersen (Denmark)
- Peter Jørgensen (Denmark)
- John Hansen (Denmark )
- Arturo Torres (Ecuador)
- Mónica Almeida (Ecuador)
- Xavier Reyes (Ecuador)
- Paúl Mena (Ecuador)
- Andrés Jaramillo (Ecuador)
- Alberto Araujo (Ecuador)
- Hisham Allam (Egypt)
- José Luis Sanz (El Salvador)
- César Castro Fagoaga (El Salvador)
- Jimmy Alvarado (El Salvador)
- Minna Knus-Galan (Finland)
- Kjell Lindroos (Finland)
- Serge Michel (France)
- Christophe Ayad (France)
- François Bougon (France)
- Samuel Laurent (France)
- Maxime Vaudano (France)
- Jeremie Baruch (France)
- Anne Michel (France)
- Simon Piel (France)
- Joan Tilouine (France)
- Jean-Baptiste Chastand (France)
- Benoit Vitkine (France)
- Nathaniel Herzberg (France)
- Yann Bouchez (France)
- Mathilde Damge (France)
- Edouard Perrin (France)
- Benoît Bringer (France)
- Emmanuel Gagnier (France)
- Yousset Ait Akdim (France)
- Jan Strozyk (Germany)
- Julia Stein (Germany)
- Benedikt Strunz (Germany)
- Nils Casjens (Germany)
- Peter Hornung (Germany)
- Elena Kuch (Germany)
- Willem Konrad (Germany)
- Christoph Lütgert (Germany)
- Kersten Mügge (Germany)
- Christian Deker (Germany)
- Vanessa Wormer (Germany)
- Christoph Giesen (Germany)
- Katrin Langhans (Germany)
- Mauritius Much (Germany)
- Gianna Niewel (Germany)
- Hannes Munzinger (Germany)
- John Goetz (Germany)
- Petra Blum (Germany)
- Harry Karanikas (Greece)
- Andras Petho (Hungary )
- Jóhannes Kr. Kristjánsson (Iceland)
- Adalsteinn Kjartansson (Iceland)
- Ritu Sarin (India)
- Jay Mazoomdaar (India)
- Vaidyanathan Iyer (India)
- Wahyu Dhyatmika (Indonesia)
- Philipus Parera (Indonesia)
- Agoeng Wijaya (Indonesia)
- Mustafa Silalahi (Indonesia)
- Colm Keena (Ireland )
- John McManus (Ireland )
- Uri Blau (Israel)
- Shuki Sadeh (Israel)
- Daniel Dolev (Israel)
- Leo Sisti (Italy)
- Vittorio Malagutti (Italy)
- Paolo Biondani (Italy)
- Gloria Riva (Italy)
- Stefano Vergine (Italy)
- Yasuomi Sawa (Japan)
- Toshihiro Okuyama (Japan)
- Scilla Alecci (Japan)
- Alessia Cerantola (Japan)
- Musab Shawabkeh (Jordan)
- Jacqueline Kubania (Kenya)
- John Kamau (Kenya)
- Sanita Jemberga (Latvia)
- Inga Springe (Latvia)
- Evita Purina (Latvia)
- Šarūnas Černiauskas (Lithuania)
- Nigel Aw (Malaysia)
- Aidila Razak (Malaysia)
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- Ray Bugeja (Malta)
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- Ivan Camilleri (Malta)
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- Daniel Lizárraga (Mexico)
- Irving Huerta (Mexico)
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- Sebastián Barragán (Mexico)
- Mago Torres (Mexico)
- Jorge Carrasco (Mexico)
- Mathieu Tourliere (Mexico)
- Iurie Sanduta (Moldova)
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- Bat-Erdene Gankhuyag (Mongolia)
- Shinovene Immanuel (Namibia)
- Tangeni Amupadhi (Namibia)
- Tileni Mongudhi (Namibia)
- Ndanki Kahiurika (Namibia)
- Gaby de Groot (Netherlands)
- Siem Eikelenboom (Netherlands)
- Jan Kleinnijenhuis (Netherlands)
- Martijn Roessingh (Netherlands)
- Karlijn Kuijpers (Netherlands)
- Nicky Hager (New Zealand)
- Alex Van Wel (New Zealand)
- Gyles Beckford (New Zealand)
- Jane Patterson (New Zealand)
- Patrick O’Meara (New Zealand)
- Andrea Vance (New Zealand)
- Jessica Mutch (New Zealand)
- Lee Taylor (New Zealand)
- Chris Cooke (New Zealand)
- Simon Dallow (New Zealand)
- Carlos Fernando Chamorro (Nicaragua)
- Arlen Cerda (Nicaragua)
- Musikilu Mojeed (Nigeria)
- Ini Ekot (Nigeria)
- Joshua Olufemi (Nigeria)
- Emmanuel Mayah (Nigeria)
- Per Anders Johansen (Norway)
- Nina Selbo Torset (Norway)
- Sigurd Bjørnestad (Norway)
- Trond J. Strøm (Norway)
- Per Kristian Aale (Norway)
- Lars Inge Staveland (Norway)
- Fredrik Hager-Thoresen (Norway)
- Halvor Solhjem Njerve (Norway)
- Umar Cheema (Pakistan)
- Rolando Rodríguez (Panama)
- Rita Vásquez (Panama)
- Lourdes de Obaldía (Panama)
- John Scott Bronstein (Panama)
- Luis Buron (Panama)
- Mabel Rehnfeldt (Paraguay)
- Juan Carlos Lezcano Flecha (Paraguay)
- Arturo Zarratea Herreros (Paraguay)
- Juan Calcena Ramirez (Paraguay)
- Julio Benitez Díaz (Paraguay)
- Juan Carlos Dos Santos (Paraguay)
- Milagros Salazar (Peru)
- Aramís Castro (Peru)
- Gabriela Flores (Peru)
- Gabriel Arriarán (Peru)
- Gustavo Gorriti (Peru)
- Luisa García (Peru)
- Romina Mella (Peru)
- Fabiola Torres (Peru)
- Óscar Castilla (Peru)
- Luis Yáñez Quiroz (Peru)
- Vadim Makarenko (Poland)
- Leszek Baj (Poland)
- Bartosz Chyz (Poland)
- Micael Pereira (Portugal)
- Rui Araujo (Portugal)
- Omaya Sosa Pascual (Puerto Rico)
- Carla Minet (Puerto Rico)
- Paul Radu (Romania)
- Mihai Munteanu (Romania)
- Daniel Bojin (Romania)
- Roman Anin (Russia)
- Olesya Shmagun (Russia)
- Mika Velikovsky (Russia)
- Roman Shleynov (Russia)
- Momar Niang (Senegal)
- Tidiane Hamadou Sy (Senegal)
- Stevan Dojcinovic (Serbia)
- Jelena Vasic (Serbia)
- Anuska Delic (Slovenia)
- Khadija Sharife (South Africa)
- Amanda Potgieter (South Africa)
- Barry Sergeant (South Africa)
- Sam Sole (South Africa)
- Stefaans Brummer (South Africa)
- Craig McKune (South Africa)
- Lionel Faull (South Africa)
- Fergus Gibbons (South Africa)
- Yongjin Kim (South Korea)
- Yoojung Lee (South Korea)
- Yoonwon Choi (South Korea)
- Daniele Grasso (Spain)
- Jesús Escudero (Spain)
- Rafael Méndez (Spain)
- Álvaro Rivas (Spain)
- Joaquín Castellón (Spain)
- Nacho Calle (Spain)
- Verónica Ramírez (Spain)
- Nacho Bernaldo de Quirós (Spain)
- Fredrik Laurin (Sweden)
- Joachim Dyfvermark (Sweden)
- Sven Bergman (Sweden)
- Linda Larsson Kakuli (Sweden)
- Kristina Lagerström (Sweden)
- Fouad Youcefi (Sweden)
- Titus Plattner (Switzerland)
- Catherine Boss (Switzerland)
- Christian Brönnimann (Switzerland)
- Oliver Zihlmann (Switzerland)
- Alexandre Haederli (Switzerland)
- Noele Illien (Switzerland)
- Linda von Burg (Switzerland)
- Lena Würgler (Switzerland)
- Hamoud Almahmoud (Syria)
- Yi-Shan Chen (Taiwan)
- Wei Lin Chen (Taiwan)
- Beta Du (Taiwan)
- Prangtip Daorueng (Thailand)
- Camini Marajh (Trinidad and Tobago)
- Malek Khadhraoui (Tunisia)
- Sana Sbouai (Tunisia)
- Basma Shtawi (Tunisia)
- Tabu Butagira (Uganda)
- James Oliver (UK)
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- David Thompson (UK)
- James Melley (UK)
- Simon Cox (UK)
- Conor Spackman (UK)
- Marc Perkins (UK)
- Eli Melki (UK)
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- Guillermo Draper (Uruguay)
- Bernat Ivancsics (USA)
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- Masako Melissa Hirsch (USA)
- Aram Chung (USA)
- Alice Brennan (USA)
- Laura Juncadella (USA)
- Adam Weinstein (USA)
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- Roberto Deniz (Venezuela)
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- Montather Naser (Iraq)
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- Mensah K (Togo)
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