Russian Prosecutor General’s Office to Investigate Panama Papers

Hand Pulling Cash from Envelope

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – April 5, 2016)

The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office will investigate data contained in the Panama Papers about Russians involved in offshore companies, press secretary Alexandr Kurennoi said Tuesday, the Interfax news agency reported.

“The main goal of the inquiry will be to find out if Russian nationals mentioned in the documents acted according to the norms of Russian laws … and our obligations to the international community in counteracting corruption,” Kurennoi said.

The statement was the response of the Prosecutor General’s Office to the Panama Papers – more than 11 million documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca – published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on Sunday.

The data implicates 72 current or former heads of state. The documents also detailed a trail of transactions that leads from Bank Rossiya – a Russian bank on the EU and U.S. sanctions list – to various countries including Switzerland and Panama.

Through a series of complex financial offshore deals, the funds were then allegedly shuffled back into the pockets of close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s, reportedly making them millions of dollars.

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