A massive leak from Panama’s Mossack Fonseca, dubbed the ‘Panama Papers,’ has revealed the illicit tax evasion and laundering efforts of thousands of corporations and individuals around the world, including many sitting and former heads of state. At over eleven million documents, the leak will continue to provide damning revelations for months to come. Yet even the little that has been divulged so far provides a number of bombshells that are shaking the political landscape of countries around the world.
Brazil’s ‘Operation Car Wash’ Gets More Dirt from the Panama Papers
So far the Panama Papers have unearthed that over 57 individuals involved in Brazil’s Petrobras corruption scandal opened offshore companies through Mossack Fonseca. Apparently many of these individuals were unknown to Operation Car Wash investigators, suggesting another round of political bloodletting in the scandal-plagued country.
One of these individuals is the very politician who was leading impeachment efforts against Dilma Rousseff over shady dealings by members of her ruling Workers Party. Eduardo Cunha, the speaker of the lower house, is directly linked to an offshore company according to O Estado de Sao Paulo. Cunha had already been under suspicion over $5 million in kickbacks from entities linked to Petrobras during his time in office; he had up until now been successful in warding off any official investigation into his activities.
In all, the Panama Papers disclosure smears most of the political spectrum in Brazil, with representatives of no less than seven political parties implicated. Though in a rare piece of good news for Brazil’s president, none of Dilma Rousseff’s Workers Party were named.