Panama paper leak triggers tax evasion across the world

France, Spain  and several other countries have launched tax evasion probes after a massive leak of confidential documents lifted the lid on the murky offshore financial dealings of a slew of politicians and celebrities.

The scandal erupted yesterday when media groups began revealing the results of a year-long investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents from the law firm Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in creating offshore shell companies in the tax haven of Panama.

Among those accused are close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson as well as Barcelona striker Lionel Messi.

A judicial source at the Spain's National Court said they have begun an investigation for money laundering after the release of the documents which named Messi and Oscar-winning Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar among others with offshore holdings.

French newspaper Le Monde cited documents showing that Syria used



Mossack Fonseca to create shell companies to help it break international sanctions and fund its war effort. Mossack Fonseca is already subject to investigations in Germany and Brazil, where it is part of a huge money laundering probe that has threatened to topple the current government. 

Australia said it had launched a probe into 800 wealthy Mossack Fonseca clients. Prosecutors in France and tax authorities in the Netherlands also announced investigations in those countries.

The first revelations elicited a chorus of denials, including from the Kremlin. Terming the Panama papers as work of journalists who were former officials from the US Department of State, the CIA and other special services, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was targeted to destabilise the situation.

Meanwhile, government prosecutor's office in Panama has said it will launch an investigation into revelations contained in a massive data leak of a law firm that created offshore companies for the world's rich and powerful.