Over $1.3bn collected in wake of Panama Papers leak

Governments around the globe have managed to retrieve over $1.36bn (£986m, €1.14bn) in taxes and penalties as a result of the Panama Papers scandal.

Five years after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) exposed the offshore finance industry, 24 countries reported official recoveries with hundreds of others proceedings still ongoing.

The investigation not only sparked an avalanche of penalties and tax retrieval missions, but also allowed authorities around the world to pursue both criminal and civil cases for alleged money laundering and fraud against individuals and companies.

In Argentina, the brothers of former president Mauricio Macri are on trial for money laundering after failing to declare $4m in a Swiss bank account held in the name of an offshore company featuring in the Panama Papers.

In France, there are still 15 ongoing investigations on top of the hundreds of pending court proceedings; while in Malta, the investigation led to the resignation of chief of staff to the prime minister Keith Schembri who was charged in March 2021 with money laundering, corruption, fraud, and forgery.

Global effort

According to the ICIJ, the top countries that have managed to recover the biggest sums, so far, are:

UK – $252.7m

Germany – $195.6m

Spain – $166.5m

France – $142.3m

Australia – $137.6m

Colombia – $88.8m

Ecuador – $84.3m

Italy – $65.5m

Czech Republic – $36.4m

Norway – $33.8m