A Panamanian court acquitted 28 people accused of money laundering in cases linked to the Panama Papers and Operation Lava Jato scandals.
Judge Baloísa Marquínez ordered the suspension of all precautionary measures taken against the defendants, who were not identified. She said one member of the group died during the proceedings.
The Panama Papers were a set of more than 11 million leaked documents that were published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in 2016.
The documents allegedly revealed a clandestine network involving associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin and business ties between a member of FIFA’s ethics committee and men the United States had indicted for corruption.
The documents referenced 12 current or former world leaders, as well as 128 other politicians and public officials.
A court statement said the evidence collected in the case did not comply with due process, raising doubts about its “authenticity and integrity.”
On Friday (29), ICIJ Executive Director Gerard Ryle said that “although the court did not hold these defendants accountable, the lasting impact of our investigation persists”.
“By exposing hidden truths, as we did in the Panama Papers, we empower the public with the information they need to demand accountability and drive reform,” Ryle said.
The trial lasted 85 hours, ICIJ said, and included three prosecutors and 18 defense lawyers.
Operation Lava Jato was a money laundering investigation at Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned oil company.
Those acquitted in the Lava Jato case were exonerated because it was not possible to demonstrate income from illicit sources, the statement said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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