Panama court acquits 28 implicated in Panama Papers and Operation Car Wash scandals
By CNNE staff, Catherine Nicholls and Duarte Mendonca
(CNN) — A Panamanian court has acquitted 28 people charged with money laundering in cases linked to the Panama Papers and Operation Car Wash scandals.
Judge Baloísa Marquínez ordered the lifting all the precautionary measures made against the defendants, who have not been named. She said one of the group had died during the process.
The Panama Papers were a group of over 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 whom the United States had indicted for corruption.
The papers referenced 12 current or former world leaders, as well as 128 other politicians and public officials.
A court statement said that evidence collected in the case did not meet due process, casting doubt over its “authenticity and integrity.”
On Friday, the ICIJ’s executive director Gerard Ryle said that “while the court did not hold these defendants accountable, the enduring impact of our investigation persists.”
“By revealing hidden truths, as we did in the Panama Papers, we empower the public with information they need to demand accountability and push for reforms,” Ryle said.
The trial lasted 85 hours, the ICIJ said, and included three prosecutors and 18 defense lawyers.
Operation Car Wash was a money laundering investigation into Petrobras, Brazil’s state-run oil company.
Those acquitted from the Operation Car Wash case were discharged because the income of money from illicit sources could not be demonstrated, the statement said.
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