Germany issues arrest warrants for Panama Papers duo

They have been charged with aiding tax evasion and forming a global criminal enterprise

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Prosecutors in Cologne reportedly want to arrest Jurgen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca, the founders of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal.

The duo have been charged with aiding tax evasion and forming a global criminal enterprise, according to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.

The German public prosecution office said it issued two international arrest warrants, but did not confirm who they were related to.

The probe into Mossack Fonseca by the German authorities began in 2014 and they obtained data showing evidence of criminal offences in 600 cases.

‘International leftist mafia’

According to the newspaper, it is not clear whether the duo will face prosecution in Germany because Panama does not extradite its citizens.

But investigators hope that Mossack, who was born in Germany, will return to the country to serve a reduced sentence due to old age, as he is 72.

The law firm is still facing a criminal probe in Panama and the two men are also under investigation by the FBI, which could lead to another trial in the US.

Fonseca took to Twitter to attack Germany on the international arrests warrants.

In a series of tweets, translated from Spanish, he said that Germany has no “right to speak of justice”, as he mentioned that only 14 Nazis were convicted during the Nuremberg trials, and blamed Argentinian newspaper La Prensa “and its international leftist mafia” for turning people against them.