U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, asked to speak to journalists who participated in the Panama Papers project.
Bharara wrote a brief letter to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), saying the Mossack Fonseca documents are relevant to a criminal investigation his office has launched.
The letter was released by The Guardian, one of the ICIJ media, and states, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (the ”Office“) has opened a criminal investigation regarding matters to which the Panama Papers are relevant.”
Bharara’s request comes after 11.5 million documents from the Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca, were leaked to the ICIJ and other news organizations. The data breach named 12 world leaders and 140 other politicians in connection to offshore companies in 21 tax havens. The names included Vladimir Putin, Argentine president Mauricio Macri, soccer superstar Lionel Messi, and the Prime Minister of Iceland.
American names have popped up in the massive Mossack Fonseca leak that was released on April 3, including retirees, a hollywood magnate, a singer, and a book author.The Panama Papers had at least 200 U.S. passport records and 3,500 shareholders with U.S. addresses. Almost 3,100 companies are related to offshore professionals in Miami, New York, and other locations in the United States.
