Panama is a poor Central American country that is primarily rural jungle with little industry or trade except for the Panama canal. For the most part it is densely forested and oppressively humid for most of the year. It is therefore a tremendous surprise when visiting Panama City, the capital of Panama, to find it a modern, gleaming city of sky scrapers and upscale shops and restaurants. It seems almost impossible that there could be enough commerce to support such an infrastructure.
For many years there have been rumors of significant drug running and money laundering activities being funneled through Panama, and in 1989 the United States launched an assault against Panamanian President Manuel Noriega for his purported activities regarding drug trafficking through the country. Noriega was ousted and imprisoned, but the rumors continued. And now, thanks to Wikileaks and one of the largest releases of secret documents ever, we can see how the other half lives and cheats. It is a fascinating and awkward discovery, to be sure.
Read more on the “Panama Papers,” page 2:
Jake – You may be interested in knowing that I was business friends with Ricardo Martinelli in the 1990’s. He ended up becoming president of Panama about 10 years ago, but was forced out of office about 5 years ago for corruption. He is now hiding out somewhere in Miami, and cannot return to Panama. I am still doing business there, but I do not mention my previous relationship with Ricardo to anyone. I also was in Panama right after Noriega was overthrown, it was a mess. So I have a particular interest in this story. I am going back to Panama in July, but I believe I will pass on working with Mossack Fonseca – David
Wow, so if i want to launder money then I should speak to you? 🙂
What other angles would you like to take on the story?
Bankers revenge
No surprise there.
This is what the movie Kill the Messenger is all about. That movie was based on real life events, if you didn’t know.
Have any united states politicians been found to be involved yet, not that anything will happen to them just curious to see who made the list.
Hell hes rich. No big deal..just like clinton deal..
So nothing about Hitlery Clinton, or has she covered it up already?
Im sure obama and hilary have done worse than the Iceland Prime Minister, the just have high end accountants that can funnel everything through foundations and trust and shell companies that cannot be traced back to them