Few American names have cropped up in the 'Panama Papers' because the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm at the center of the scandal doesn't like taking on American clients, one of its founders says.
Rich and influential people around the globe have found themselves under siege since a major data leak of 11.5million confidential records detailed their ties to secretive financial accounts and shell companies in low-tax havens used to hide wealth.
The uproar has brought down the prime minister of Iceland and raised questions about the presidents of Argentina and Ukraine, senior Chinese politicians, and the circle of friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, British Prime Minister David Cameron became the latest politician ensnared when he acknowledged having profited from his father's investments in an offshore tax haven before being elected.
Fonseca said on Thursday that their law firm has only a handful of American clients. He said it's not out of any anti-Americanism or fear of the IRS, but instead because they focus on the European and Latin American
But few American names have popped up in the massive information leak.
Ramon Fonseca, who started Mossack Fonseca law firm with Jurgen Mossack, said on Thursday that their law firm has only a handful of American clients, most of them members of Panama's burgeoning expat retirement community.
But, he said, it's not out of any anti-Americanism or fear of the Internal Revenue Service.
'My partner is German, and I lived in Europe, and our focus has always been the European and Latin American market,' Fonseca said at his law office.
'He loves the US a lot, and I do, too. My kids were educated there,' Fonseca added. But 'as a policy we prefer not to have American clients'.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the German newspaper that first obtained the documents, said the records include copies of the passports of 200 Americans and about 3,500 shareholders in offshore companies have listed addresses in the United States.
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