The Panama papers are not only creating a whole new division between social classes, but the sudden movement has given the media a new found power.

It may not be as trending on Twitter, or talked about as much as Donald Trump per say, but the influence from the Panama paper scandal is frightening news that should be on every-tax payer/persons radar.

What is it?

The Panama paper scandal summed up short and sweetly is a group of journalist’s world wide who have been collecting and piecing together information that entices wealthy politicians, drug dealers and other successors hide their money in Panama, Brazil.

Everyone knows that when you hide money it’s usually because you want protection, but most importantly secrecy.

In Panama, large sums of cash aren’t as curious as they are in countries that have very structured tax laws- supposedly. Therefore, these billionaires hold their money in places like Panama to avoid steep tax laws and the questioning to where the money came from.  It also makes the connection between money and investing in something illegal more blurry.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists worked with additional media outlets worldwide to publish a massive leak of documents involving accusations that range from Jackie Chan to Vladimir Putin. They claim that there are more than 11 million documents to track that are connected to a Panama Law Firm called Mossack Fonesca.

Shell Companies

A shell company is an inactive company used as a vehicle for various financial maneuvers or kept dormant for future use in some other capacity.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists claims that the law firm pointed them in a direction to help discover many shell companies. Offshore accounts by international power players, and sadly many politicians establish these shell companies. Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago is described as “tax heaven,” with reportedly 14,086 companies on it alone.

Why this is Groundbreaking

The documents reference 12 current or former world leaders, as well as 128 other politicians and public officials…

he customers of this current law firm include dozens of blacklisted, who have evidence against them doing business with drug lords, terrorist organizations and rogue nations like Syria and North Korea. These journalists thought that the law firm in Panama was doing a lot of harm to the world, and started this movement to end it.

The result to the hugely large “tax free” money is $250 billion of tax revenue globally to governments. That is a lot of money that could address a lot of global issues. It may not be “illegal” for the law firm to have these “laws,” but what these journalists have leaked is example after example of wrongdoing by clients. Mossack Fonseca takes in a secret list of clients who are crooks, mafia members, drug dealers and corrupted politicians and tax evaders.

“We think that there’s a serious risk for our source because there are so many people involved who are not only powerful, but who also don’t hold back to use that power.” – Journalist Bastian Obermayer (A reporter from Süddeutsche Zeitung, the German magazine that was given data from an anonymous source.)

The Most Important Stories Gathered So Far:

        Files reveal the offshore holdings of 140 politicians and public officials from around the world

        Current and former world leaders in the data include prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the president of Ukraine, and the king of Saudi Arabia

        More than 214,000 offshore entities appear in the leak, connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories

Major banks have driven the creation of hard-to-trace companies in offshore havens

To keep up with the movement, go to https://panamapapers.icij.org

Updated; on May 11, Emma Watson was named in the Panama Papers