Ramón Fonseca, spouse of the Mossack Fonseca law firm in the midst of the “Panama Papers” scandal for the concealment of wealth in extraterritorial entities, died, a lawyer for his company reported on Thursday. He is 71 years old.
Attorney Guillermina McDonald told The Associated Press in a phone call that Fonseca died Wednesday night. He said he was hospitalized two days before a trial targeting his company began last month. The cause of death was not provided.
Fonseca did not appear at the trial, but her spouse, Jürgen Mossack, did. Fonseca is among more than two dozen affiliates accused of helping some of the world’s richest people hide their wealth. A verdict is still awaited.
The trial took place eight years after the leak of 11 million monetary documents known as the “Panama Papers. “The leak led to the resignation of the Icelandic minister and drew attention to the then-leaders of Argentina and Ukraine, Chinese politicians, and the Russian president. Vladimir Putin, among others.
Panamanian prosecutors say Mossack, Fonseca and their affiliates created a network of shell corporations that used complex transactions to hide illicit activities in the Brazilian giant Odebrecht’s “car wash” corruption scandal.
Fonseca and others have been accused of money laundering, which they have denied.
Fonseca had said the company, which closed in 2018, had no idea how its consumers would be able to use the offshore cars created for them.
Mossack Fonseca has helped create and sell approximately 240,000 units over four decades in business. It announced its closure in March 2018, two years after the scandal broke.