Russia said Monday that President Vladimir Putin was the main target of an unprecedented media leak into the financial activity of wealthy individuals who hold accounts offshore.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, told Russian news agency Interfax that it was "obvious" that the aim of the anonymous release of over 11 million documents belonging to a law firm in Panama — Mossack Fonseca — was to undermine the president ahead of parliamentary elections expected in September. Peskov said Putin had not committed any crime.
While Putin's name does not appear on any of the records published Sunday by a massive coordinated investigation with dozens of media groups, the paper trail does show that many of his associates and close friends including musician Sergei Roldugin, godfather to his daughter Maria and the man who introduced him to his wife Lyudmilla, made millions from deals that would have been hard to do without his knowledge. Ahead of the leak, the Kremlin said it was aware that an organization was trying to smear the president.
Meanwhile, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, Iceland's center-right prime minister, faces a confidence vote in parliament later Monday over allegations that he deliberately hid vast holdings in troubled Icelandic banks in a complicated web of deceit that includes his wife. He denies any wrongdoing. Public protests are also scheduled outside parliament.
French President Francois Hollande said the leaked documents amounted to "good news" because it would allow authorities to recover money from tax evaders.
“The whistleblowers do a useful work for the international community; they’re taking risks, so they must be protected,” Hollande said, speaking to reporters outside Paris.
Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm at the center of the leaks, maintains that it has always acted legally and followed international regulations.
