The law office behind the “Panama Papers” was raided by authorities in El Salvador on Saturday.
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The El Salvador office is not listed on Mossack Fonseca’s corporate website, and officials from Mossack Fonseca in Panama were not available to comment late on Friday.
Remaining employees in the building said they were planning on moving locations.
Attorney General Douglas Melendez, who personally oversaw the raid, said the government made a decision to sweep the offices after noticing Mossack Fonseca had removed its office sign late on Thursday, which raised suspicions.
Seven employees were questioned but not detained, Melendez said, according to Al Jazeera. Â ” At this moment we cannot speak about any crime”, he said, adding the El Salvador office could have been helping in processing global information for the law firm.
It comes after a leak of more than 11 million documents from the law firm in Panama sparked allegations of money laundering and tax evasion by high-profile figures across the globe.
Those who have been named thus far include friends of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, relatives of Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan and Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur DavÃð Gunnlaugsson, who has regigned.
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“In the recent past, there was much interest in investing in the Seychelles”, he said and pointed out that banks were opened in the Seychelles with direct lines, and family members of the elected in the country commenced to have transactions with the Seychelles as well.
