A former client of the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers scandal pleaded guilty to crimes related to an alleged criminal scheme involving the Panama-based global law firm Mossack Fonseca for nearly 40 years.
Harald Joachim von der Goltz, a German who is a former U.S. resident, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to charges of conspiracy to commit tax evasion, money laundering, and wire fraud, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday. The 82-year-old faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $350,000. He is the first person to plead guilty in the United States to crimes stemming from the Panama Papers investigation.
A lawyer for von der Goltz declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal.
A consortium of investigative journalists published the Panama Papers, a trove of documents from Mossack Fonseca, in 2016. The document dump is considered one of the largest data leaks in history and spurred an investigation into the firm and its global clientele.
The massive document dump revealed that Mossack Fonseca had allegedly developed a system for shuffling money around in shell companies and offshore accounts to hide the wealth of some of the world’s richest people.
Prosecutors charged von der Goltz in 2018 with three others: German investment manager Dirk Brauer, von der Goltz associate and American accountant Richard Gaffey, and former Mossack Fonseca partner and Panama citizen Ramses Owens.
Brauer faces charges in Germany where he was extradited after his arrest. Gaffey is facing a trial in the U.S. and has pleaded not guilty. Owens is facing criminal charges in Panama.
