PANAMA PAPERS INFORMANT FIRST SOUGHT TO SELL THE INFORMATION IN PANAMA

Jahaira (photo chosen for privacy reasons)

The story of the informant (or informants) responsible for releasing the "Panama Papers" document to the global press is far more complex than the media is making it out to be. Mossack and Fonseca's description of the theft of the information, as a cyber-hack, is simply not true, as you know. Let's clear the air on the individuals known to be involved, especially since readers are now writing in, and asking me to identify the players.

First of all, the original informant, as previously detailed in this blog, was a receptionist at the Mossack law firm; she served as Ramón Fonseca's longtime mistress, and, of course, had access to the firm's email accounts. After the affair ended badly, she left the firm, taking with her a large number of emails and documents.

Thereafter, she attempted to vend her documents around Panama City, and did sell off small segments; this was back in 2008 and 2009, a fact that seems to have escaped most of the published stories purporting to report on the facts, which made it appear that this all occurred only one year ago. Some of her documents did find their way into the hands of US law enforcement agencies, leading to speculation that the information may have been responsible for subsequent indictments of narcotics traffickers, the demise of HSBC, and the departure of Citibank from Panama.

 Her name is Jahaira M., for those who are still curious,  though I have omitted her last name to spare her hundreds of hungry journalists appearing at her door tonight. The most recent action, regarding the documents, that I am aware of is a contact she had in Germany, which may explain the appearance of the documents first at Sueddeutsche Zeitung. She is believed to still reside in the Republic of Panama; That is why I chose a photo of her that preserves her privacy.

Second, the sources may consist of more than one cooperating individual; we have previously covered the matter of the married Panamanian couple, he a wealth management officer at Mossack and Fonseca, she a former compliance officer there. It is not know whether he is still working there, so it is best that both of these individuals remain anonymous for now. I have deleted part of their last name; Mr. & Mrs. San***z.

They were active in what I can only describe as Panama's extreme nightlife scene, where my investigators first had contact with them; this was after Jahaira was hawking her emails and documents. The couple were also selling confidential MF documents, and again some found their way into the hands of US law enforcement, which probably contributed to subsequent arrests.

Therefore, we cannot say for certain that any one individual is the sole confidential informant that leaked the documents we now refer to as the "Panama Papers."