A Panama Papers source speaks out and explains why he decided to release more than 11.5 million documents that exposed over 214,000 offshore companies, and the confession goes viral. The source identified only as John Doe revealed to a German paper that he unloaded the papers so companies could pay for their crimes.
The so-called Panama Papers source has spoken out to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and told his side of the story. The Panama Papers source, who goes under the name John Doe, (placeholder names for a party whose true identity is unknown), explained why he found it was necessary to leak over 11.5 million documents that detailed financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,000 offshore companies associated with Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider, Mossack Fonseca.
The mysterious source said he was frustrated with a large group of corrupted wealthy people destroying capitalism. Mr. Doe said he hoped that the massive document leak would spark a revolution and forced the authorities to bring those, who were cheating their taxes to justice. Doe added that like Edward Snowden, (the controversial US intelligence contractor behind the US National Security Agency leaks), his life is in danger and went on to reveal that he is not a government employee.
He stated:
“…for the record, I do not work for any government or intelligence agency, directly or as a contractor, and I never have. I decided to expose Mossack Fonseca because I thought its founders, employees and clients should have to answer for their roles in these crimes, only some of which have come to light thus far.”
Along with the thousands of documents that were published on April 3, 2016 was a lengthy manifesto that detailed Doe’s reasoning for the leak. The source wrote:
“…income inequality is one of the defining issues of our time due to massive, pervasive corruption of a wealthy global elite, aided by lawyers, politicians and the media. It will take years, possibly decades, for the full extent of the firm’s sordid acts to become known….collective impact of these failures has been a complete erosion of ethical standards, ultimately leading to a novel system we still call capitalism, but which is tantamount to economic slavery”.
The proclamation went on to say:
“In this system — our system — the slaves are unaware both of their status and of their masters, who exist in a world apart where the intangible shackles are carefully hidden amongst reams of unreachable legalese. The source says that history shows how issues involving taxation and power imbalances have led to revolutions in ages past and predicts that the next revolution will be digitized. Or perhaps it has already begun.”
Talking to the newspaper, John Doe stated that he believes that “thousands of prosecutions could stem from the Panama Papers, if only law enforcement could access and evaluate the actual documents.” He went on to make the surprising revelation by saying that he would be willing to work with authorities to arrest the culprits while being aware that it could be very dangerous. He said:
“I … would be willing to cooperate with law enforcement to the extent that I am able. That being said, I have watched as one after another, whistleblowers and activists in the United States and Europe have had their lives destroyed by the circumstances they find themselves in after shining a light on obvious wrongdoing.”
John Doe also bashed the American government for treating Snowden like a fugitive and for forcing him into exile in Moscow, Russia. He argued:
“..for his revelations about the NSA, he deserves a hero’s welcome and a substantial prize, not banishment”. Legitimate whistleblowers who expose unquestionable wrongdoing, whether insiders or outsiders, deserve immunity from government retribution, full stop. Until governments codify legal protections for whistleblowers into law, enforcement agencies will simply have to depend on their own resources or on-going global media coverage for documents.”
