Investigators raid property of 'Panama Papers' law firm Mossack Fonseca
Panamanian investigators on Friday raided a property used by Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of a massive leak of offshore financial data, removing bags full of shredded documents as evidence, a local prosecutor said.
"We have secured a large amount of evidence found in the location," said Javier Caraballo, an organised crime investigator.
He said they also found many shredded papers, which they removed as evidence.
In a statement, Mossack Fonseca said it had digitised all its documents and that the shredded papers taken from its premises were bound for recycling.
The law firm added that as a result of a previous search, prosecutors already had copies of all the documents they removed on Friday.
It was the second raid in as many weeks on Mossack Fonseca in Panama. On April 12, the same unit swooped on the firm's main offices for a search that lasted 27 hours.
Officials said after that first raid that no evidence was uncovered to support charges. They added that the firm kept its records on more than 100 servers located at different addresses.
Leaks from the Panama-based law firm, dubbed the "Panama Papers," have embarrassed several world leaders and shone a spotlight on the shadowy world of offshore companies.
Mossack Fonseca, which specialises in setting up offshore companies, has said it broke no laws, destroyed no documents, and all its operations were legal.
Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents from the firm.
Among those embroiled in the scandal was David Cameron, who became the first Prime Minister to publish detailed records of his tax payments. He made the unprecedented move after admitting he had personally profited from his stake in an offshore investment run set up by his late father Ian.
The papers have also revealed financial arrangements of other prominent figures, including friends of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, relatives of the prime minister of Pakistan and of China's President Xi Jinping, and the president of Ukraine.