Investigations have been opened into possible money laundering in relation to the so-called 'Panama Papers' case concerning offshore accounts and companies, the Italian finance police said Tuesday.
"The finance police have been instructed to acquire data and information concerning the contents of the list and start the necessary procedures to obtain it," the Turin force said.
The investigation is part of an existing probe into alleged money-laundering launched in 2015 and centring on companies registered in Panama with links to the law firm at the centre of the new global scandal, the finance police added. The Panama Papers scandal broke on Monday following the leaking of around eleven million documents held by the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Weekly L'Espresso got access in Italy.
The documents allegedly name numerous world leaders and famous personalities, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, the late father of British Prime Minister David Cameron and soccer player Leo Messi. Holding offshore accounts is not illegal, but such accounts are often linked to tax evasion and other illegal activity.
L'Espresso said it had found about 1,000 Italian clients in its analysis of the documents.
Deputy economy minister Enrico Zanetti said all necessary checks will be carried out.
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