#PanamaPapers reveal how off-shore tax havens finance war crimes

The "biggest leak" in the history of data journalism, Panama Papers, has a damning verdict on Mossack Fonseca, and other such offshore finance companies for not only aiding brazen tax avoidance by the world's super-rich, but also sponsoring international war crimes and manmade disasters in the most conflict-ridden parts of the world.

In the above explainer video, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) underlines how law firms such as the Panamanian Mossack Fonseca enable shady deals between blacklisted companies and authoritarian state leaders such as Bashar al Assad of Syria. In 2014, monetary transactions facilitated by Mossack Fonseca fuelled the airplanes that carried out the worst attack on Syrian civilians by Assad's men.

"Mossack Fonseca is a key player in a sprawling, secretive industry of offshore that the world's rich and powerful use to hide assets and skirt rules by setting up front companies in far-flung jurisdictions."

Its "alarming list of clients [are] involved in bribery, arms deals, tax evasions, financial frauds, and drug trafficking". ICIJ adds, "behind the emails, paper trails, are REAL VICTIMS".

We couldn't agree more, despite this mealy-mouthed disclaimer from Mossack Fonseca.