Tribune de Genève.
A computer specialist working for the Geneva office of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca has been arrested following accusations of data theft. Criminal proceedings have been opened by Geneva’s public prosecutor, according to a spokesperson from the ministry who spoke to the newspaper Le Temps.
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Mossack Fonseca found itself at the heart of the “Panama Papers” scandal, after a huge digital cache of of around 11.5 million of its documents was leaked anonymously to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The newspaper then worked with The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to look at the documents in detail before findings were published in April this year.
On 5 April 2016, Mossack Fonseca said they had been the victim of a computer hack via a computer server located abroad, and had filed a complaint related to the breach.
The BBC reported in May 2016, that the anonymous source behind the leak, known as “John Doe”, had made a statement offering to help legal authorities make prosecutions in return for immunity.
According to Le Temps, the individual arrested in Geneva, is suspected of recently releasing a very large quantity of confidential data and could be accused of unauthorised data access and breach of trust. The employee was arrested several days ago and the prosecutor has undertaken searches of the Mossack Fonseca office in Geneva. Those close to the Geneva arrest were not willing to give any information around the motives behind the recent criminal proceeding launched by the law firm.
Le Temps also said that nothing currently points to this person being the anonymous source behind the original leak known as “John Doe”.
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