Ramón Fonseca Mora (born 14 July 1952) is a Panamanian novelist, lawyer and co-founder of
Mossack Fonseca, a former law firm based in Panama with more than 40 offices worldwide. He was
minister-counselor of
Juan Carlos Varela
Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez (; born 13 December 1963) is a Panamanian businessman and former politician who served as the President of Panama from 2014 to 2019.
Varela was Vice President of Panama from 2009 to 2014, and Minister of Foreig ...
, and president of the
Panameñista Party until he was dismissed in March 2016, due to the Brazilian
Operation Car Wash. In 2016, Mossack Fonseca was raided by police on suspicion of money-laundering, bribery and corruption. Fonseca and his partner
Jürgen Mossack
Jürgen Rolf Dieter Mossack (born 20 March 1948) is a German-born Panamanian lawyer and the co-founder of Mossack Fonseca, a former law firm headquartered in Panama City which had more than 40 offices worldwide. The firm gained global notorie ...
were arrested and jailed on 10 February 2017. They were initially refused bail because the court saw a flight risk, but were released on 21 April 2017 after a judge ruled they had cooperated with the investigation and ordered them each to pay $500,000 in bail.
Numerous lawsuits including serious allegations of collusion with despotic regimes, mafia, and global criminals are ongoing.
Early life
Fonseca was born on 14 July 1952 in Panama and studied law and political science at the
University of Panama and the
London School of Economics. As a young man, "he hoped to save the world".
As a young man Fonseca reportedly considered joining the priesthood.
Also, according to the ICIJ he revealed in a 2008 television interview that, "I didn't save anything, I didn't make any change. I decided then, as I was a little more mature, to dedicate myself to my profession, to have a family, to get married and have a regular life … As one gets older, you turn more materialistic."
Career
In 1977, Fonseca and
Jürgen Mossack
Jürgen Rolf Dieter Mossack (born 20 March 1948) is a German-born Panamanian lawyer and the co-founder of Mossack Fonseca, a former law firm headquartered in Panama City which had more than 40 offices worldwide. The firm gained global notorie ...
founded the law firm
Mossack Fonseca in
Panama City. It went on to become the world's fourth-largest
offshore
Offshore may refer to:
Science and technology
* Offshore (hydrocarbons)
* Offshore construction, construction out at sea
* Offshore drilling, discovery and development of oil and gas resources which lie underwater through drilling a well
* Off ...
law firm, with more than 40 offices all over the world. In March 2018, the firm shut down in the wake of its involvement in the
Panama Papers
The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...
affair.
He is also a member of the
Panameñista Party.
Fonseca is also an award-winning novelist.
He has written four novels, along with plays and short stories. He has been awarded the Ricardo Miró Prize, the national literary award in Panama, twice, for novels ''Dance of the Butterflies'' (1994) and ''Dream City'' (1998).
Criminal investigations
Panama Papers
Following the
leak of 11.5 million Mossack Fonseca documents by an anonymous whistle-blower to the German newspaper ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat.
History ...
'' in 2016, it was revealed how offshore tax regimes were exploited for tax purposes. While offshore entities are not in themselves illegal, the documents showed how some of the more than 214,000 shell companies set up by Mossack Fonseca were used for illegal purposes, including fraud and tax evasion. The documents were shared with the
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. As a result, more than 150
inquiries and criminal investigations were launched in more than 70 countries worldwide.
On 20 October 2020, prosecutors in
Cologne, Germany issued international arrest warrants for Fonseca and his German-born law partner,
Jürgen Mossack
Jürgen Rolf Dieter Mossack (born 20 March 1948) is a German-born Panamanian lawyer and the co-founder of Mossack Fonseca, a former law firm headquartered in Panama City which had more than 40 offices worldwide. The firm gained global notorie ...
. Charges against them include accessory to
tax evasion and forming a criminal organization, with the firm noted as central to the investigation.
Money laundering in Brazil
According to court papers filed on 15 October 2019, Mossack and Fonseca "are the subjects of an FBI Investigation in the
Southern District of New York" and are "defending criminal charges against them in Panama."
In February 2017, both Fonseca and Mossack were arrested in connection with an investigation into money laundering and corruption in Brazil, known as
Operation Car Wash. They were released on bail the following April.
Personal life
Fonseca has six children. He was previously married to Elizabeth Ward Neiman, who became the Ambassador of the Republic of Panama to the
Netherlands on 9 September 2020. his son, Eduardo Fonseca Ward, was the former ambassador to the UAE.
Works
* 1976, ''Las cortes internacionales de justicia''
* 1977, ''Reflexiones de derecho judicial''
* 1985, ''Compañías panameñas''
* 1988, ''Panamá, un viejo lugar bajo el sol''
* 1994, ''La danza de las mariposas'', won the
Ricardo Miró Prize, Panama's national book award
* 1995, ''La isla de las iguanas''
* 1996, ''La ventana abierta''
* ''1997, Ojitos de ángel''
* 1998, ''Soñar con la ciudad'', won the
Ricardo Miró Prize
* ''2000, 4 mujeres vestidas de negro''
* 2007, ''El desenterrador''
* 2012, ''Míster Politicus'', "articulates the tangled processes that unscrupulous officials use to gain power and achieve their detestable ambitions"
["The saga of Mossack Fonseca"](_blank)
''The Hindu'' 20 April 2017
In popular culture
In 2016,
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh (; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor. A pioneer of modern independent cinema, Soderbergh is an acclaimed and prolific filmmaker.
Soderbergh's direc ...
announced he would produce a film about the Panama Papers affair. The
comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
''
The Laundromat'' premiered at the
Venice Film Festival on 1 September 2019. Fonseca and Mossack tried to block the film's release on Netflix by filing a defamation lawsuit against Netflix in October 2019, arguing that the ongoing FBI investigation and possible trial in New York as well as their defence against criminal charges in Panama could be negatively prejudiced by the way they are portrayed in ''The Laundromat''. A judge ruled that the case was filed in the wrong court, transferring it to Los Angeles. With a court decision still pending, the film was made available for streaming by Netflix on 18 October 2019. In the film, Fonseca is portrayed by
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fonseca Mora, Ramon
1952 births
Living people
Alumni of London Business School
Panamanian novelists
Panamanian male writers
Male novelists
20th-century Panamanian lawyers
People named in the Panama Papers
People from Panama City
21st-century Panamanian lawyers