In early 2015, a whistleblower from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca provided the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung with 11.5 million documents that shed light on how several prominent world figures used offshore shell companies to hide money and assets from tax collectors and public scrutiny; in fact, some of the companies were even used for drug trafficking.
Edward Snowden, of NSA-whistleblower fame, called the information "the biggest leak in the history of data journalism," partially because of the number of influential global forces involved. Among the people directly linked to such shell companies were Ukranian president Petro Poroshenko, Argentinian president Mauricio Macri, Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Davio Gunnlaugsson, basically all of FIFA, and various current and former heads of state and government from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, and Qatar. Among those indirectly linked were such names as Chinese president Xi Jinping, head of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, and good ol' Vladdy Putin.
The uproar has been fierce. The PM of Iceland stepped down in the wake of the Papers, and heads will surely continue to roll.
However, I legitimately don't care about the Panama Papers. Don't get me wrong, the situation is serious and the consequences are grave. But if you're surprised that politicians are corrupt, I have a goddam bridge to sell you.
Vladimir Putin is the shadiest and most corrupt person in the world. The guy is where he is because he literally had his opponents assassinated. The Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas have been known to funnel money to places other than where it should go. Politicians are generally known best around the world as corrupt and selfish.
Hence, we can't be surprised by the Panama Papers. This isn't new information, but simply affirmation of what we already knew: that a lot of politicians are super corrupt. Whoever thinks otherwise probably also thinks OJ is innocent and will be shocked when they hear what happened to the Twin Towers.
