Panama Papers: Probes to follow the paper trail as rich and powerful come under close scrutiny

Governments across the world have begun investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful following a leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm which allegedly showed how clients avoided tax or laundered money.

The documents detailed schemes involving an array of figures from friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin to relatives of the premiers of Britain, Iceland, and Pakistan and the president of Ukraine, said journalists who received them,

While the Panama Papers detail complex financial arrangements benefiting the world’s elite, they do not necessarily mean the schemes were all illegal.