Panama Papers: Here's who has been caught in the fallout of the Mossack Fonseca leak

Updated about 3 hours agoTue 5 Apr 2016, 1:28pm

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-05/who-has-been-caught-in-the-panama-papers-fallout/7299666

The unprecedented leak of more than 11 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca has revealed some of the hidden financial dealings of the world's rich and powerful.

Here's a look at some of the more high-profile people feeling the heat after the scandal broke.

Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson

Iceland's Prime Minister is refusing to resign after leaked tax documents known as the Panama Papers revealed accusations he and his wife used an offshore firm to allegedly hide million-dollar investments.

Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson was one of 12 current and former world leaders to have his alleged hidden financial dealings exposed in an unprecedented leak of more than 11 million documents from a powerful law firm based in Panama called Mossack Fonseca.

"I have not considered quitting because of this matter nor am I going to quit because of this matter," Mr Gunnlaugsson told Icelandic television Channel 2.

Financial records published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists showed that Mr Gunnlaugsson, 41, and his wife Anna Sigurlaug Palsdottir bought the offshore company Wintris in the British Virgin Islands in December 2007.

The company was intended to manage Ms Palsdottir's inheritance from her businessman father, the amount of which has not been disclosed.

Mr Gunnlaugsson transferred his 50 per cent stake to his wife at the end of 2009, for the symbolic sum of one dollar.

But when he was elected a member of parliament for the first time in April 2009 as a member of the centre-right Progressive Party, he neglected to mention the stake in his declaration of shareholdings.

Mr Gunnlaugsson has insisted he never hid any money abroad, and says his wife paid all her taxes on the company in Iceland.

He has denounced the release of the documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm, calling it a witch hunt against him and his wife.

"She [Palsdottir] has been adamant about paying taxes on it [Wintris] to Icelandic society rather than saving money by paying taxes abroad," Mr Gunnlaugsson said on his website on Monday.

"She has neither utilised tax havens nor can you say that her company is an offshore company."

Thousands take to streets

It was unclear whether Mr Gunnlaugsson was guilty of tax evasion but his opponents have insisted he step down regardless.

"The Prime Minister should immediately resign," former Social Democratic prime minister Johanna Sigurdardottir said in a message posted on Facebook.

A demonstration outside Iceland's parliament in Reykjavik calling for Mr Gunnlaugsson's resignation was then kicked off on Monday evening.

Police provided no estimate of the size of the crowd, but said the demonstrators outnumbered the thousands who in 2009 brought down the right-wing government over its responsibility in Iceland's 2008 banking collapse.

Organisers said more than 10,000 people had gathered outside parliament.

"Take responsibility" and "Where is the new constitution?" read some of the signs carried by demonstrators, referring to the country's new charter drawn up after the 2009 political crisis and which has since been held up in parliament. Some protesters reportedly threw eggs at the parliament building.

"People should not have a Prime Minister they are ashamed of ... the Prime Minister displayed his lack of faith in the Icelandic currency and economy by placing his money in a tax haven," Mr Sigurdardottir said.

More than 25,000 Icelanders have also signed a petition demanding his resignation.

The opposition said it would propose a vote of no confidence in parliament, likely to be held this week.

Mr Gunnlaugsson, who promised full transparency when he became Prime Minister in 2013, has been in the hot seat since his wife acknowledged the existence of her offshore company in mid-March, before the Panama Papers leaks.

In an interview with Swedish public broadcaster SVT recorded last month, excepts of which were aired in Iceland on Sunday, Mr Gunnlaugsson became visibly upset after being repeatedly asked about his wife's company, eventually storming out of the room.

"It's like you are accusing me of something," he declared.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister told SVT that the couple had fully respected Icelandic law and declared all income and property since 2008.

Despite media requests, his tax records have not yet been publicly released.