Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, the prime minister of Iceland has resigned after he was implicated in the leak of documents from Mossac Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that registers offshore shell companies.
Mr Gunnlaugsson, was the first prominent political fallout from the document leak, which has revealed the private financial activities of many rich and powerful people around the world.
Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson, a minister and the deputy chairman of his Progressive Party, announced Mr Gunnlaugsson’s resignation on television.
Mr. Gunnlaugsson had vowed not to resign after the leaked documents revealed that he and his his wife, had set up a company in 2007 in the British Virgin Islands through Mossack Fonseca.
The documents also indicated that he sold his own half of the company to his wife for $1 a day before a new law that would have required him to declare his ownership as a conflict of interest was passed.
#PanamaPapers:
Mr. Gunnlaugsson argued that there was nothing revealing in the leak as he and his wife, Anna, had not hidden their assets or avoided paying taxes.
But it was revealed that the company, which lost millions of dollars in the 2008 financial crash was claiming $4.2 million from three failed banks. According to the New York Times, Mr Gunnlaugsson, who had been prime minister since 2013 was involved in the deal with the bank and his action is now being seen as a conflict of interest.
PREMIUM TIMES is the only Nigerian publication involved in investigations of the leaked documents, which lasted a year.
We have published revelations about the offshore assets of the senate President, Bukola Saraki, his predecessor, David Mark, as well as disgraced former Delta State governor, James Ibori, who is serving a 13- year jail term in the UK after confessing to money laundering in 2012.
