(Newswire.net — April 5, 2016) — Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, asking for the Prime Minister to step down, which could be the first but probably not the last consequence after millions of documents revealed the number of leaders using offshore accounts to launder money.
The alleged revelation that PM Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is one of the beneficiaries of an offshore company based in the British Virgin Islands, aggravated the residents of Iceland who gathered on Monday in what is possibly the largest rally the country has ever seen, CBC reported.
Banners reading “Elections Now” could be seen in the capital, Ice News reported, adding that other posters around the city encouraged drivers to honk their horns in protest, CBS News reported.
The prime minister of Iceland resigned on Tuesday over the family’s offshore company, the Guardian reported.
News organizations around the world, including CBC News, are working with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to process millions of documents that were leaked from the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm, which were first given to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in Munich, Germany, who broke the story.
Published on Sunday, the documents known as the Panama Papers are said to be “the largest leak in offshore history.” According to the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the data claims to reveal the offshore accounts of movie stars, musicians, world known athletes, politicians and public officials, including at least 60 people linked to current or former world leaders.
The documents also revealed a suspected billion-dollar money laundering ring involving close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I think the leak will prove to be probably the biggest blow the offshore world has ever taken because of the extent of the documents,” said Gerard Ryle, director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), adding the Consortium is investigating documents that go back 40 years.