The Panama Papers -- a massive leak of documents that may reveal how a rogue industry hides political and criminal money -- is evolving into a real-time case study in data privacy, security and eDiscovery techniques within the legal vertical.
The 11.5 million documents, which date back four decades, are allegedly connected to Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, notes CNN. While offshore accounts aren't necessarily illegal, the Panama Papers may reveal illegal activities for many of the end clients -- some of which Mossack Fonseca may not even know by name.
According to CNN:
"The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and an international coalition of media outlets investigated the trove of papers, which allegedly reveal a clandestine network involving associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and business ties between a member of FIFA's ethics committee and men whom the United States has indicted for corruption."
Panama Papers and eDiscovery
So what's the tie back to the IT channel? The answer involves privacy and security within the legal vertical -- and eDiscovery technologies that allow investigators to organize, index and search information.
A case in point: Nuix supplied document processing and investigation technology that was essential to the Panama Papers investigation conducted by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and the ICIJ, Nuix claims.
Süddeutsche Zeitung received an anonymous leak of approximately 11.5 million documents, totaling 2.6 terabytes of data, detailing the activities of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which helped clients set up anonymous offshore companies, Nuix adds.
While these offshore entities are generally legal in the jurisdictions in which they are registered, the investigation revealed that some were allegedly used for unlawful purposes including sovereign and individual fraud, drug trafficking, and tax evasion, Nuix claims.
And yes, Nuix has a channel partner program. Talk about an IT company in the right place, at the right time, with the right technology...
