With more than 2.6 terabytes of data comprised of more than 11.5 million documents, the release of Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca's records this week represents one of the largest data leaks in history--bigger than both the intelligence records revealed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden three years ago and the U.S. diplomatic cables made public by WikiLeaks in 2010.
The Panama Papers, as they are dubbed, were initially obtained by German newspaper S?ddeutsche Zeitung and subsequently the subject of a yearlong investigation, led by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and involving more than 100 publications from nearly 80 countries.
Here's what you need to know.
What's been leaked
The millions of documents include financial records, passports and correspondence stretching back 40 years, and detail 214,000 offshore entities across more than 200 countries. Offshore accounts aren't illegal but are often used as tax havens for money laundering and corruption. Many of these entities were reportedly found to be shell companies established in order to help several of the law firm's clients, through more than 500 top banks worldwide, allegedly hide income and transactions worth billions of dollars.
Who's been implicated
At least 140 offshore accounts have been linked to current and former politicians worldwide, with 12 current and former heads of state including Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, former Prime Minister of Iraq Ayad Allawi, and Saudi Arabian monarch King Salman named in the list.
The family members and associates of several other world leaders--Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President of South Africa Jacob Zuma, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Chinese President Xi Jinping, to name a few--have also been implicated. Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur Dav?? Gunnlaugsson may face a snap election, and walked out of a recent interview when quizzed about his alleged dealings detailed in the Panama Papers.
The most high-profile individual tied to the leak, however, is Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose best friend and other close associates have been named by the ICIJ investigation for allegedly having helped launder more than $2 billion.