Official authorities in Panama raided the offices of the Mossack Fonseca law firm late on Tuesday night. The searches are to continue at the headquarters of the firm in Panama City and also other branches.
The firm is at the centre of the "Panama Papers" scandal that set off a global storm after leaked documents exposed top world leaders of tax avoidance by saving funds in offshore companies. The firm too has been accused of tax evasion and fraud.
Mossack Fonseca did not respond to requests for comment, reports Reuters. Its founding partner Ramon Fonseca maintained the company had broken no laws nor destroyed documents.
The rich and powerful across the world have been exposed after the leak of more than 11.5 million documents. These include friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, kin of prime ministers of Britain and Pakistan and of China's President.
Iceland's prime minister resigned after his name appeared as one of the beneficiaries of an offshore company while UK's Cameron has had to disclose his tax records, owning that he had held shares in one of the companies listed in the Panama papers, but had sold the same in 2010.
Closer home, the family of Malaysian prime minister have been shown to have used the firm to hide wealth.
