Panama Papers author surprised by strong impact of revelation

Two journalists from the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung - authors of the Panama Papers - said they were surprised by the global shock of the information leak and promised to reveal more sensational news.

German journalist Frederik Obermaier (left) and journalist Bastian Obermayer (right) - co-authors of the Panama Papers at the office of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

"I never imagined there would be such a reaction, it was on all the TV channels and we got requests for responses from all over the world," journalist Bastian Obermayer, 38, told AFP.

Sueddeutsche - Germany's second largest daily newspaper - was sent more than 11 million documents from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca by an anonymous source, exposing shady financial transactions of many of the world's tycoons and powerful people.

The newspaper has shared a huge amount of information data mined by hundreds of international investigative reporters over the past year.

Since April 3, these revelations have led to the resignation of Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and a senior UEFA official and increased pressure on British Prime Minister David Cameron and Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

"We are still being informed. In the coming days, there will be many topics that will become major headlines in many countries," said journalist Frederik Obermaier, 32.

Destroy the whole system

In this mass leak, "we will see different types of crime, we will see how drug cartels launder money, how arms smuggling is involved, how sanctions are broken, we will see tax fraud," said journalist Obermayer.

“If politicians really want to stop it, they have to act now,” “we really need a hammer to destroy offshore corporate systems” and that “a policy of taking small steps is not enough,” he said.

The data shows that as governments take steps to combat tax fraud, “they see adaptation and even new ideas” for redirecting and hiding their money, Mr. Obermaier said.

The journalists said they did not know the identity of the source of the scoop, only that they had received data about the overseas companies more than a year ago.

“I don’t know if it was a man or a woman, or a group of people. I don’t know their identities,” Mr. Obermaier said.

In an effort to protect their source, the journalists also refused to say whether the source had been in touch or how he had reacted to the international uproar. However, they did confirm the source’s “moral” motives and that he “wanted these crimes to be made public.”

The Future of Journalism

Journalist Bastian Obermayer was the first to be contacted by the anonymous source, who provided the explosive information. As for why the Sueddeutsche was chosen by the anonymous source, Bastian Obermayer said, "We can only speculate as to why we were contacted."

The Sueddeutsche was founded in Munich after World War II and is one of Germany's major newspapers, along with the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the tabloid Bild.

At first, the newsroom was skeptical about the documents, but Obermayer and his colleagues quickly realized that the documents were authentic. They then decided to share the data in a large research project with journalists from around the world.

“The future of journalism is international cooperation. We are stronger together,” said Mr. Obermayer.

According to Labor