Facing the October 18 release of a star-studded film about its role in facilitating tax evasion by the wealthy, the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers is suing Netflix for defamation.
In an amended complaint filed October 17 against the streaming giant, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and its namesake founding partners are seeking compensatory and enhanced damages and injunctive relief for libel, false light invasion of privacy, trademark infringement, and federal false advertising.
The complaint alleges that Netflix’s movie, The Laundromat, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Gary Oldman as Jürgen Mossack and Antonio Banderas as Ramón Fonseca, “portrays the plaintiffs as ruthless uncaring and unethical lawyers involved in money laundering, tax evasion and/or other criminal activities that benefit wealthy people and/or dangerous criminals.”
“The implications and innuendo converge to cast plaintiffs in the light of mastermind criminals,” the complaint states. “[Mossack Fonseca] has served its clients and the industry for over forty-two (42) years collectively, during which time it built a reputation of trust and professionalism, and during which time it became a well-known worldwide leader in the perfectly legal offshore corporate formation and maintenance industry.”
The same day the amended complaint was filed, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted Netflix’s motion to transfer the action to the Central District of California, where the film was produced, ruling that personal jurisdiction could not be established in Connecticut.
In 2016 a group of investigative journalists started publishing the Panama Papers, a series of stories based on illegally obtained client information about the Panamanian firm’s involvement in setting up offshore accounts and entities for companies and wealthy and famous people from around the world. A total of 11.5 million of what the complaint asserts were attorney-client privileged documents were sent to journalists, who referenced more than 200,000 offshore entities created by Mossack Fonseca.
The hack ultimately resulted in the closure of the Mossack Fonseca offices. Fonseca and Mossack are free on bail in Panama, where they are defending themselves against criminal charges.
“New implications that arise in ‘The Laundromat’ will likely precipitate Panamanian prosecutors to investigate any accusation or criminal implications revealed therein . . . [subjecting] plaintiffs to unnecessary and unwanted legal attention,” the complaint alleges. The libelous allegations made against the plaintiffs could also “pollute a potential jury pool” if Fonseca and Mossack, who are now the subjects of an FBI investigation, face U.S. criminal prosecution, it asserts.
Spoiler Alert
The film portrays a widow, played by Meryl Streep, and her search for answers after an insurance swindle leads her to the Mossack Fonseca lawyers. According to the movie’s trailer, the film is “based on some real shit.” As outlined in the complaint, the film was inspired by the book Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers, Illicit Money Networks, and the Global Elite by Jake Bernstein, a journalist who helped investigate the Panama Papers. The book also defames the plaintiffs, the complaint says.
Bernstein and Netflix either knew or should have known that the plaintiffs did not assist crime bosses or corrupt politicians, the complaint alleges.
According to the complaint, the released client information confirmed that “only an extremely minute percentage” of the offshore entities created by the plaintiffs were ultimately used by persons involved in criminal activity.
Part of the complaint focuses on the movie’s trailer, which shows Oldman and Banderas “dressed in flashy clothing, laughing sinisterly,” and leaves viewers with the impression that Fonseca and Mossack “are villains, profiting from the death of 20 people killed” on a boat tour.
In the movie itself, Streep’s character is also “an outlet for defaming the plaintiffs via scenes juxtaposed to imply criminality,” the complaint alleges. So, too, are scenes involving a cartel killing a man in connection with its money laundering, Russian gangsters engaging in money laundering through real property purchases, and an African businessman engaging in a secrecy deal with his daughter after an infidelity with her roommate.
Netflix also should have known that its movie would lead to reviews by publications that were also libelous and portrayed the plaintiffs as criminals, the complaint alleges.
“Plaintiffs had, and continue to have, interests in protecting their personal and professional reputations for various purposes, including resurrecting their business in order to earn a living and/or defending themselves in the context of a fair trial in present and/or anticipated criminal proceedings,” the complaint states. “As a direct and proximate result of the false and libelous representations made in 'The Laundromat,' the members of the public have been led to believe that plaintiffs are individuals with aberrant personalities.”
The complaint also asserts that the false statements and innuendo in the film and its trailer are not protected speech.
In Mossack Fonseca & Co. v. Netflix Inc., No. 19-cv-01618, the plaintiffs are represented by Stephan Seeger of the Law Offices of Stephen J. Carriero. The plaintiffs have requested a jury trial.