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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sex-trafficking fugitive Michael Pratt vanished for 3 years — until a data leak led to his capture.</li><li>The leak involved cryptocurrency "wallets" he used to secure his bitcoin passwords.</li></ul><p>Four days before Christmas in 2022, Michael James Pratt — a New Zealander accused of running the most prolific sex-trafficking ring in US history, with at least 400 young victims — was thrown to the floor of his Madrid hotel room and handcuffed by Spanish police.</p><p>As Pratt awaits trial in a Southern California jail, facing a possible life sentence, little has been revealed about how police located and captured him after three years on the run.</p><p>But video of his arrest, tweeted afterward by Spain's Policia Nacional, shows the precise instruments of his undoing: four gunmetal-silver cryptocurrency flash drives.</p><div type="image" title="This image from Spanish police shows the Bitcoin hardware wallets that led to the 2022 capture of sex-trafficking fugitive Michael Pratt." height="1906" width="3360" msid="112444044" hostid="261" sizebytes="175268"></div><p>The four pieces of hardware held the passwords for $500,000 in bitcoin that federal prosecutors say he earned during his decade of running the notorious Girls Do Porn trafficking ring.</p><p>Here is the story of Michael Pratt, the Girls Do Porn ring, and how a team of civilian supersleuths followed a twisty trail that began with these pocket-sized crypto hard drives and ended on that hotel room floor.</p><p>Here, too, is a story of justice. Last month, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25022769-sdca-v-gdp-michael-pratt-bill-of-particulars">federal prosecutors said</a> that the trafficking proceeds they seek to recover include the bitcoins protected by those four hard drives. The money would be returned to the ring's victims.</p><p>"If there's a hero, it's certainly them; it isn't me," Charles DeBarber, a civilian cyber-intelligence analyst who spent eight years chasing Pratt, told Business Insider of the Girls Do Porn victims.</p> <h2 id="eb5ec67d-c645-494b-8c02-b6bdf0a5d8c7">Fraud, coercion, threats</h2><p>The Girls Do Porn conspiracy ran from 2007 to 2019, and worked like this, according to federal prosecutors and victim testimony:</p><p>Cash-strapped college students were pulled into the ring's web by answering bogus fashion modeling ads on Craigslist. "Cute Teen Girls Make $5,000 Today," one typical ad read, above photos of smiling young models in swimsuits and athletic wear. A series of friendly emails from "Jonathan@beginmodeling.com" eventually revealed that the job was for an "adult" shoot.</p><p>When a prospective recruit demurred, "Jonathan," a fictitious name, would make a series of false promises. The job paid $5,000 cash up front for a 30-minute shoot with "an attractive male actor," the women would be promised. The video, they'd be assured, would be DVD-only, for the exclusive use of private collectors in Australia. It would never go online or be seen by anyone they knew.</p><p>If a prospect still hesitated, she'd be offered more money, more false assurances. "Jonathan" would forward her the phone numbers of "former models" who were paid to say whatever it took to reel in a victim.</p><p>"No no no you're totally fine!" a fictitious former model named "Kailyn" texted one victim. "That's what I was worried about but there is absolutely no way anyone will find out."</p><div type="image" title="This image shows the original FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive poster for Michael Pratt, accused ringleader of the Girls Do Porn trafficking ring; the image shows three photos of Pratt and has been stamped &quot;CAPTURED.&quot;" height="2608" width="2500" msid="112444047" hostid="261" sizebytes="250368"></div><h2 id="afb077a7-7ae2-4e1f-b3ed-827e55f8c1a9">The video shoot</h2><p>Once a victim agreed to do a shoot, "Jonathan" — prosecutors believe several in the ring took turns using the name — would immediately send a one-way plane ticket. She would be flown alone to San Diego before she could change her mind.</p><p>Victims remember being picked up at the airport and chauffeured to an upscale hotel. One thought it odd when the child safety locks were engaged during the ride.</p><p>At the hotel, these young women, barely out of high school, suffered the first hours of what would be a decadelong nightmare.</p><p>Of at least 400 women who recorded Girls Do Porn videos, more than 100 have told their stories in civil and criminal cases. Some describe being raped in their hotel rooms by their male actor before the shoot started — a "test drive," they were told.</p><div type="image" title="An excerpt from from Michael Pratt's 2019 sex-trafficking indictment describes how prospective victims would be lured by promises their videos would never go online." height="431" width="2500" msid="112444046" hostid="261" sizebytes="61726"></div><p>"Jonathan's" lies quickly unraveled. The promised pay would be docked by thousands of dollars for small imperfections in their appearance. And instead of 30-minute shoots, the women would be forced to film for six or more hours — however long it took to get five uninterrupted minutes of footage for each of five sexual positions.</p><p>Heavy equipment blocked the hotel room door, trapping them inside with men who warned that if they didn't finish the shoot, they'd be sued for breach of contract and left to buy their own flight home.</p><p>Victims describe violent ordeals that left them bleeding, vomiting, and sobbing. Their distress would be edited from the final video, though the editing was imperfect.</p><p>"I'm now known on the internet as the GDP girl with the tear tracks in her makeup," a victim who'd been filmed at age 18 said in March at the sentencing of Girls Do Porn webmaster and cameraman Matthew Isaac Wolfe, now serving 14 years in federal prison for sex trafficking</p><p>"Stop being a whiny little bitch!" another victim recounted porn actor Ruben Andre Garcia shouting as she begged to leave. Garcia is now serving 20 years for sex trafficking.</p><div type="image" title="This image from the arrest of Michael James Pratt shows the accused sex-trafficking ring mastermind being handcuffed on the floor of his Madrid hotel room." height="1415" width="2500" msid="112444041" hostid="261" sizebytes="115340"></div><h2 id="51595724-4c1f-4cae-8a9c-1c93a943086f">A million views in just days</h2><p>Months after the filming, these graphic, hardcore productions went live. Videos went viral in as little as 48 hours, as 700,000 subscribers to Pornhub's Girls Do Porn channel clicked on 5-minute teaser clips that drove traffic to Pratt's site, where 100,000 subscribers paid $30 a month for the full videos.</p><p>Federal prosecutors say Pratt increased traffic by forwarding each victim's video link to her school, work, family, and social connections. Victims attempted suicide after finding themselves fired from jobs, hounded from school, and shunned by loved ones.</p><p>"Before I knew it, my video had millions of views, and all my friends, family, acquaintances, and distant relatives knew," one victim said.</p><p>Prosecutors say Pratt also uploaded details from victims' original "Begin Modeling" applications — names, emails, family addresses, and even their height, weight, and favorite color — to websites he controlled that catered to so-called porn trolls.</p><p>The trolls churned up still more traffic and attacked "without mercy," as one victim described it.</p><p>"My mom would walk out of church and come back to her car to find notes in the window shield calling me a whore, slut, prostitute," another victim testified at Wolfe's sentencing.</p><p>Even now, long after the 2019 demise of the Girls Do Porn website and its Pornhub channel, the videos remain. Victims say they still pop up when they Google their names.</p><p>"Ten years later, I am still receiving harassing text messages," one said in March at Wolfe's sentencing. "I received one yesterday evening while nursing my newborn."</p><h2 id="cb4cf0e5-5f06-4228-b203-e84fde0f1dfb">Unmasking the traffickers</h2><p>But while its victims were humiliated publicly and by name, those running Girls Do Porn remained anonymous for most of the years the ring operated.</p><p>A tangle of fake phone numbers, addresses, and shell companies thwarted anyone seeking legal action. When the father of one victim emailed "Jonathan@beginmodeling.com" — the only contact his daughter had — he didn't reach Jonathan at all. Instead, he received a lawyer's cease-and-desist letter with naked photos of his daughter attached, federal prosecutors in California said in Pratt's 2019 criminal complaint.</p><p>This is where a former US Army cyber-intelligence analyst named Charles DeBarber arrived.</p><p>In early 2016, DeBarber was asked for help by a victim who wanted to know: Who had done this to me? Using publicly available data —including 2010 domain-name registration records and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-are-the-panama-papers-2016-4">the Panama Papers</a> — DeBarber unmasked Pratt, Garcia, Wolfe, and the underlying corporate entities. All were sued in state court in San Diego later that year.</p><p>"This is a very large, weird true crime story you kind of need a chart to explain," DeBarber said.</p><p>"We were able to find Garcia through his Facebook page, by reverse-imaging a tattoo that appeared on his shoulder" in the videos, he told Business Insider. Garcia was the actor who victims said told them to stop being "whiny bitches."</p><h2 id="ba4b8f40-8882-445c-9497-4e6e9b509bb9">A walk to Tijuana</h2><p>Girls Do Porn raked in some $17 million in subscriptions and content deals, federal prosecutors say.</p><p>"He would constantly punch holes in the walls and break computer monitors," Wolfe said of Pratt in his March sentencing statement, describing his "manic" and "terrifying" boss.</p><p>Pratt "was making millions of dollars and was driving around in a Lamborghini, living in a multimillion-dollar house in Rancho, Santa Fe," Wolfe's defense lawyer, Jeremy Warren, said at the sentencing.</p><p>Then, in the fall of 2019, Pratt fled his life of luxury, crossing into Tijuana on foot. Weeks later, a federal grand jury in San Diego indicted him, Wolfe, and Garcia. He was still missing months later, when a state judge <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25022749-girlsdoporn-original-2016-verdict">awarded $13 million to the 22 victims</a> in the 2016 lawsuit.</p><p>In pleading guilty, Wolfe, Garcia, and three other Girls Do Porn employees implicated Pratt as the ring's mastermind. He faces 19 felony counts, including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion.</p><div type="image" title="This image shows the first page of the federal indictment of Michael Pratt and three employees of the Girls Do Porn sex-trafficking ring" height="988" width="1770" msid="112444038" hostid="261" sizebytes="105734"></div><h2 id="c3b67f32-4fc1-470f-864e-3c65fd461402">Finding Michael Pratt</h2><p>Pratt vanished for three years.</p><p>Federal investigators believe he quickly boarded a flight to his native New Zealand, where he visited family members and made quick stops in Hong Kong and Cypress in unsuccessful attempts to sell the still-profitable Girls Do Porn operation.</p><p>He was somewhere in Europe when the indictment dropped at the end of 2019. "He didn't have any fake papers at the time," DeBarber told BI. "He was just Michael Pratt."</p><p>But Pratt began using an alias and the trail went cold — except for one key clue.</p><p>In the summer of 2020, the cryptocurrency world was rocked by a major data breach. Hackers exposed the names, addresses, and phone numbers of more than 700,000 customers of a company called <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ledger.com/">Ledger</a>.</p><p>Ledger makes <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/best-bitcoin-wallet">cryptocurrency "wallets,"</a> small USB or Bluetooth devices that look like little metal thumb drives. They safely store and protect the lengthy digital passwords that cryptocurrency owners need to access and move their money.</p><div type="image" title="A Ledger cryptocurrency wallet." height="686" width="998" msid="112444042" hostid="261" sizebytes="46892"></div><p>Pratt, DeBarber discovered, was one of the Ledger customers whose data was hacked.</p><p>He had used his real name to have a hardware wallet shipped to the W Hotel in Barcelona shortly before the indictment, the breach revealed. After the indictment, in the spring of 2020, Pratt used the alias "Mark Williams" to have another hardware wallet shipped to a Mailboxes, Etc., also in Barcelona.</p><p>"We decided, you know what? Let's go there and see," DeBarber said.</p><p>The cyber-sleuth and the victims' lawyer flew to Barcelona in July 2022 — a trip DeBarber described earlier this year <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/hunt-michael-pratt-phoenixsafe-ai-20zde/">on LinkedIn</a>.</p><p>They had precious little to go on besides those long-cold locations — the W Hotel and the Mailboxes Etc. They also knew that Pratt liked American hip hop and collected pricey, vintage Air Jordans, based on what federal investigators had found searching Pratt's luxury apartment in San Diego.</p><p>Once on the ground, the pair connected with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-owen-94b278156/">Ben Owen</a>, a cyber-security expert DeBarber had met when they worked together in 2017 on the CBS show "Hunted." Owen's partner, intelligence expert <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danni-brooke-a794083a/">Danni Brooke</a>, and their daughter Amelia Brooke, joined them.</p><div type="image" title="This image shows, from left, Charles DeBarber, Ben Owen, Brian Holm, Amelia Brooke, and Danni Brooke." height="1855" width="2500" msid="112444048" hostid="261" sizebytes="89892"></div><p>Owen located one of the few people in Barcelona who sold vintage Air Jordans. Her face turned pale when shown Pratt's picture. She had spoken to him recently about a $50,000 pair of size-11, 1985, 1st edition high-tops.</p><p>Then a bouncer at one of only five nightclubs that played American hip hop said he'd seen Pratt there just a few weeks prior. Both the sneaker vendor and the bouncer described the fugitive the same way.</p><p>"They said he was portly and that he wears clean clothes but doesn't wash," DeBarber said. "And they said he carries a Versace bag full of money around his neck.</p><p>"He was living pretty recklessly," DeBarber added. "Who goes to a club with a Versace bag full of money, flashing it around? He's obviously not a Spaniard. That's not the kind of behavior I would expect from a talented fugitive."</p><div type="image" title="A photo of the Barcelona Mailboxes Etc. store where investigators found Michael Pratt's Swiss ID." height="856" width="642" msid="112444049" hostid="261" sizebytes="22712"></div><h2 id="c89f151f-ca77-45f0-b462-b2f78ba5e5bf">The best clue of all</h2><p>But the crucial tip DeBarber and his partners in crime-fighting uncoverd — and passed along to the local FBI consulate — came from that Mailboxes Etc.</p><p>There, a very helpful clerk showed them the Swiss ID and contract Pratt had used to open his account two years prior. Pratt would use the ID — which featured his photo and the alias Mark Williams — just before Christmas when he checked into that Madrid hotel.</p><p>There at the front desk, Pratt's ID triggered an Interpol alert, sending authorities directly to his door. Inside were Pratt's laptop, two cellphones, a stack of 50-Euro notes, and four of those Ledger wallets.</p><div type="image" title="Michael Pratt's Swiss ID and Barcelona Mailboxes Etc. contract." height="1601" width="2500" msid="112444051" hostid="261" sizebytes="79394"></div><p>Pratt was finally extradited from Spain in March. His next court date is September 6, when a trial date may be set. His defense lawyer did not respond to requests for comment on this story.</p><p>These days, DeBarber runs the Baltimore-based <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7163927968531120128/">Phoenix AI </a>cybersecurity firm with cofounder Justine Li, a Girls Do Porn victim and plaintiff.</p><p>Li's video was filmed in 2007 when she was still in high school. It was "Video Number One" when Girls Do Porn launched in 2009. Their company builds tech solutions for finding and removing non-consensual sexual abuse materials on the internet.</p><p>"I will be at his sentencing and I will be grinning," DeBarber said recently of Pratt. "I'm really, really excited where he is right now, and Dre, and Wolfe," he added, referring to co-defendants Matthew Wolfe and actor Reuben "Dre" Garcia.</p><p>"I hope they spend their time in prison wondering how did the women we thought we broke ever manage to do this to them."</p>

A crypto data leak led the FBI to America's most wanted sex trafficking fugitive. Now, the victims want his bitcoins.

The world is going crazy over the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/One-of-the-largest-data-leaks-in-history-reveals-how-world-leaders-and-aides-hide-their-cash/articleshow/51676270.cms">Panama paper leaks</a>. The massive leak of over 11 million tax documents has exposed where world leaders, Indian bigwigs, sporting personalities, etc hide their assets.<br />
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This is one of the largest leaks in the history, which also disclosed names such as Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, KP Singh, etc.<br />
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READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Panama-Papers-List-Here-are-the-names-of-powerful-Indians-who-have-hidden-assets/articleshow/51679110.cms">Panama Papers List: Here are the names of powerful Indians who have hidden assets</a><br />
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The documents, from around 214,000 offshore entities covering almost 40 years, came from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm with offices in more than 35 countries.<br />
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READ ALSO: <strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/The-13-tax-havens-where-rich-Indians-stash-their-money/articleshow/51210104.cms">The 13 tax havens where rich Indians stash their money</a></strong><br />
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The news has already spread like wildfire and now people are sharing the news on social networking sites, saying that the mighty and powerful can get away with any wrongdoings.<br />
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But, making light of this extremely grave matter are the Twitterati, who are taking a dig at people who have been named and unnamed.<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VijayMallya?src=hash">#VijayMallya</a> after hearing about <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panamapapers?src=hash">#panamapapers</a> leak ! <a href="https://t.co/rrcaJEw3kf">pic.twitter.com/rrcaJEw3kf</a></p>
	— Gandalf the Fat (@TheDesiJedi) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDesiJedi/status/716883974090395648">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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		Only Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya? Good to know that Abhishek Bachchan is poor like us to not feature in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panamapapers?src=hash">#panamapapers</a> .</p>
	— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) <a href="https://twitter.com/Trendulkar/status/716880512225153026">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panamapapers?src=hash">#panamapapers</a> r like statistics which means they r like miniskirts, what they reveal is suggestive what they conceal is vital!</p>
	— Archie (@leavingliph) <a href="https://twitter.com/leavingliph/status/716880330695651328">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Odd, given that we in India only attack politicians for corruption, that there are so few on this <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PanamaPapers?src=hash">#PanamaPapers</a> list so far, eh?</p>
	— Mihir Sharma (@mihirssharma) <a href="https://twitter.com/mihirssharma/status/716856105486299137">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		No one from US implicated in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panamapapers?src=hash">#panamapapers</a> <a href="https://t.co/KxUPuY3Vsp">pic.twitter.com/KxUPuY3Vsp</a></p>
	— JS Pritchard (@Jonaldo14) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jonaldo14/status/716769261256105985">April 3, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="et">
		Mummy, aapne humare saare paise bathroom mein hi rakhe hain na ?? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panamapapers?src=hash">#panamapapers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RahulGandhi?src=hash">#RahulGandhi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Panama?src=hash">#Panama</a> <a href="https://t.co/5cLnS4MUCd">pic.twitter.com/5cLnS4MUCd</a></p>
	— Gandalf the Fat (@TheDesiJedi) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDesiJedi/status/716891022530220032">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Panama in the South <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PanamaPapers?src=hash">#PanamaPapers</a> <a href="https://t.co/A79CnOR8MX">pic.twitter.com/A79CnOR8MX</a></p>
	— Broken Anda (@moronhumor) <a href="https://twitter.com/moronhumor/status/716879026678210562">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Manager of Offshore firm Consoling A Rai as she burst into tear after her name was mentioned in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/panamapapers?src=hash">#panamapapers</a>.(2016) <a href="https://t.co/ESnm8eG8SL">pic.twitter.com/ESnm8eG8SL</a></p>
	— History of India (@RealHistoryPic) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealHistoryPic/status/716894964790091776">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Mauka Mauka guy finally bursts crackers after finding more Pakistani politicians than Indians in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PanamaPapers?src=hash">#PanamaPapers</a> <a href="https://t.co/WB4leMhUKm">https://t.co/WB4leMhUKm</a></p>
	— Faking News (@fakingnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/fakingnews/status/716904808859504640">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		It is so difficult to be a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/billionaire?src=hash">#billionaire</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PanamaLeaks?src=hash">#PanamaLeaks</a>"</p>
	— Birendra Amatya (@bkamatya) <a href="https://twitter.com/bkamatya/status/716913022237802496">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
	<p dir="ltr" lang="en">
		Paa back in theatres, now with the real story tax free. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PaaSpoof?src=hash">#PaaSpoof</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PanamaPapers?src=hash">#PanamaPapers</a> <a href="https://t.co/bb9vR5KYPa">pic.twitter.com/bb9vR5KYPa</a></p>
	— Arré (@ArreTweets) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArreTweets/status/716919725004029952">April 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Twitter also has a take on the Panama Leaks and it is a funny one

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>A huge crowd of protesters gathered in front of 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's official residence in London, demanding David Cameron's resignation, on Saturday morning.</p><p>Documents from the massive Panama Papers leak show that Cameron profited from Blairmore Holdings, an offshore investment fund, according to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/world/europe/panama-papers-prime-minister-david-cameron-of-britain-on-tax-avoidance.html">The New York Times.</a></p><p>The fund was run by Cameron's father, and never paid any tax in the UK.</p><p>Cameron initially said that he had not profited&#xa0;from any offshore funds, but the documents show that he made $42,160 in profit from selling the shares in Blairmore from 2010, per the New York Times.&#xa0;</p><p>Cameron had previously condemned wealthy British corporations and individuals who had set up offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes in the UK, per the New York Times.&#xa0;</p><p>Cameron addressed his supporters on Saturday at the Conservative party spring forum while protesters chanted for his resignation outside of 10 Downing.</p><p>"<span>The facts are I bought shares in a unit trust, shares that are like any other sorts of shares, and paid tax on them in exactly the same way," Cameron told his supporters per <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/09/david-cameron-to-launch-local-election-campaign-as-panama-papers-row-rumbles-on">The </a><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/09/david-cameron-to-launch-local-election-campaign-as-panama-papers-row-rumbles-on">Guardian</a>. "I sold those shares, in fact I sold all the shares that I owned on becoming prime minister."</span></p><p><span>He also pledged that he would be "completely transparent," about publishing everything in his tax returns, according to The Guardian.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>"It has not been a great week," Cameron quipped to his supporters, per the <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/7062163/Cameron-Its-not-been-a-great-week-it-could-have-been-handled-better.html">UK Sun</a>. "I know that I should have handled this better, I could have handled this better."</span></p><p>And many people are furious, and have called for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/08/david-cameron-panama-papers-offshore-fund-resignation-calls">Cameron's resignation</a>.</p><p>The protesters first gathered outside 10 Downing in the morning, and marched to the Conservative party forum at the Grand Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden, per The Guardian.</p><p>See below for some pictures and tweets from London:</p>

Thousands of protesters demand David Cameron's resignation after Panama Papers allegations

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US moved on Friday to impose direct <keyword id="12754126" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sanctions" source="Orion">sanctions</keyword> on Russian President <keyword id="11899444" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="vladimir-putin" source="Orion">Vladimir Putin</keyword>.</li><li>The move is a strong condemnation, but may not have much of a tangible financial impact.</li></ul><p>If there's one thing we know about Russian President Vladimir Putin's <keyword id="11921347" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wealth" source="Orion">wealth</keyword>, it's that we <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-putin-spends-his-mysterious-fortune-2017-6">just don't know</a> how much of it he has — or where it might be.</p><p>He might be the richest person in the world, according to financier Bill Browder, who <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/bill-browders-testimony-to-the-senate-judiciary-committee/534864/">testified</a> in 2017 that he believes Putin "has accumulated $200 billion of ill-gotten gains." Investigations have variously linked him to a <a href="https://www.insider.com/vladimir-putins-secret-palace-black-sea-russia-video-2021-1">$1.4 billion palace on the Black Sea</a> and a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/putin-monaco-luxury-apartment/">$4 million Monaco apartment</a> linked a woman who was reportedly his mistress. </p><p>The Biden administration <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-will-announce-sanctions-on-putin-ukraine-invasion-cnn-2022-2">just announced</a> that it will <keyword id="11995346" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sanction" source="Orion">sanction</keyword> Putin personally. The EU and UK have already directly sanctioned Putin and foreign minister Sergey Lavror, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60530065">BBC reports</a>, which includes a freeze on their assets in those countries.</p><p>However, the unknowability of what, exactly, Putin owns makes it difficult to actually gauge what impact a direct sanction would have on his assets. </p><p>"Hitting the bank accounts of Kremlin officials and Putin cronies can only be marginally effective when these individuals treat <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>'s resources as their own personal piggy bank," Edward Fishman, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and Chris Miller, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/01/21/russia-sanctions-stop-putin-energy-markets-us-invasion-527524">Politico op-ed</a>. On Friday, Fishman wrote on <a href="https://twitter.com/edwardfishman/status/1497274160954986510">Twitter</a> that "sanctions will not impoverish Putin or change his life in any meaningful way."</p>https://twitter.com/edwardfishman/status/1497274161919635456<p>That means that wider sanctions on the Russian <keyword id="11893570" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="economy" source="Orion">economy</keyword>, rather than a direct sanction on individuals, might have more of a tangible impact. For example, sanctions against Russian oligarchs who support Putin could be a meaningful way to target him, according to Fishman. The US has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/see-biden-white-house-full-list-sanctions-against-russia-ukraine-2022-2">already sanctioned</a> some Putin allies, freezing any assets they have in the country and blocking them from crossing US borders. </p><p>Following the invasion of <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword>, MOEX — Russia's stock exchange — crashed and closed 33% lower, losing the 22 richest billionaires in Russia <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-billionaires-lose-39-billion-dollars-one-day-ukraine-invasion-2022-2">$39 billion in just one day</a>, according to the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/">Bloomberg Billionaires Index</a>.</p><p>When it comes to directly hitting Putin's assets, his holdings are infamously shadowy and disperse, and his actual fortune may be entangled with a whole slew of associates and wealthy Russians. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists 2016 report on the Panama Papers <a href="https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/20160403-putin-russia-offshore-network/">found</a> that a shadowy network of people associated with the Russian president "has shuffled at least $2 billion through banks and offshore companies." A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/03/pandora-papers-reveal-hidden-wealth-vladimir-putin-inner-circle">Guardian investigation</a> into the Pandora Papers in 2021 found that other associates of Putin held valuable assets in Monaco.</p><p>Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the leaks were a "set of largely unsubstantiated claims" at the time, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/4/pandora-papers-russia-dismisses-leaks-implicating-putin">according to Al Jazeera</a>. </p><p>In January, imprisoned Russian activist Alexei Navalny, <a href="https://www.insider.com/vladimir-putins-secret-palace-black-sea-russia-video-2021-1">released a video</a> that purportedly shows the $1.4 billion palace on Russia's Black Sea belonging to Putin. Navalny's allies <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-palace-leak-479-photos-navalny-ice-rink-pole-dancing-2022-1?r=US&amp;IR=T">released hundreds of images</a> of what they claimed are the inside of Putin's secret palace. Russia's media regulator <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-censors-articles-on-claims-putin-has-secret-14b-palace-2022-2">reportedly told</a> at least 10 news outlet to remove articles on the alleged palace. Navalny, who was poisoned with a nerve agent in August 2020, is in a prison outside Moscow and faces more charges.</p><p>Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said after the release of that report that "these are all absolutely unfounded statements. This is pure nonsense and a compilation, and there is nothing else there."</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/2022/01/27/as-biden-mulls-sanctions-three-theories--on-how-putin-makes-his-millions/?sh=163ac2315b43">Forbes</a>, the Kremlin's official financial disclosures have Putin's 2020 income coming in around $140,000; the only assets he reportedly claims are a handful of cars, a garage, an apartment, another apartment to use, a trailer, and two parking spots.</p><p>So, as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/25/eu-to-announce-sanctions-targeting-vladimir-putin-and-sergei-lavrov">Guardian reports</a>, sanctions from the EU and UK against Putin directly are "largely symbolic." It's still a rare and impactful condemnation against Putin. The sanctions also come after Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, had previously asked partners to impose more.</p><p>"Hit his economy and cronies. Hit more. Hit hard. Hit now," Kuleba <a href="https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1496399793157021699?s=20&amp;t=nl2270DcYP-Ps7KSiZAFDA">tweeted</a> on Wednesday.</p>

Putin's shadowy wealth could be impossible to target with sanctions

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Win McNamee/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Donald Trump.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>The week-long dispute between the Trump Organization and the owner of a Panama hotel could have consequences for President Donald Trump.</strong></li><li><strong>Ethics experts say this is the kind of situation they've always warned about.</strong></li><li><strong>Now that situation has become a reality.</strong></li></ul><p>Ethics experts fear that the week-long standoff at a Panamanian hotel between ownership and the Trump Organization just presented one of the most consequential conflicts of interest yet for President Donald Trump.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/video-trump-organization-security-hotel-employees-clash-panama-hotel-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The dispute broke out into the open last week</a> when Orestes Fintiklis, the majority owner of the hotel, arrived in the lobby of the building with associates. His aim was to fire the Trump Organization, which has managed the hotel since its 2011 opening. The Trump Organization, however, refused to leave.</p><p>In the days since, police have been called to the property multiple times to, as<span> </span><a href="https://www.apnews.com/ce4dbdd4446c4862bb9c483425554c67/Trump-officials-fight-eviction-from-Panama-hotel-they-manage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Associated Press reported</a>, "keep the peace." Meanwhile, after Fintiklis and his associates hand-delivered termination notices to Trump Organization employees at the hotel on Thursday, witnesses told the wire service they saw Trump executives moving files to a room, where they would be shredded.</p><p>It's gotten so bad <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/video-trump-organization-security-hotel-employees-clash-panama-hotel-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">that footage has leaked</a> of Trump Organization security and hotel officials fighting within the building. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/28/politics/panama-trump-hotel-raid/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN reported</a> that armed Panamanian authorities entered the building amid the standoff.</p><p>Late last week, Fintiklis' lawyer went to Panamanian authorities to complain about the Trump staffers issuing threats and intimidating him so he wouldn't enter the building. Panamanian prosecutors then promised to investigate Trump's namesake company for its role in the episode.</p><p>If that probe is opened, it would mark the first such investigation into the Trump Organization by a foreign government during Trump's presidency - something that has many ethicists on edge. </p><h2>'He can't just go around and recuse himself from various decisions'</h2><p>Even though Trump passed control off to his two adult sons prior to taking office in January, he did not enter into a blind trust or divest from the business as experts pleaded with him to do. </p><p>"When the president refused to divest from his businesses, there was always the fear that there would be some sort of incident at one of his overseas entities, and his judgment and loyalty could be tested," Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told Business Insider in an email. "That fear has been realized. The president can obviously have a great impact on American foreign policy toward Panama. How could this affect that? We don't know, but it's not good that we have to ask."</p><p>Unlike other positions in the administration, where officials are legally required to divest from their assets or recuse themselves from any possible conflicts of interest, the president is not under such legal requirement to do so. That brings up a specific problem in Panama. Since Trump is president, he can't just recuse himself from decisions related to the country, experts told Business Insider.</p><p>"He can't just go around and recuse himself from various decisions," Larry Noble, senior director and general counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, told Business Insider. "Especially when you're dealing with international relations. It's the problem we said would happen and it is happening."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Win McNamee/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Trump.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Short of severing ties with his businesses, Noble said there isn't anything Trump could do to fully remedy the situation if Panamanian authorities do launch the investigation. And if that investigation begins, any US decision with an effect on the country will be under the microscope.</p><p>"It could be a trade deal, it could be aid of some sort, it could be a rule involving the Panama Canal," Noble said, adding, "This is a good example of what a presidential conflict of interest looks like." </p><p>Trump's history with Panama while president is not extensive, though he did meet with Panamanian president Juan Carlos Varela in the Oval Office last year.</p><p>During that meeting, he cited a "very, very good" friendship with Varela.</p><p>That friendship would, obviously, get tested if the investigation is launched.</p><p>"Obviously, that affects his feelings about that foreign country," Noble said. "And so, when he has to make any decisions that may impact Panama, we have to ask, is he doing it to get back at them? Or to make them happy because of his business? Or is it really just in the interest of the American people? And that's your classic conflict of interest."</p><p>"If they really do start a major investigation of this property, is he going to start tweeting about Panama and our relations with Panama?" he continued. "This is a real tangled web, and it's a problem."</p><h2>'It's just a lot of risk to come out of this'</h2><p>Trump's best course of action is to acknowledge the problem exists, express that he understands why people would be concerned, and provide as much transparency as possible, Noble said. He added that while there have been prior conflicts of interest involving foreign governments seeking to curry favor with Trump through his business, this is the first instance of a foreign government possibly doing something that could harm his namesake company.</p><p>"The question is how will it influence what he does," he said. "And we've seen before that he tends to lash out when he feels people are attacking his daughter's business, or basically attacking him. It's one thing when a pundit or expert attacks him, its another when another country is trying to enforce its laws and finds itself at odds with his business."</p><p>Panama could decide to drop the case or not pursue it, being unwilling to ruffle the US's feathers. That too presents problems.</p><p>"What if all of a sudden Panama drops it and the people who've been challenging the Trump hotel, saying wait a second, our government only did that because they don't want to take on the US," Noble said. "That has its own complications. It's a very specific instance of the conflict we all warned about playing out."</p><p>Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor and former top ethics adviser to President George W. Bush, said a huge risk for the president is if Panama opens the investigation and finds anything that could be used as blackmail against Trump. On the other hand, Panama could back off in exchange for some sort of favor, which would constitute bribery.</p><p>"It would end up being a big mess," he said. "It's just a lot of risk to come out of this."</p><p>Trump's business should end its involvement with the hotel, Painter said, adding that Trump should steer clear of the situation entirely. Trump and any US government official should not discuss the issue with the Panamanian government, and Trump Organization officials should not be discussing US government policy with Panamanian officials.</p><p>"Because if what happened at that hotel is thrown into any type of negotiation with the United States government, you're going to end up in a bribery situation very quickly," he said.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-a-politicians-character-is-more-important-than-their-capability-2018-2">Why a politician's character is more important than their capability, according to a reputation expert</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Ethics experts say their 'fear has been realized' as Trump faces one of his most consequential conflicts of interest yet

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Carl Court/Getty Images</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>British Prime Minister David Cameron <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNewsBreak/status/718171978729988096">will publish his tax returns</a> "in the coming weeks," Downing Street spokespeople confirmed on Friday.</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The announcement comes a day after the prime minister admitted that he once owned shares in his father's offshore trust and profited from them.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Cameron revealed the full extent of his investment in Blairmore <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Holdings</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> to ITV's political editor Robert Peston is </span><a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2016-04-07/cameron-i-had-stake-in-my-fathers-offshore-trust/">a detailed TV interview</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> on Thursday night.</span></span></p><p>Cameron told Peston that he and his wife Samatha used to own around £30,000 worth of shares in the trust which was originally incorporated in Panama. He still held the shares while he was the leader of the opposition, but sold them in 2010 before he became prime minister.</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">On Sunday, a giant leak of documents from a law firm based in Panama, revealed the offshore holdings of 140 politicians, public officials, and athletes around the world. Those documents revealed more about Cameron's father's role as a founding director of the Blairmore trust.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">According to the ICIJ, six members of the House of Lords, three former Conservative MPs, and lots of British political donors also hold or have held assets offshore.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Here is what Cameron told Peston about the shares he used to hold. The added emphasis is ours.</span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Samantha and I had a joint account and <strong>we owned 5,000 units in Blairmore</strong> Investment Trust, which we sold in January 2010. That was worth something like £30,000. <strong>I paid income tax on the dividends.</strong> There was a profit on it but it was less than the capital gains tax allowance so I didn't pay capital gains tax. But it was subject to all the <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword> taxes in all the normal way. I want to be as clear as I can about the past, about the present, about the future, because <strong>frankly I don't have anything to hide.</strong></p><p>Here's Cameron's explanation for why he sold his shares before he became Prime Minister.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">But I was keen in 2010 to sell everything - shares, all the rest of it - so I can be very transparent. I don't own any part of any company or any investment trust or anything else like that.</p><p>And here is Cameron's response to people who might think the fund itself was set up as a "tax dodge."</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>It was set up after exchange controls went so that people who wanted to invest in dollar denominated shares and companies could do so.</strong> There are many other unit trusts like it, and I think it's being unfairly described and my father's name is being unfairly written about.</p><p>Downing Street <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35994283">later confirmed</a> that the Camerons bought their shares in Blairmore for £12,497 and sold it in January 2010 for £31,500. They made a profit of around £19,000, which explains why they didn't need to pay any capital gains tax - the joint capital gains allowance was £20,200.</p><p>Now, some people are calling for the prime minister to resign. Labour MP <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnMannMP/status/718138364986150912">John Mann tweeted</a> Cameron should go because he has been dishonest and the Guardian and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/after-finally-admitting-he-did-have-a-stake-in-his-fathers-offshore-fund-cameron-needs-to-resign-and-a6973631.html">the Independent</a> have both published opinion pieces calling for the prime minister to step down.</p><p>A protest outside Downing has been organised on Facebook for Saturday. The event <a href="https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/718229668860665856">has been promoted</a> by whistleblower Edward Snowden, as has the hashtag #ResignCameron, which is currently trending on Twitter.</p><p>It's important to note that Cameron has not admitted to tax evasion or tax avoidance. </p><p>As Cameron pointed out, offshore unit trusts that are administered from countries that are in the dollar area can be a perfectly legitimate and sensible way of running funds that primarily invest in companies that are also in the dollar area. Cameron paid tax on his dividends and didn't need to pay any capital gains tax when he sold off his shares.</p><p>Here's a brief timeline of what has happened since the Panama Papers came out: </p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Sunday: </strong>The Panama Papers come out, revealing more about the role Cameron's father had as director of the Blairmore Holdings.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Monday:</strong> The prime minister's spokesperson told journalists who were asking questions that it was a "private, personal matter."</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Tuesday: </strong>A journalist asks Cameron whether he has, does or will benefit from offshore funds. Cameron carefully answers the question by saying that he doesn't own any shares. Downing Street thought that they had done enough, saying that journalists who continued to ask questions needed "to put up or shut up. The prime minister has put out a very clear statement." </p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Wednesday: </strong>Downing Street <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/apr/06/david-cameron-and-family-will-not-gain-from-offshore-funds-in-future">says that</a> Cameron and his family won't benefit from offshore funds in the future.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Thursday: </strong>Cameron says that he and is wife used to have shares in an offshore fund.</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Britain's opposition and the Scottish National Party have both called out the "hypocrisy" of Cameron's involvement in the fund and his delay in admitting to owning shares. </span></p><p>SNP economy spokesman Stewart Hosie MP <a href="http://stv.tv/news/uk/1349164-exclusive-david-cameron-admits-he-did-have-a-stake-in-his-fathers-offshor/">has been saying</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">David Cameron says he doesn't have anything to hide, yet had it not been for the Panama Papers leak we would have been none the wiser - and even then it has taken him several days to clarify he benefited from his father's off-shore trust.</p><p>And here is what Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-35992167">has been saying</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"The time has come for David Cameron to put the record straight rather than having details dragged from him in instalments.... It feels like the prime minister is governing from the shadows in this announcement today. That he's been withholding personal information that he feels personal shame about."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/republican-candidates-pledge-support-nominee-trump-cruz-kasich-2016-3">Republicans are walking back on a pledge and it could cost them the general election</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="trYjFnMjE6KdaP1ajmBxfKf00AgP1Q0e" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

David Cameron will publish his tax returns after admitting he profited from his dad's offshore fund

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Scott Olson/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Bernie Sanders.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign exchanged some of their fiercest blows yet on Wednesday and Thursday as the Democratic presidential primary heats up.</p><p>The focal point of the brouhaha was Sanders linking Clinton to the Panama Papers scandal and implying that she wasn't qualified for the presidency.</p><p>In response, Clinton's team tore into Sanders and claimed that he had reached a "new low."</p><p>The Sanders campaign announced Wednesday night that it was responding in kind to Clinton's "attempt to portray him as unqualified for the White House." The Sanders press release linked to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/04/06/clinton-questions-whether-sanders-is-qualified-to-be-president/">a Washington Post story</a> titled, "Clinton questions whether Sanders is qualified to be president."</p><p>Sanders then connected Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, to a Panamanian free-trade agreement, dubbed by the Sanders camp as "a trade pact exploited by wealthy individuals and profitable corporations to avoid paying taxes." On Sunday, the massive Panama Papers document leak revealed how wealthy individuals used a Panamanian law firm to avoid paying taxes.</p><p>The Vermont senator came out swinging.</p><p>"I don't think you are qualified if you supported the Panama free-trade agreement, something I very strongly opposed, which has made it easier for wealthy people and corporations all over the world to avoid paying taxes owed to their countries," Sanders said in the Wednesday press release, which quoted him at a rally.</p><p>Sanders also criticized Clinton and her super PAC for taking money from Wall Street banks and special-interest groups, for voting in favor of going to war in Iraq, and supporting other free-trade agreements.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Brian Killian/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Hillary Clinton.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Though Sanders insisted he was only responding to Clinton questioning his own qualifications for the Oval Office, her campaign stressed that she never personally made that argument.</p><p>Instead, Clinton <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-wall-street-interview-2016-4">said </a>Sanders "hadn't done his homework" on banking policy and questioned whether he could deliver on his campaign promises to better the US economy.</p><p>"Really what it goes to is for voters to ask themselves: Can he deliver what he is talking about? Can he really help people? Can he help our economy? Can he keep our country strong?," Clinton said Wednesday.</p><p>In a series of Wednesday-night tweet, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon defended his candidate and criticized Sanders for calling her unqualified:</p><p>At a press conference on Thursday morning, Sander sought to downplay his comments about Clinton and said she was the one who threw the first punch. He said he wanted to talk about policy differences and not the qualifications debate.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-rant-hillary-clinton-2016-4">Watch Bernie Sanders rant on why Hillary Clinton isn't qualified to be president</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="c3NDZuMjE6ZzCrO8s_l3KeQSN1B428_u" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Bernie Sanders unloads on Hillary Clinton: 'I don't think you are qualified ...'

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div>An unknown group managed to steal and publish online over 400GB worth of data from the Italian "Hacking Team," the firm behind one of the most commonly used surveillance tools in the world.<p>The stolen data appeared on BitTorrent over the weekend and includes a wealth of information, including the source code of some of Hacking Team's products, email messages, audio recordings, and client details.</p><p>The unknown attackers added insult to injury by hijacking control of <a href="https://twitter.com/hackingteam" title="Hacking Team">Hacking Team's Twitter account</a> and using it to tweet screenshots of stolen emails.</p><p>Hacking Team is responsible for several tools used in government surveillance, including the DaVinci software. The software&#xa0;is commonly viewed as "legal malware" by security experts and is a key reason <a href="http://surveillance.rsf.org/en/hacking-team/" title="Reporters without borders">Hacking Team is listed as an "enemy of the Internet" by activist group Reporters Without Borders</a>.</p><p>"Hacking Team's 'DaVinci' Remote Control System is able to break encryption and allow law enforcement agencies to monitor encrypted files and emails, Skype and other Voice over IP or chat communication," according to the Reporters Without Borders advisory on DaVinci.</p><p>"It allows identification of the target's location and relationships. It can also remotely activate microphones and cameras on a computer and works worldwide."</p><p><a href="https://securelist.com/blog/research/64215/adobe-flash-player-0-day-and-hackingteams-remote-control-system/" title="Adobe Flash Player 0-day and HackingTeam's Remote Control System">DaVinci's infamy rose in 2013</a>&#xa0;when security company Kaspersky published evidence hackers, believed to be state-sponsored, were using the software to spy on political activists from the Middle East.</p><p>At the time of publishing, the hackers were still leaking information online. The hackers have already leaked information regarding requests and payment information from customers in a variety of locations.</p><p>Key locations include the United States, Russia, Germany, Australia, Italy, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, Sudan, Mexico, Panama, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.</p><p>Privacy activist Christopher Soghoian has reported finding a more comprehensive leaked file containing a spreadsheet detailing all Hacker Team's existing government customers.</p><div><div></div></div><p>Business Insider was working to confirm this claim at the time of publishing and&#xa0;will update this article as new information appears.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bmw-i8-hybrid-review-test-drive-specs-2015-6">BMW made the first hybrid you won't be embarrassed to be seen driving</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="AxaWtndTpcVX4wDTKSWkDYOO7uFhNrt3" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "tweets on panama leaks" and got 8 results

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A mystery group stole 400GB of data detailing which governments are using Italian software to spy on people