Panama City, April 9 (RHC)-- The trial for 27 people charged in connection with the Panama Papers scandal began Monday in Panama City — eight years after the massive data leak. 

In 2016, an international team of journalists published millions of documents exposing how the Panama-based Mossack Fonseca law firm set up a global network of shell companies for some of the wealthiest people in the world — heads of state and other elites — to hide money offshore, avoiding taxes and oversight. 

The leak prompted the resignation of Iceland’s prime minister and implicated other world leaders, including former British Prime Minister David Cameron.  

Those currently on trial include the founders of the now-defunct Mossack Fonseca law firm.  The Panama Papers represent just a fraction of the trillions of dollars hidden away, often illegally, in offshore tax havens.