The criminal trial has begun in a Panamanian court of 27 employees of law firm Mossack Fonseca who face money laundering charges at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal following the leak of 11.5 million files in 2016.

Eight years ago, financial records leaked by law firm Mossack Fonseca sparked an international outcry over the use of offshore companies by wealthy individuals to commit tax fraud and hide assets.

In 2016, files from Mossack Fonseca were leaked to journalists from the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with the US-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Journalists from more than 100 media outlets worked together to investigate the 11.5 million records.

The company’s founders, Jürgen Mossack and Ramón Fonseca Mora, are among those facing charges.

Both have denied the charges against them, arguing they had no control over the offshore companies the firm set up for its clients. If convicted they could face up to 12 years in prison.

According to the Associated Press, Mossack attended the hearing to plead not guilty, telling reporters outside the courtroom that he was “very hopeful.”

Following the scandal, Panama adopted new legislation in 2019 modernizing the country’s money laundering legal framework. This development may complicate the case as some of the charges against Mossack Fonseca employees relate to activities that preceded the change in the law.

Panama’s highest court previously ruled that the creation of shell companies used for tax fraud is not a crime if the companies in question were created before 2019.