(VOVworld) – The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has already published information related to more than 200,000 offshore companies served by Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Mossack Fonseca has denied any wrongdoing, and said that on the few occasions it learned that clients were using shell companies for illicit activity it ended its relationship with them. (Photo: AFP)

The ICIJ said it decided to release a part of the “Panama Papers” database in the public interest to aid government efforts to cope with tax evasion. The searchable database, which contains company, client, and intermediary names will allow the public to explore the networks of companies and individuals who used the anonymity provided by Mossack Fonseca. The ICIJ said it will not publish the whole database, just the names of the individuals involved.

The data being released represents just a small fraction of the 11.5 million leaked files that the ICIJ has collected from German newspaper Sueddeustche Zeitung, but revealed more than 360,000 names of individuals and organizations behind anonymous companies.