A car bomb took the life of the “one-woman Wikileaks” whose writing was central to the 2016 Panama Papers leak on Monday, according to a report in the Washington Post.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, was a Maltese journalist who helped uncover corrupt European officials implicated by the papers. According to reports, she was killed when her personal vehicle exploded outside of her home.
The Panama Papers were documents leaked in 2015 from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law and business services firm, revealing personal financial information about public officials and wealthy individuals.
The papers revealed that some Mossack Fonseca affiliates were shell companies used for fraud, tax evasion and evasion of international regulations. Caruana Galizia’s writing linked several Maltese officials, including both the wife and chief of staff of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, as well as Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, to the firm and its subsidiaries, according to the Washington Post.
The Muscats have denied Caruana Galizia’s allegations, while Mizzi acknowledged a financial relationship with the Panamanian firm while denying any wrongdoing.
A Mediterranean island, Malta is often used as an offshore tax haven and as a transfer point for moving money across international borders. In recent years, it has also become a financial services hub.
In recent weeks, Caruana Galizia reportedly used her “Running Commentary” blog to investigate the Maltese political opposition, declaring that “there are crooks everywhere you look.”
According to the Washington Post report, European investigators arrived in Malta on Tuesday to help investigate Caruana Galizia’s death. In the meantime, Maltese have held protests to demand justice for her killing.
Caruana Galizia is survived by her husband and three children.