An international collection of journalists published a report Sunday on the financial activities of a dozen current and former world leaders that said associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin have moved as much as $2 billion through offshore accounts.

The report is based on a data leak of 11.5 million records for 214,488 entities connected to people in more than 200 countries or territories.

The leak includes emails, financial spreadsheets, passport information and corporate records. It spans nearly 40 years, from 1977 through the end of 2015.

The records came from a Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca & Co. The firm specializes in setting up companies that allow businesses and individuals to move money offshore and has offices in 35 cities around the world, including in Hong Kong, Miami and Zurich.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists produced the report along with the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other news organizations.

“In the largest media collaboration ever undertaken, journalists working in more than 25 languages dug into Mossack Fonseca’s inner workings and traced the secret dealings of the law firm’s customers around the world,” the report said. “They shared information and hunted down leads generated by the leaked files using corporate filings, property records, financial disclosures, court documents and interviews with money laundering experts and law-enforcement officials.”

The consortium said it will release the full list of companies and individuals identified in the data in early May.

Many people use the offshore world for legitimate purposes, to set up legal tax shelters or clear the way for international business deals. U.S. citizens are allowed to move money offshore, but they must report the account information to the Internal Revenue Service. Disclosure laws vary around the world.

The consortium’s report stressed that “most of the services of the offshore industry are legal if used by the law abiding. But the documents show that banks, law firms and other offshore players have often failed to follow legal requirements that they make sure their clients are not involved in criminal enterprises, tax dodging or political corruption.”

In a statement to the consortium, Mossack Fonseca said it “does not foster or promote illegal acts.” The firm said “allegations that we provide shareholders with structures supposedly designed to hide the identity of the real owners are completely unsupported and false.”

Mossack Fonseca also said it follows “both the letter and spirit of the law. Because we do, we have not once in nearly 40 years of operation been charged with criminal wrongdoing.”

The firm declined to discuss individual cases “to maintain client confidentiality.”

The report said an analysis of the leaked documents found that more than 500 banks and their affiliates have worked with Mossack Fonseca since the 1970s to help clients manage offshore companies.

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