MALTA'S SORDID LOVE AFFAIR WITH COCAINE CONTINUES UNABATED

 

 Being that today is Ascension Day, with all that it entails, a moral lesson is in order.

This week's arrest of two individuals in Malta, who had five kilograms of cocaine in their possession, again reminds us of Malta's persistent, and unsolved, cocaine problem. Here in the United States, five kilos represents a red line between dealing and trafficking, and it brings with it a 5-year mandatory minimum for sentencing under Federal Law.The fact one of those in possession was an Italian national is also troublesome, for it generally confirms organized crime connections, or trafficking into the Continent of Europe was the intent.

As an international seaport of entry for the European Union, the country has a long and dark history of being a transit point for large quantities of the drug. This point is brought home again and again by major seizures by Customs, notwithstanding the rampant corruption among employees. Given the close relationship between Venezuelan organization, and Maltese money launderers, one must correctly assume that the country of origin is more often Venezuela, rather than Colombia, Ecaudor or Bolivia, the other principal "exporting" countries for the drug.

Of course, a significant portion of the cocaine is diverted, and ends up in the noses of Maltese affluent enough to afford regular use. The known daily consumers, which include prominent criminal defence attorneys, Television presenters, and politicians, support a covert distribution network, which is expanding. PL politicians have been regularly used of profiting from the local consumption of the drug.

One cocaine abuser once said it " is like flying to Paris for breakfast. " Yes, it is ego building, and it has been accused of giving its users a feeling of accomplishment and well-being, albeit temporarily, although medical evidence confirms its ability to permanently damage the body of its users, particularly the heart.The recent addition of Fentnyl, which often causes fatal overdoses, makes abuse extremely dangerous.

Malta, of course, has its own specific issues with cocaine, most notably the notorious brick of cocaine at Labour Party club, which was artfully covered up at the time by Party Deputy Leader, attorney Toni Abela, who prevented police from investigating the two Party members implicated. That affair prevented Abela from obtaining a  prominent position at the European Court of Auditors, but did not prevent him from being sworn in, in 2016 ,to become a judge, by the country's arcane and corrupt judicial selection syst

                                   Judge Abela
 

Then there's the mysterious mailing of packets of cocaine to the offices of two Nationalist Party leaders; it was assumed that the recipients would open them, and Malta's Police would magically appear and test those individuals for cocaine residue, arresting them immediately thereafter, in a contrived criminal case designed to discredit them politically at election time.

The bottom line is that cocaine use is pervasive in Malta, and it rots the moral fiber of its users, many of whom ae already engaged in criminal acts. Unless the country actually starts punishing traffickers, and naming and shaming users, it will remain a problem. 

ISRAEL HITS TWO HAMAS BANKS IN GAZA

Reports from the Middle East have confirmed that Israeli missiles have attacked the headquarters of the on of the two Hamas-controlled banks in Gaza, AL-INTAJ BANK as well as four branches of the bank. Additionally, Israeli ordinance destroyed a branch of the ISLAMIC NATIONAL BANK OF GAZA, which is sanctioned by OFAC.

 

Banks controlled by Hamas reportedly transfer funds to Hamas associates in the West Bank/Judea & Samaria via banks in Turkey, which are then used for terrorist activities inside Israel. The facilitation of terrorist activities originating in Gaza are also funded by the two banks. Therefore, it is probable that the banks' offices were intentionally targeted for destruction, as part of Israel's counter-terrorism programme.

INTERPOL TAKES A CLOSE LOOK AT MALTA'S BACKDOOR ATTACK ON ITS WHISTLEBLOWER'S HUSBAND

 

 

 If you were not aware that the world's law enforcement community is taking a hard look at Malta, think again. INTERPOL, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, has notified Maria Efimova that it has accepted the application of her husband, Pantelis Varnavas, to challenge the extradition warrant issued by the Republic of Cyprus, to extradite him on what are known to be bogus criminal charges. This is govspeak for an admission by INTERPOL that it will consider whether the charges lodged against Varnavas as purely political in nature, have no basis in fact, and should be deleted and stricken from the international agency's records, at its Commission for Control (CCF). I have seen the original document, and have verified its contents. Unfortunately, it is confidential in nature and content, and we cannot display it in the public sphere. 

It is common knowledge that the charges were filed by one corrupt government, Cyprus, to aid and assist another corrupt government, Malta, in order to force Ms. Efimova to submit to totally bogus criminal charges there. The regime in Malta needs to discredit her, after she identified Michelle Muscat, Joseph's wife, as the beneficial owner of an offshore company holding his bribe money, and they desperately need a conviction to attack her credibility.

It appears that INTERPOL will examine whether Malta files political cases as crimes, much like occurs in corrupt Banana Republics in Latin America and the Caribbean, and certainly not befitting a Member of the European Union. This is how far Malta has fallen in the eyes of the world.

 

We shall update our readers when a decision has been reached by the Secretariat to the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL Files.

HOW JOSEPH MUSCAT INSURED THAT HIS PROTECTOR BECAME PRIME MINISTER AFTER HE RESIGNED

 

                                                   Dirty Trickster  by COSIMO

 If you thought that Donald Trump and Roger Stone were the kings of dirty political tricks, they have nothing on Malta's disgraced cashiered ex-Prime minister, Joseph Muscat. When Muscat was forced to resign, after being implicated in the assassination of Malta's most prominent investigative reporter, Daphne Caruana Galizia, he had to insure that his successor would protect him from criminal charges. He not only was concerned about the Daphne investigation, but also feared being charged with money laundering, as he was cleaning his bribe & kickback income through a variety of methods in Malta.

Muscat's first choice was, of course, his legal advisor, Robert Abela, but the unofficial polls showed that the Deputy Prime Minister, Chris Fearne, was several percentage points ahead of Abela in the polls.. Therefore, JM needed to place an ally inside the Fearne campaign, to effectively sabotage it internally. Of course, he could not be seen to be interfering, or his plans would surely backfire.

 He found that individual in Glenn Bedingfield, his former advisor, and a close friend for over twenty years. Both started off as propagandists (journalists) for Labour. Both men campaigned against EU membership, but promptly went off to Brussels as MEPs after Membership was achieved. Were they opportunists ? We will let you be the judge of that.

Bedingfield then openly supported Fearne, and worked within his campaign, to torpedo it from within, which eventually resulted in Abela's selection as PM. Today, Fearne pretends that all is well internally with the Labour Party, but this could not be further from the truth. PL is adept at concealing internal discord. 

 

                                              Bedingfield Unmasked by COSIMO
 

Meanwhile, you can bet that new efforts by Fearne to again seek the premier's job in the next election will be met with a "Chinese Whisper" campaign, detailing his purported shortcomings, including but not limited to, his philandering, which is deemed unsuitable for Malta's political leaders who are married, akin to sexual harassment in a religious conservative country. 

                                                                 Chris Fearne
 

And that's how a former PM, at risk for multiple criminal charges, guaranteed that he would never have to face accountability for them; he saw that his fair-haired lawyer was selected to succeed him.

                                                                     

QATARI GOVERNMENT LETTER ORDERED PAYMENT OF $27m IN BRIBES TO FIFA OFFICIALS

 

 

An Order of Payment, appearing to be from the Government of Qatar, specifying the payment of one hundred Million Qatari Rials (approximately USD$27.75m) to fifteen FIFA officials, has again stirred up the controversy over the global football scandal. As newly discovered evidence, it may ultimately be considered the proverbial "Smoking Gun" in the FIFA bribery scandal, implicating Qatar.

Here is an accurate translation;

Youssef Hussein Kamal,  Finance & Economy Ministry

"I would like to inform you about the letter Number MRW 2009/01/62 , dated 12/02/2009, based upon the recommendations of  His Excellency Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the revered Prince of the Country, to donate money of one hundred million Qatari Rials, for fifteen members of the FIFA Executive Committee, whose names are listed on the Annex. The sum will be paid under the control of Mr. Mohammed Bin Hamman Abdallah, Chairman of the specific committee in charge of the follow-up of Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup Finals.

This letter includes instructions for the transfer of this sum to the account of Kemko Group (contracts, services and business)as a matter of urgency.

I would like to inform you that according to your instructions, the sum of 100 million Qatari Rials was transferred to the account of the aforementioned company Kemko."

YOUSSEF HUSSEIN  KAMAL

Ministry of Finance & Economy

The above document was delivered to the Anti-corruption Police of France, and Swiss authorities, this week, and is scheduled to be made public today in Europe. We also expect that US authorities have circulated it to the appropriate recipients in the Federal case in SDNY, which is on appeal to the 2nd Circuit.

The names in the Annex shall be released in the near future; stay tuned.

For further information ; https://www.blast-info.fr/articles/2021/qatar-connection-comment-le-qatar-sest-offert-la-coupe-du-monde-2022-ikgi8tVSRb6CM1gtBqd8ka

 

WILL MUSCAT'S CHIEF OF STAFF REVEAL ALL ON HIS DEATHBED ?

 

                                          KS as Cooperating Individual  by COSIMO
 

Though major media is dancing around the subject, calling it "Serious Illness" before disclosing it as terminal cancer, a term that apparently frightens the Maltese, Schembri's eye cancer has spread to his brain and spine, according to informed medical sources not afraid to speak the truth. His doctors have reportedly given him a month to live.

Keith Schembri's death will have wide-ranging consequences:

(1) The millions in unsecured loans that he has received from several banks will not be repaid. His remaining assets are all held overseas. Domestic funds have long been frozen in his money laundering case, and will probably end up being seized and forfeited.

(2) Will he give up JM on his deathbed, to insure that at least some of his assets remain in family hands ? Considering that he probably thought that Muscat, through the efforts of the current PM, Robert Abela, Muscat's protege', would shield him from arrest, he may now turn on him, to exact his revenge, in a final act of malice.

(3) What about his control of the Malta Security Services  (MSS) ? That local version of the secret police, which engages in dirty tricks, including homicide, may be disbanded, without its leader.

After Schembri is gone, JM without his second in command may be unable to command the same level of respect in Malta's underworld as he does now. Will this hasten his end ? Stay tuned.

JOSEPH MUSCAT; A MARITAL LIFE IN CHAOS DISSECTED

 

                                                         

                                                             Q by COSIMO

Our Labour Party insiders advise that the relationship between former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his estranged wife Michelle is tenuous at best. Here's what we know, after contacting both our best PL sources, as well as close friends of MM:

(1) JM is literally controlling his very unhappy wife, by threatening to withhold his fortune from her.

(2) She doesn't want to be anywhere near him.

(3) She fears she will be in the line of fire when assassins catch up to him.

(4) MM caught JM lying to her about several major issues, which we cannot disclose, lest our sources be unmasked.

(5) JM is afraid that their separation status will eventually cause him problems when criminal cases against him surface.

(6) You can see from the contrived social media postings that JM is playing the happy family, using pictures from last Summer, and posting them as if they are current. It's a obvious fiction.

The relationship, already damaged beyond repair, is about to implode.

UPDATE FROM MALTA'S WHISTLEBLOWER, MARIA EFIMOVA

 

 

                                                   Busted Flush & Checkmate by COSIMO

Given the amount of interest our readers have confirmed by the large number of hits recently on our articles regarding Maria Efimova, we are again updating you on her situation.

(1) The extradition hearing for her husband,  Pantelis Varnavas, has been set for May 21 in Crete. We have previously reported that the charges against him have no basis in fact, are completely bogus, and were obviously filed in Cyprus, by associates of Maltese leaders attempting to uses his case to force Ms. Efimova to return to Malta, where she faces politically-based charges, designed to discredit her testimony and evidence against Michelle Muscat, the estranged wife of former Malta PM Joseph Muscat.

(2) Maria has given a major interview to Greek Channel 1 ( EPT1),  concerning her personal experience as a whistleblower in Malta, and the present situation with whistleblowers in Europe. We hope to have a written translation after the interview appears.

(3) No Maltese officials have responded to Maria's outstanding offer to return to testify in Malta. She requires whistleblower status to be granted, and immunity from prosecution on the bogus charges. It appears that the voters in Malta will have to wait longer for the evidence, since the Maltese leaders refuse to agree, due to the obvious fact that it will further implicate the Muscats, as well as others.

MAJOR US LAW FIRMS AND FORECLOSURE MILLS TOOK CARES ACT MILLIONS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC WHILE BRINGING FORECLOSURE SUITS AGAINST SENIORS' MORTGAGES

 

 We call it the Law of Unintended Consequences; senior citizens, the very people that Federal Assistance was designed to keep in their homes during the COVID-19 Pandemic, were foreclosed by law firms and foreclosure mills that received CARES Act money to support their employees. According to public records, several major law firms, as well as the notorious foreclosure mill known as FAY SERVICING, all received millions of Federal Assistance dollars, ostensibly to pay their employees, all the while engaged in the lucrative business of foreclosing upon destitute senior citizens confined to their homes, and unable to pay their mortgages. Did they really needs that government money to stay open ? We doubt it.

 We are certain that the US Congress, when enacting the CARES Act, did not intend to pay the overhead ( salaries, rent, office expenses) of law firms which were earning handsome fees from foreclosing upon the same senior citizens whom lawmakers had designated their primary concern. How can seniors keep their homes, when, notwithstanding the stated goal of our government was to freeze unnecessary foreclosures, to keep seniors at risk for dying of COVID, at home and safe ? The answer is that Congress failed to anticipate law firms and lawyers engaged in foreclosing for America's banks would zealously foreclosure on defenseless senior citizens, and collective lucrative fees, while simultaneously accepting CARES Act money, to increase their profits.

 

Some of the law firms and foreclosure mills exposed in the media, after combing public records, and whistleblower websites, include:

(1) Barret Daffin Fappier Law Group (Texas): $2.5m.

(2) Wright, Findlay & Zak (California): $5,600,00.; $1,758,156.

(30 Fay Servicing LLC (Illinois) $10,000,000.

 

Where is the Department of Justice on this important issue ? Were the payments lawful ? We call on DOJ to immediately initiate an investigation, to determine whether the payments were properly made, and on examining the applications, and application process. The payments took advantage a major loophole in the law, to allow lawyers who were acting against the stated national policy, to not only foreclose, but to be supported by the US Treasury to do so. What's wrong with this picture ?

We hope and trust that these recipients will be, sooner or later, be require to disgorge their CARES Act payments, as they were inconsistent with the intent of Congress, who authorized them.

 

JUDGE WHO SIGNED THE ORDER FREEING FUNDS FOR OFAC-SANCTIONED SMUGGLER HAS A LONG AND SORDID HISTORY

 

If you were wondering why Maltese Justice Grazio Mercieca entered the order approving the disbursement of funds to accused smuggler and money launderer Darren Debono, when Debono is OFAC-sanctioned by the United States, he has a history of ruling in favour of his Labour Party, and against the Rule of Law. As soon as the article, Judge in Malta orders Release of Funds to OFAC-Sanctioned Reputed Smuggler and Money Launderer (May 11, 2021), was published, I was contacted by individuals who told tales of human and civil rights violations, and specifically of the judge entering rulings contrary to the law, and in favour of  Labour Party members.

In one case, where the individual is a known whistleblower, and an obvious threat to certain government officials, due to his first-hand knowledge of corruption, Judge Mercieca not only repeatedly entered rulings against him, but have actually threatened his ability to support himself. His anti-corruption position being well known, the individual correctly concluded that the rulings were based solely to support a political advantage, and to protect certain current or previous government officials, who wish to remove him from Malta altogether.

When the courts of a country follow the orders of political leaders, rather than the Rule of Law, such as we see in Communist China  and Russia, democracy dies. Until Malta changes its Constitution, to allow free and fair non-partisan election of qualified members of the judiciary, this corrupt pattern will continue.

 

A NEW COOPERATOR POSES A DIRECT THREAT TO THE MALTA MONEY LAUNDERERS

                                                JM: Cloud Hat and Snake Scarf by COSIMO
 

A new cooperating individual has surfaced in the Malta money laundering investigation who has sufficient first-hand knowledge of criminal activity of present and former government officials to seal their fate at any case they would take to trial is a game-changer in the case. While prudence dictates that we conceal that individual's name, this person represents the most significant threat to date, not only as a witness, but as a direct participant in major criminal activity. Their identity has appeared only in rumours.

Whoever the defence lawyers are who have been charged with representing the major targets, they must surely understand that any chance of an acquittal on money laundering charges, on any case brought outside of Malta, now must be assessed at close to zero. We trust that plea negotiations will ensure, so that they may properly serve their client's best interests, as given the many millions of dollars laundered, the probable sentences handed down after guilty jury verdicts will be Draconian. Any possible defence now by the senior targets would be not only futile, it might constitute legal malpractice, given the probable evidence available, which is believed to be overwhelming.

 The probable outcome in any US trial involving the Malta money laundering targets may now closely resemble the related Miami money laundering case, where Swiss banker Matthias Krull's testimony, or availability to testify, was responsible for several guilty pleas. Though obviously there are other factors, including the egos and personalities of some of the targets, which may affect whether other Malta players initially cooperate, it appears that we probably won't see a public trial, in America, of the individuals who moved hundreds of millions of dollars through Malta.

FEDERAL JUDGE DISMISSES PILATUS BANK AMERICAN CASE, REMOVING MALTAS EXCUSE FROM BRINGING CRIMINAL CHARGES

 

A District Judge in New Hampshire has put an end to Pilatus Bank owner Ali Sadr Hashi Nejad's attempt to secure Discovery from Lawrence Connell, the former Competent Person (Administrator) in charge of winding down Pilatus, after the European Central Bank cancelled its banking license. 

Pilatus, which claimed that the evidence it sought to obtain from Connell would assist it in reinstating its operating license, and in a potential civil suit against the ECB for damages, failed to satisfy the statutory requirements to obtain Discovery. In a 32-page opinion, the Court detailed the deficiencies in Pilatus' Amended Petition, most of which it previously enumerated in the order responding to the original Petition. You can find its treatment of those issues in an article which previously appeared in this Blog, entitled Is Pilatus Bank Petition a backhanded way to Obtain Discovery in Expected Miami or Malta Criminal Case ?

Regular readers of our running commentary on this unusual case know that we have been extremely critical of the way the case was managed by Pilatus counsel, due to obvious fact that the bank's arguments in the Petition, and the Amended Petition, failed to show that it was entitled to the requested relief . 

Now that the case is closed, Malta's Police, who have unofficially stated that they were not bringing any criminal charges against the Pilatus Bank officers and directors for money laundering, so long as the US case was pending, no longer have that as as excuse; they must now act, or be exposed as corrupt, and under the influence of the same individuals that they are required to arrest and charge. We trust that the appropriate pressure will now be exerted by the people of Malta against their elected officials, to see that justice is done regzrding Pilatus Bank's money launderers.

a final note; The Order dismissing the case ruled that costs incurred by the Respondent, Lawrence Connell, will be taxed against the bank. This means that Pilatus must pay Connell's costs in the case.

JUDGE IN MALTA ORDERS RELEASE OF FUNDS TO OFAC-SANCTIONED REPUTED SMUGGLER AND MONEY LAUNDERER

A court in the Republic of Malta, pointedly ignoring the fact that the individual seeking to have access to funds was not only a suspected smuggler and money launderer, but is sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), ordered their release by a subsidiary of HSBC, HSBC Life Assurance. This action potentially exposes HSBC, the parent company, to "serious implications" (costly sanctions) in the United States, an issue which was brought up by the country's financial regulator, the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), but disregarded by the Court for obvious political reasons.

                                                               Justice Mercieca
 

The presiding judge, Grazio Mercieca, an appointee of the ruling Labour Party. appears to have disregarded both the principles of Comity, as well as diplomatic common sense, as Malta's previous less than satisfactory interaction between Prime Minister Robert Abela, and the then-US Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, certainly left the relationship between the two nations in a poor state. Abela reportedly retreated from an implicit promise of an agreement regarding the status of US military forces in Malta, after the US official traveled, with a large entourage, to meet him in person.

 

HSBC, which has a long history of issues with American regulators, will now be placed in a difficult position; whether to obey a court ruling in Malta, where it also does business, or to rely upon the OFAC sanction. Either way, there will be consequences. 

This could not have come at a worse time for Malta, which is just now exposing massive corruption and financial crime, and whose senior officials are expecting to be indicted in the United States any day now, if it hasn't already occurred. The judge based his ruling upon Maltese sovereignty, which was clearly the wrong decision at the wrong time. How HSBC will respond to the order is not known.

WE KEEP WARNING MALTA, BUT NOBODY'S LISTENING

                                    The Devil pushes Malta off the High Wire by COSIMO
 

 Time after time, this blog has reported on specific corruption, money laundering and financial crimes being committed by Cabinet-level officials of the Government of Malta, before any other media, and our information has been met with either disbelief or derision. Whether it is Carmelo Abela, Chris Cardona, Joseph Muscat, Michelle Muscat, or any one of a dozen others, we have, exclusively, exposed their vile deeds and acts, long before you read it anywhere else.

We trust that you read our March 18 article, We warned our readers about the Key cards Weeks Ago .

 

Unfortunately, the criminal conduct has continued unabated and without any meaningful response. Just this morning, a reader wondered aloud why Joseph Muscat, disgraced and shamed, continues to have government-paid security, and why nobody in public office has raised this issue in Parliament. The people are paying for this criminal's security detail, so that he may escape accountability for his evil past.

                                                  The Face of the Enemy by COSIMO

                                                     

Thomas Jefferson said "The people elect the government they deserve." When voters continue to reelect a thoroughly corrupt government, because they are sharing in the proceeds of the corruption, then they may not complain when it results in a failed state. Since the people will not clean up Malta, someone else must, regretfully, do so, but to do so there will be a lot of what we call unintended consequences. 

Will the last honest person leaving Malta remember to turn out the lights ? 

                                             Carmelo loses his footing  by COSIMO

RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE, MALTA'S DISGRACED FORMER PRIME MINISTER FEARS ASSASSINATION

                                         His Sins keep Pulling him Back by COSIMO
 

 

In what can only be described as karma, Malta's cashiered Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat remains in hiding, seeking to avoid assassins reportedly hired to keep him from testifying against his organized crime  partners. Muscat's associates in the underworld know that, once in custody, he will seek to barter his knowledge of Malta's money laundering machine for a reduced sentence, and witness protection. The most senior government official to be linked to the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia is now himself a target of Malta's well-oiled assassination business. Call it payback, in a currency he understands.

One source has asserted that his estranged wife, Michelle, has been advised by friends to cooperate, even if that means implicating her husband and her friends, to save herself years in prison, far away from their children, who are rumoured to have been sent to an international boarding school favoured by dictators.  Since her prominent role in a fashion industry money laundering scheme, to clean her husband's bribes and kickbacks, was made public, she knows that there will be no happy ending to her story unless she becomes useful to the authorities. 

Muscat has been self-medicating, to cope with the stress he has told others he is suffering from, and his mental condition has been described as unstable. Sooner or later, either law enforcement or those who wish to impose a more permanent penalty will catch up to him, and the outcome, either way, will be ugly.