HEY HEY, EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY RASPUTIN NOW

                                                   Under my Thumb by COSIMO

 

This is a Parable for every ambitious schoolboy who wants to rule the world. As a boy he knew instinctively that he wanted to rise to the top of the pyramid, but he also knew he wasn't much of a backstabber, and that was a necessary trait to stay on top. He knew he was too weak to wield the knife.

Fortunately, his path was  paved by a cooperating foreign supporter who only wanted  permission to make obscene profits in his domain, and he readily agreed. The appropriate assistance was rendered, and soon he had the title, and all the trappings of power.

There was just one problem, who would perform all the dirty acts needed so that he could stay at the top of the heap ? Enter his personal Rasputins, individuals who would stay in the proverbial shadows, whilst pulling the appropriate strings, and disposing of the victims as and when necessary.

He ended up with three such very capable, and thoroughly amoral, individuals in his toolbox.

 First, a right-hand man not afraid to do anything, if it was necessary to achieve his master's goals, including the elimination of threats, "with extreme prejudice, " to revive an old term from the war in Vietnam. 

Second, a person not afraid to employ his Mafia Associate image to intimidate, and overcome, obstacles, even if it meant going outside the law to do that. Ruthless might be an understatement for his virtues.

                                               I'll make him an Offer he Cannot...  by COSIMO

Third, a technician to perform such tricks and stunts that required what we like to call Special Qualifications. he thought of himself as a technocrat, but he was, in truth and in fact, a fixer.

When taken, together, these modern-day Rasputins, while controlling of our hero,  were extremely competent, and therefore effective on a high level. Their assistance, in tandem, worked very well for a long time until it didn't. 

One day, they ventured into forbidden territory, from which they could not come back, and it cost him his job, and probably his future. Like a fish out of water, he struggled to breathe, but his condition was terminal. At the end, he realized that his facilitators, while on a mission on his behalf, were out of control and sealed his fate. He wondered why he had ever nursed such ambitions in the first place, but then he was gone and would not be missed.

 

                                        "The Wages of Sin is ...  by COSIMO
 

If you had to break windows on your journey, sooner or later you will be cut.

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This article is a work of fiction; any similarity or resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental. The caricatures that illustrate it are also fictional, and not intended to portray or depict any person, living or dead, and any similarities are completely coincidental.

CARIBBEAN FINANCIAL REGULATOR APPEALS TEN YEAR SENTENCE HANDED DOWN BY US COURT

 

Leroy King, Antigua's lead financial regulatory authority executive, has filed a Notice of Appeal from the 120-month sentence imposed by a US District Judge in the Stanford International Bank case. King had entered a guilty plea to a pair of Obstruction of Justice counts, avoiding a potential Life Sentence had he chosen to go to trial, but he appears to have received the maximum sentence from the Court.

He is believed to have cooperated with US law enforcement agencies, but it is not known which present or former Antigua and Dominica government officials and PEPs he has implicated. He is known to be seriously ill, and is not thought to be able to survive his sentence. Whether he will live to testify is a open question.

DID MALTA'S PRIME MINISTER AID THE RUSSIANS IN THEIR INTERFERENCE WTH THE 2016 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS ?

 

As we have been reviewing the findings of fact contained in the Mueller Report, regarding the role of the Maltese academic Joseph Mifsud, now missing in action, and factoring in both his close relationship with former Prime minister Joseph Muscat in 2016, when the Russian intelligence services were actively interfering, in a number of ways, with the US Presidential campaign and election, and the fact that pending investigative matters were redacted, we ask aloud what involvement did then-PM Muscat play in the Russian scheme to destroy Hillary Clinton, and elect Trump. Des his name appear in the classified version of the Report ?

Muscat, known to his detractors as a "Champagne Socialist," meaning a politician espousing Socialist views, but quietly (and covertly) accumulating personal substantial wealth, through corrupt means, all the while publicly subscribing to an agenda that devotes all resources to the greater good, opposed Malta's Membeship in the European Union, though he later took a lucrative EU position in Brussels. His Labour Party, since the time of its early leader Dom Mintoff, followed the official Neutrality stance in the Cold War, while maintaining close relationships with the Communist dictatorships in the East. Muscat has shown that his perspective is not Pro-West; he has been involved in dodgy matters with Russia to line his pockets, and add to his offshore wealth.

The number of Russian nationals who hold Malta's IIM (Citizenship by Investment) passports is believed to be substantial; Russian account holders at the now-closed Pilatus Bank, where they maintained substantial deposits, are known to have been in close contact with Joseph Muscat; their role in Malta  remains unknown.

Was Muscat paid by Russia to assist Mifsud, as well as Russian intelligence agents inside Malta ? A new investigation, which began in late January, continues to probe the extent of Muscat's role in Mifsud's efforts to deliver information from Russian sources to the 2016 Trump Campaign. We will be following this matter as it unfolds, and report back to our readers.

US FOILS EFFORTS TO FREE MARTINELLI'S SONS IN GUATEMALA, SOUGHT HERE ON MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES

 

Authorities in Guatemala have seized a private aircraft that flew in from Panama, reportedly carrying the wife of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal, and a wife of one of his sons, who were seeking to free Martinelli's two sons, being held while they fight extradition to the United States. Confidential sources have indicated that the seizure of the aircraft was carried out on the orders of the United States.

LUIS ENRIQUE MARTINELLI and RICARDO ALBERTO MARTINELLI, who face Money Laundering Conspiracy charges in the Eastern District of New York, are in custody in Guatemala since 2020, based upon an INTERPOL warrant issued by the US. They are being held in the Mariscal Zavala military prison, in Guatemala City.

                                    Ricardo Martinelli and his sons,  Luis and Ricardo Alberto.

 They are accused of receiving $28m in bribes and kickbacks from the Brazilian construction company ODEBRECHT, to be funneled to their father, so that the company would receive lucrative construction contracts in the Republic of Panama.

According to nonpublic sources in Panama, the bizjet seized, N799RM, contained cash that was allegedly intended to be used to bribe government officials, to accomplish their illegal release, after which they were to be flown to Panama, whose laws forbid extradition of Panamanian nationals. The brothers were previously arrested in Miami for immigration violations, and released upon $1m bail each. They later absconded.

DIDN'T PILATUS BANK'S AMERICAN ATTORNEYS READ THE LAST COURT ORDER ?

                                    Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad and Pilatus Bank
 

 

Counsel for Pilatus Bank, which is continuing to seek to obtain Discovery from the former Competent Person (Administrator) who was charged with winding up the bank's affairs after it lost its license, apparently either doesn;' understand, or does not wish to abide by the Court's last order, which dismissed the case if service was not timely effected. The attorneys have today, March 1, submitted an Order on Motion to Extend Time.  Can't they see that the Court never signed the order they submitted back on January 21 ? 

We trust that they are not trying to finesse a resuscitation of a case that was ordered dismissed if no service was accomplished by the Court-imposed deadline.  Will someone please advise Sadr that it is no longer active, and most likely must be refiled. 

WHAT WAS MALTA'S ROLE WITH RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE IN THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION ?

Note to Readers: We have updated this story, due to the progress of events in ongoing investigations.

Ranking Member Devin Nunes, of the Select Committee on Intelligence of the US Congress, wrote this letter , to the heads of State, CIA, NSA and FBI, inquiring about Joseph Mifsud, linked in the Mueller report to Malta, and said to be an agent of the Russian intelligence services. Look at his long and close affiliation with Malta and its government, where he has previously served in its Ministry of Foreign Affairs.We have recently detailed Mifsud's central role, as revealed in the Mueler Report.

 How does Malta figure into the Special Counsel's investigation ? Do any Russian intelligence officers involved in the efforts to disrupt the 2020 US Presidential Election hold Citizenship by Investment (CBI) passports issued by Malta ? Does Mifsud have one ? We trust that the renewed investigation uncovers the answers, as well as where Joseph Muscat figures in.

MUELLER REPORT : JOSEPH MIFSUD OF MALTA LIED TO THE FBI ABOUT HIS WORK FOR RUSSIA

What you are seeing above is a page taken from the Mueller Report on Russian interference in the 2016  American Presidential Election. It clearly shows that Maltese Professor Joseph Mifsud lied to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Mifsud concealed the extent of his conversations with George Papadoupolous, the content of their conversations, and subsequent meetings they had together. 

It is a felony to make a false statement to the FBI, in connection with a federal investigation, with a maximum penalty of five years in Federal Prison; should he be located, it is possible that he will be charged.

 

There may be an additional reason why Mifsud perjured himself when he was interviewed by the Bureau; the next entry in the Mueller Report was totally redacted in the unclassified version that was released to the public. It is information about another individual whose identify was concealed, due to the fact that it has to do with Grand Jury material, which is by law secret, unless and until it is entered into evidence in a criminal trial.

 We cannot determine the name of that target, and whether he was working directly with Joseph Mifsud, but the proximity of that entry to Mifsud and Papadoupolous in the Report strongly suggests that there is a link. Whether he is Joseph Muscat, and whether Mifsud hid his relationship with him from the FBI, remains an open question that we hope to answer in the future.

 

 

FASHION HOUSES IN ITALY CONTINUE TO FACILITATE MALTA'S MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEMES

                                         Anger Management Candidate by COSIMO
 

 We have been receiving a number of reader inquiries from Northern Italy regarding our article entitled Another Clue explains Italy's Focus on Malta Money Laundering (October 7, 2020), and asking for more details about the subject. Given that Fashion House money laundering continues unabated, perhaps a masterclass is in order.

 To begin with, money laundering through retail is pretty straightforward:   

(1) You take your criminal profits and integrate them into the legitimate receipts of a retail business by depositing them into the business accounts as sales.

(2) You grossly inflate profits after you dissolve the dirty money into the pool of good money, creating additional records to cover the supposed receipt of that money as sales.

(3) You pay taxes on the new total, and, having cleaned the proceeds of crime, repeat the process.

(4) If you are really ambitious, having the wealth, you now look to acquire power to protect it, by making political contributions, publicly donating to worthy charities, and participating in "giving back" to those in the community most in need. You may even run for public office.  

                                                 Borderline Personality  by COSIMO

Of course, this scheme depends upon a cooperating and reliable source of finished goods, in this case, Italian fashion houses that will (A) falsify invoices to increase the amount of inventory you bought from them, and (2) allow you to  greatly increase the retail prices, which facilitates the laundering of even more dirty money. We are talking about high-end Ready-to-Wear, not Au Couture, which are goods custom made to order by craftsmen in their studios, and thus not amenable to bulk shipping for units to the retail store.

Certain fashion houses and individuals residing in Northern Italy have been closely monitoring this blog, and were particularly interested in our articles about money laundering through fashion. We have previously reported at length on this subject, and the interest taken of late by Italian investigators.

To add to the mix, we now have a report that an individual holding diplomatic status and senior diplomatic rank has assisted in the payment phase of the scheme.As you know diplomats may pass through international borders without submitting to Customs inspection, and we are advised that this loophole has been repeatedly exploited by laundrymen and their associates.

                                                      End Stage  by COSIMO

Given that many of the participants in the scheme appear to be powerful Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), we do not expect it to be terminated by arrest and prosecution, with rare exceptions.

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All drawings and caricatures are works of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

WHO WILL RECEIVE THE NEXT WHISPER OF DEATH IN THE MICRO STATE ?

 

 

                                     How Sad,  Fearless Leader must Resign by COSIMO

Sometimes truth is far stranger than fiction, or appears to be more like a B grade crime movie. Please follow this Parable. A crusading investigative journalist is knocking on the door, and about to write about massive corruption in connection with a major utility. The recipients of illegal payments, fearing exposure, form a criminal conspiracy, the sole purpose of which is to eliminate the threat, permanently and efficiently, through violence.

The country's corrupt Prime Minister, whose closet contains more financial skeletons than he can count, and without whose approval nothing happens in his small nation, is at a reception at a luxurious hotel. A close associate, of ministerial level, approaches. He delivers the Whisper of Death into the PMs ear. They will assassinate the journalist.

                                                   Dark and Darker  by COSIMO

The prime minister promptly faints dead away, and must be revived by his frantic aides. Two days later, the investigative journalist's car, with her inside, explodes due to a car bomb's detonation. The PM desperately seeks to distance himself from the public outcry, but must eventually resign in disgrace, as several of the suspects are close associates. 

Years later, as evidence begins to point in his direction, the former prime minister wonders whether his successor will soon receive the next Whisper of Death, and another individual, or even he himself, will be the target.

                                                       Two faced  by COSIMO ________________________________________________________________

Note to readers: This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons,living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental.

 

 

READ HOW MALTA'S JOSEPH MIFSUD DOMINATES THE MUELLER REPORT

 

Inasmuch as most people have not read the Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, more commonly known as the Mueller Report, we are attaching several of the relevant pages, so that our readers may understand Joseph Mifsud's importance in the efforts of Russia to work with the Trump Campaign, and to produce information intended to interfere in the 2016 US Presidential Election. 

Bear in mind that the publicly-released edition of the report is only the unclassified version. There were numerous redactions, all of which were made for specific purposes, and which were identified by type, so the public would understand why there were so many blacker-out paragraphs, names and dates. Each redacted section is labeled with one of these categories:

(1) Revealing information would harm an ongoing matter. Think pending criminal investigations of other targets. At the time the report was drafted, we know that there was at least one ongoing investigation of Maltese nationals, and their interaction with American nationals and residents.

(2) Disclosing certain information would reveal investigative techniques. Think Sources and Methods.

(3) The information would reveal private information of third-party individuals. Think innocent third parties not involved in any criminal activities, or activities deemed to violate US laws.

(4) The information was obtained from Grand Jury testimony. Such testimony is secret by law. 

 

                                                  Gone but not Forgotten by COSIMO 
 

Remember that there may be indirect connections that implicate individuals in massive criminal conspiracies, although they may only be in contact with one individual, and even if their involvement might be extremely limited, the law imputes liability to them for the entire criminal enterprise that they contributed to. Given the extensive redactions, we have no further information available regarding which additional individuals from Malta participated in Muscat's operation, the goal of which was to assist the campaign through Russian assistance, including the delivery of evidence damaging to the campaign of Hillary Clinton. Targets of other criminal investigations are redacted.

One source has calculated that 7.25% of the material is redacted. Our point is that, given we know that there is a newly-opened criminal investigation into Malta targets, involving Joseph Muscat and certain of his associates, the former Prime Minister may have been named in the classified version of the Report.

Take the time to review these entries:

 

                                    NOTE: 'HARM TO ONGOING MATTER.

    NOTE: NAMES REDACTED

INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUE/HARM TO ONGOING MATTER

PILATUS BANK ASKS FOR ADDITIONAL TIME TO RESPOND IN ITS AMERICAN DISCOVERY REQUEST TO ADMINISTRATOR

                                      Pilatus Bank officers at a bank awards ceremony
 

 

 Counsel for Pilatus Bank, having received what they admit is an extensive response from the attorneys for the Lawrence Connell, the Competent Person, who was the designated administrator of the bank after its license was cancelled by the European Central Bank, have asked for additional time to reply on the merits. They have asked for an extension until March 29, representing that counsel has advised there is no opposition.

The problem may be that the Court ordered the case dismissed if service of process could not be effectuated by a deadline date, and this did not occur. A proposed order, based upon stipulation allowing Lawrence Connell's counsel for additional time to reply to the Petition was never signed, and it remains to be seen whether it is no longer pending. It may just be a long shot by Pilatus' counsel, hoping that the Court will allow it to continue.

 

 

JOSEPH MIFSUD, MALTESE ACADEMIC LINKED TO RUSSIA, TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND JOSEPH MUSCAT REMAINS MIA

 

 

                                                Missing in Action ?  by COSIMO

Joseph Mifsud, the mysterious Maltese academic who is believed to have been the connection between Russian Intelligence and the 2016 Presidential Campaign of Donald Trump, and who has been missing for more than two years, has reportedly become the subject of a new investigation into that covert relationship, initiated since the Biden Administration came into office in January. There was apparently  an unofficial freeze on any inquiry, originating from Trump political appointees, who did not want the extent of the link to be exposed. One very senior Trump campaign official has been specifically mentioned as the possible recipient of the Russian information; the confirmation of his identity would have had a major impact upon the Trump Administration.

Readers who are not familiar with the origins of the story are referred to our first article,  The Two Josephs, Muscat and Mifsud, and a Mysterious Russian Whistleblower,  January 9. 2021.  use the Search Box above to locate the article.

To add to the reach of this new investigation, the role played by former Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who was close to Mifsud, and may have facilitated the Russian connection through his contacts, is now a component of the inquiry. Muscat's relationship with Russian nationals, particularly those who had accounts at Pilatus Bank, and who were therefore in a position to quietly pay bribes and kickbacks in Malta, for favors and referrals that were within Muscat's power to grant, remain an open question. 

                                           Spy vs. Spy ?  by COSIMO

Though some authorities claims that Mifsud was most certainly murdered, to keep him for disclosing details of information passed from Russian intelligence agencies to political operatives in the Trump Campaign, his remains have never been found. Additionally, the peculiar surfacing of his passport abroad,  while possible a plant to throw off American investigators who were pursuing him,  failed to put the matter to rest. Is he really just living anonymously in Italy ?

                                              Dead on Arrival ?  by COSIMO      

Where on Earth is Joseph Mifsud ? Until we answer that question, his role in the Trump-Russia-Muscat triamgle will remain an unsolved mystery. We hope the new investigation answers that question.