MALTA'S TOTAL LACK OF DUE DILIGENCE UPON KNOWN CROATIAN FRAUDSTER RESULTS IN VICTIMS IN BOTH GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE SECTORS

White Flag planting ceremony

The White Flags in Malta scandal, which was allegedly to support a plastic-free marine environment on Malta's beaches, demonstrates that the government does absolutely nothing to vett an individual who arrived with a scheme that involved the donation of €200,000, and made promises that he failed to keep. The beaches were never cleaned by the project.

The Croatian fraudster, Kristijan Curavic, who charged €25,000 to sponsors, per beach, has not only been accused of fraud, he was a wanted man in his native Croatia at the time he kicked off the White Flag program in Malta. It seems that he bilked victims out of money for a "South Pole" project in Croatia, which was a total scam, and did not result in any action. A simple due diligence inquiry, by the Government of Malta, would have unmasked the fraudster Curavic. It is especially egregious that government finds were also donated, as well as from the private sector. We wonder whether anyone in the Cabinet received a bribe or kickback to support the fraud.

If Malta, whom we trust to conduct enhanced due diligence upon all its Individual Investor Program applicants, cannot even perform a basic due diligence check upon a foreign national who is seeking large donations from government for a private project, then how can we ever trust the supposed IIP due diligence it says it performs ? For this reason alone, ALL Malta IIP passports should be regarded s high-risk, when encountered by bankers, customs agents, or investors abroad.