WILL MALTA NOW SEEK TO EXTRADITE ALI SADR HASHEMINEJAD, AND WILL THE U.S. REFUSE ?

A reminder that there was a time when Malta followed the Rule of Law.

The blunt truth is that the Republic of Malta should have charged Pilatus Bank owner and CEO Ali Sadr Hasheminejad with a number of felonies, including money laundering, but the abjectly corrupt and dysfunctional legal system in place in Valletta, under the thumb of political leaders whose involvement may come to light, has thus far declined to charge him. Now that, Ali Sadr appears to have secured a "Get-out-of-Jail Card," most likely due to his cooperation in a major narcotics trafficking matter, why can't Malta wake up and take action ?

Though the full extent of the money laundering of the proceeds of corruption, by Politically Exposed Persons (PEs) from Asia and the Middle East, has never been made public, Maltese regulators doubtless have sufficient evidence to take on Ali Sadr. The question is, who in Malta has the political intestinal fortitude to do so. Given the absolute disgust that Maltese have towards their government's failure to bring criminal charges against all the guilty parties involved, political motives, and a desire to remain in office, may serve to push those in power, as a means of self-preservation, to indict Ali Sadr; Stranger things have happened in Malta.

Now, assuming that a request for extradition is delivered t the United States, will America comply ? Whatever the sordid backroom deals that Ali Sadr and his co-defendant, Bahram Karimi, have made to avoid justice, will their Substantial Assistance, in some major narcotics investigation, be so important than the US says no ? We certainly want to see justice served, even if it is in a faraway prison, though the US Department of Justice's track record of late leaves much to be desired, and it may not happen. Send this Iranian sanctions evader to Malta, please, because that case could spur the country into making meaningful progress in reducing the rampant corruption that it currently faces.