JOSEPH MUSCAT AND HIS MERRY MEN TOOK IN OVER $300m IN BRIBES, KICKBACKS AND BENEFITS

 

 According to American law enforcement sources, Malta's ex-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who ruled from 2013 until the very end of 2019, together with his gang of Cabinet members, Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) staff, and Labour Party officials, took in the equivalent of over three hundred million dollars, in several currencies, previous gems, precious metals, financial instruments, smuggled un-taxed cigarettes, Illicit Tuna, and oil & petroleum products. That is, we are given to understand, merely a very conservative estimate. No wonder now private citizen Muscat is said to be anxious about relocating permanently to Dubai; he wants to finally get his hands on all that ill-gotten loot, far away fro the prying eyes of Malta's investigative journalists, Daphne's legacy.

The plot got a lot thicker today, when there were public allegations made to the effect that a participant in the Daphne assassination disclosed that a certain Cabinet member was deeply implicated in a very serious crime. The identity of that individual was reportedly known in March 2020, to Malta's current Prime Minister, Robert Abela, but the PM has, inexplicably, failed to name that person. Allegations that a "prominent third party" was involved, and that there were major delays in granting a pardon to the witness for that reason.

Most of my sources agree that the guilty former minister is an individual who has a thing for Eastern European and Russian prostitutes, but today we are focusing upon the obscene amount of of money Muscat's crew has taken down since Labour came bank into power.

Forensic investigators from several Western countries are believed to be trolling wire transfer records, and interviewing witnesses,  to track and trace the illicit criminal proceeds. The principal sources reportedly include Pilatus Bank, Satabank, Bank of Valletta (BOV),  Portmann Capital Management and Sparkasse Bank Malta. How much identifiable criminal proceeds that is ultimately found in each of these entities will dictate whether they survive OFACs wrath.

 

When the dust settles, and the most guilty extradited, tried in an American courtroom and convicted, Muscat's true "Godfather" role will be publicly known, as well as a just and fit punishment for his many crimes. Let us just hope that seizure and forfeiture procedures deprive him of enjoying the proceeds of his crimes.

AHMAD ABOUSAMRA, AMERICAN TERRORIST NOW LIVING IN SYRIA, FRENCH NATIONALITY

 

GOVERNMENT SEEKS EX PARTE IN CAMERA CONFERENCE, INVOKING THE CLASSIFIED INFORMATION PROCEDURES ACT IN HALKBANK CASE

 There has been a new development in the Halkbank case.The United States Attorney's Office has requested an Ex Parte conference with the Court, pursuant to the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA). This means that there may be classified information within the Discovery required to be furnished to defense counsel, and the US Attorney wants the Court to review the material, and to rule upon the relevance or admissibility of that information.

 The Court may limit disclosure of classified information to members of the defense team that have obtained adequate security clearances. Alternatively, the Court may permit unclassified information, after redactions have been made, or summaries of classified information that the defendant would otherwise be entitled to receive.

Given our theory that the Zarrab (Halkbank), Ali Sadr and Malta money laundering cases are all connected and linked, due to their common goal of aiding and abetting Iran, in both oil sanctions sales as well as facilitating payments, any classified information issues could mean that some of the targets of the pending investigations are deemed to be National Security threats to the United States. That does not bode well for the other targets, who may find themselves co-defendants in trial with some frightening people whose true colors were not known to them.

Just how big is the pending investigation, in which all roads lead to Iran ? Furthermore, given America's increasing "take no prisoners" direct attack upon Iran, in all categories, anyone unfortunate enough to be included in the cases could end up as Collateral Damage to the American attack posture. We wonder if they are aware of the seriousness of their situation.

 

AMERICA'S PRESS DEMAND TO KNOW WHO IS NAMED IN THE SADR DOCUMENTS SOUGHT TO BE SEALED BY THE US ATTORNEY

 

 

An attorney for the Associated Press (AP), on behalf of his news organization, has sought to intervene in the Ali Sadr Hasheminejad case, seeking to unseal hundred of documents filed post-dismissal by the US Attorney's Office. Perhaps some of the reporters have finally stumbled upon the prosecutors' secret: that there are names in those documents of prominent individuals, in several countries, who most likely have a massive sealed money laundering indictment on file against them. These individuals are said to be from Venezuela, Malta,Turkey, Russia, and Dominica, who all have a common relationship with Iran.

Regular readers of this blog know of several specific individuals who are believed to be in that category, as we have either named them, or described their occupations with such specificity that their identities are  discoverable. While many questioned the truth and accuracy of those articles, which were based upon conversations with reliable sources, information subsequently surfacing in the public domain has corroborated them, including the articles about money laundering into and through Malta's financial institutions.

The AP attorney's arguments in favor of public access are flawless;

(1) There is a constitutional and common law right of public access to judicial proceedings and documents.  

(2) The documents are filed in a criminal case, not an attorney disciplinary proceeding, and therefore are not in the category of documents generally presumptively confidential.

(3) There is a contemporaneous Right of Access; delay until the Court resolves pending issues violates the First Amendment rights of the press. 

Will the right of public access trump the right of SDNY to keep information that might lead to sealed indictments confidential ? It's up to the Court to make that determination, weighing the equities. Whatever the outcome, you will read our analysis of the ruling here as soon as its released.

PHASE TWO OF MALTA MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION WILL HIT REGULATORS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

 

 While many people in Malta remain upset at allegations of a lurid Las Vegas trip by regulators, paid for by individuals with companies that they are charged with regulating, followed by favorable treatment of those companies, and the arrogant refusal of the Prime Minister to fire the offenders, do not lose hope. Justice will soon prevail, even upon those regulators and government officials that you assume will never be held accountable for rampant corruption and conflict of interest. Here's how it will happen.

                                                           "Thy name is hubris."

Our reliable law enforcement sources have confirmed that there will be a Phase Two in the US Government's upcoming campaign against corruption and money laundering in the Republic of Malta. It may take the form of a superseding indictment, or a new case, and it will identify, and charge, those individuals at regulatory and law enforcement agencies who have engaged in corrupt activity. Did you really think that those who improperly granted Pilatus Bank a bank charter, and intentionally delayed taking enforcement action against it are not going to be held strictly accountable ?

 

 Unlike the indicted present and former government officials, whose piggy banks are bursting with bribes and kickbacks, and who can all afford the best New York City and Miami white-collar criminal defense attorneys, regulators and government officials generally are not flush with cash, having generally spent their ill-gotten gains furtively, to avoid detection. How they will afford competent counsel might be a problem. 

 You can expect to see Phase Two approximately sixty days after the initial indictments are unsealed, and it will be a rude awakening in Maltese government circles, for senior officials not charged will immediately become suspects of cooperation and immunity deals. It is not known whether any regulators are presently among those believed to be already cooperating. As soon as more details are known , we shall update our readers on any specifics of Phase Two that leak out to media. If I was presently employed at the MFSA or the MGA, I might be seeking the advice of a criminal attorney, and making contingency plans for my family's future.

WILL THE SOLE OFFICER ON DUTY AT PILATUS BANK'S LONDON BRASS-PLATE BANK BE CHARGED WITH MONEY LAUNDERING ?

 

Ever since we walked down Old Park Lane, a narrow side street in Mayfair, and noted that money laundering Pilatus Bank's so-called London "office" was only a brass-plate (letter-box) affair, with nobody in attendance, and where the concierge declines your request to visit the"bank," the UK branch was dodgy, and meant only for the most Private of clients. The officer in charge appeared to spend much of her working days elsewhere, unless a VIP of Sadr required banking services, which generally meant that a number of regulations, if not criminal laws, would be broken.

The officer, one HANNA OLOFSSON, who now claims that she was merely an Executive Assistant, very quickly  transitioned over to Oaktree Capital, which handles distressed capital. Strangely enough, while her LinkedIn page contains her former position as  an Executive Assistant with Pilatus, the listing for her current position, as Administrator at Oaktree, is not on its site. Was Sadr buying distressed debt at Pilatus, through Ms. Olafsson, or something else, perhaps for his Venezuelan, Iranian, Azeri clients as well as those Russians.

We have no details about Ms. Olofsson's duties and obligations at Pilatus, how she came to be at Oaktree, and precisely when she left, but she did reportedly keep some dark secrets to herself, and departed abruptly without any notice to the public.. Will she be charged with money laundering ? Stay tuned to find out.

 disrobe

 

WITNESS INTERVIEWED BY FBI SAYS FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION IS IRAN

 

 

We were contacted by a witness in the expanded Malta money laundering investigation this week, who stated that he was very recently interviewed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and who advised that the central focus of the questioning was Iran and the connection between what he believed to be targets of the investigation and the Islamic Republic. This confirms our theory concerning the importance of Iran in the investigations.

The witness, who found me through the numerous articles we have written on the subject that appear  on this blog, asked that his anonymity be protected. We know from our sources that he is believed to have been in physical danger in the past, and we must respect his privacy. We can disclose that his nationality is Italian, and we shall refrain from disclosing the location of his interview. There are several other witnesses in the investigation, and we do not, under any circumstances, wish to discourage their assistance, nor to we want to put them at risk, given the violence which has already taken place. 

This is the first witness in the Malta money laundering investigation to reach out with questions; he was clearly fearful of being charged with criminal activity, but from the information he volunteered, it appears that the FBIs targets are clearly individuals that we have previously identified in prior articles.

ALI SADR HASHEMINEJAD GETS HIS BAIL CASH BACK; THERE OUGHTTA BE A LAW

 

 

The convicted but now "exonorated" Iranian national and bank owner, Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, quietly received back the large cash deposit he tendered to make bond when initially arrested. We expect that this news will not be greeted positively by the people of Malta, as they uneasily anticipate the arrest of a number of local Maltese officials as well as assisting professionals who have provided legal advice, tactical assistance, and the facilitation of the laundering of the proceeds of crime to those officials.

There was, in the aftermath of Pilatus Bank's exposure as a money laundering hub, a national consensus on insuring that swift justice be applied equally to Pilatus' directors, including Sadr. The dismissal of his US case seriously set Malta's expectations of justice back, and this unreported return of his cash bond may be adding insult to injury.  

 

Will Sadr ever be held accountable for his crimes ? We cannot say, but he must surely have a role in the upcoming criminal cases that we call the Malta money laundering scandal, whether as a principal witness, unindicted co-conspirator, or impeachment witness. Therefore, we wait for the hammer to fall.

TRIAL JUDGE AGAIN RULES AGAINST HALKBANK IN MONEY LAUNDERING AND IRAN SANCTIONS EVASION CASE

 

The trial judge in the important money laundering & Iran sanctions evasion case, pending in the Southern District of New York, in a nine-page Decision and Order containing extensive citations to relevant case law, has denied the bank's request to stay the proceedings. The bank's counsel has repeatedly sought to interpose Foreign Sovereign Immunity as a bar to the filing of the case, but the Court, following existing case law, ruled that the FSIA was not applicable to criminal proceedings. The bank then took an interlocutory appeal, and has argued that its mere filing deprives the District Court of jurisdiction until a decision is reached by the Second Circuit. While it is debatable, the law appears to be against the bank.

The Court, while first noting well that "This is Halkbank's third interlocutory appeal and its fifth Motion for a Stay since being indicted," made the following findings of fact and conclusions of law:

(1) Divestiture of the District Curt's jurisdiction will result in unnecessary delay of the trial. The defense has tried every procedural trick and tactic to slow down the pace of the proceedings, and though zealous defense is an ethical requirement, some of their motions were not supported by the law.

(2) There is no legal basis to stay the District Court proceedings indefinitely. This is a criminal case.

(3) The issuance of an indefinite stay would deprive the public of a speedy trial on the merits and the airing of issues of public concern. Any Iran sanctions case involving Turkey is a matter of great public interest, given Turkey's closeness to Iran, and complicity in many Iran sanctions evasion schemes.

The Court denied the motion for a stay, but as a matter of comity, temporarily postponed the trial and pretrial proceedings for 60 day, while Halkbank processes its appeal, but...

It set the schedule for pretrial proceedings, and has set the trial for March 3, 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

CAN YOU SUPPORT THE CAUSE AND HELP US EXPAND OUR REPORTING ON MALTA ?

 

We wish to thank our readers for the many emails that we have received from the people of Malta. This blog is all about speaking truth to power. There are many stories that we have been unable to adequately cover, and the upcoming criminal cases in the United States will require even more time, as well as our urgent need to add a staff member, as we simply cannot be present in two trials in two different cities at the same time, and the European investigations will also necessitate that we have someone available there when indictments come down, especially in Italy and the United Kingdom.

Therefore, we ask our loyal readers to kindly contribute whatever they can afford each month, to allow us to expand our coverage, attend the trials, and add additional sources of information, so that we can further report on, and investigate, the issues which we have exposed on this blog in recent months. We suggest €25 or $25, or whatever you feel is appropriate.

 In the near future, there will be much more to cover, and we wish to continue to be there first with new developments, as they occur. Please note that there is a PayPal icon on the right-hand side of this page. Thank you for your support. 

KENNETH RIJOCK

HOW JOSEPH MUSCAT GOT THAT PLUM CEO JOB IN DUBAI; HE STEERED A LUCRATIVE CONTRACT TO A FRIEND

 

                                                      Credit: Times of Malta

If you read our recent article Malta's former Prime Minister will be Slipping Away to the United Arab Emirates,  you know that the country's ex-PM, Joseph Muscat, is accepting a job as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a Maltese-owned Dubai catering company. Individuals familiar with Muscat's work history have advised us that he has no training, education or experience in the food service industry, which would in any way qualify him to hold such a position.

We now know why such a generous employment offer was extended to him; the company, which is a Maltese joint venture between a caterer and a hotel group, has recently been named as the recipient of a large, and potentially extremely lucrative, government contract in Malta. Obviously, Muscat was instrumental in securing that contract for the company, and the CEO job is his reward. Someone in government wisely waited several months after his departure as PM to put it through, and we strongly suspect that Mr. Abela was involved. Nice try Robert, but we can read the papers, too.

How many other former Maltese Cabinet officials greased a sweetheart deal for a client whilst at the end of their term, and then quietly reaped the financial benefits, in the way of a kickback, we wonder ? Perhaps some enterprising investigative journalist in Malta might want to follow up on a "Where are they now ?" with those individuals.

We trust that any attempt by Muscat to assume that CEO "no-show" job will be met with public protest at the offices of the company that secured that sweetheart contract through him, and that the contract itself will be terminated, to avoid a nasty EU investigation of corruption. Sorry Joseph, it looks like you will now have to work for a living.

MUSCAT'S HURRIED LAST-MINUTE INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS WERE MADE TO EXECUTE A COVER-UP OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY INVOLVING IRAN

 

        Forget 1565, This Time, the Invasion will come from the North (courtesy Twitch).
 

 If you were still among those who remain puzzled over former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's as-yet unexplained marathon eleventh-hour global travel, which he engaged in after resigning, but before actually stepping down, we have some answers for you. The problem is , you are not going to like what you read.

Muscat's hurried trip to the UAE was to meet with a powerful leader whose son is a senior banker in a nearby Middle Eastern nation, to convince him to order his son to keep silent about massive illegal fuel shipments to Iran, and payment  for those shipments. Did you really think all that Gasoil was being mixed with legitimate fuel in Malta storage tanks, and shipped off only to France, Italy and Spain ? Iran has been a major customer, thanks to the protection afforded by Mr. Muscat, the Godfather of Maltese crime. In turn, Muscat had to insure that the cover-up of the supply-and-payment pipelines were secure.

Finally, that mysterious Miami finish to the fast-track Odyssey. Again, this was a trip made necessary by Muscat's rapid-fire resignation, due to public outrage over the Daphne murder, and the role of his crew. It was a meet-and-greet with the representatives of a transnational company that assisted in the illegal, yet seamless, shipment of fuel to Iran, and the creation of false documentation to conceal the deliveries. Again, he must have received assurances that his secrets were safe, for he has kept the subject of that trip confidential to all but his inner circle.

                                                                  Art by Christabel

The trips were no more than a desperate effort to contain the truth, whilst the central figure in the operation made an unplanned exist from public life, meaning that he could no longer use his high office to protect the existence of the covert operation from American investigators. The trip was a necessary evil, to convince his co-conspirators to keep silent. No wonder Muscat, like the late Michael Jackson, requires medication to sleep at night.

BULK CASH SMUGGLERS CAUGHT WITH € 43,800 IN UNDECLARED CASH AT SEAPORT IN MALTA

 Bulk cash smuggling continues to be a favored occupation in the Republic of Malta. Reports confirmed that a couple seeking to travel to Italy by ferry were intercepted, courtesy Sophie the dog, carrying €43,800. Cash smugglers were detained by law enforcement with a total of €556,182, in 34 cases.

MUSCAT'S MALTA UNDERWORLD CONNECTIONS CONFIRMED BY HIS CHOICE OF LEGAL ADVISOR WHILE PRIME MINISTER

                  

Readers who questioned the accuracy of our recent articles linking Malta's disgraced former Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, to cigarette smuggling, tuna laundering, fuel smuggling, and homicide might do well to read today's article in the Times of Malta. The article, entitled Lawyer for Malta's Underworld not in a Position to Decide on Pardons, details PM Robert Abela's former legal representation of the "Maksar Brothers," who were the alleged suppliers of the TNT bomb that killed the investigative journalist, Daphne Caruana Galizia, three years ago.  Joseph Muscat, while prime minister, named Abela, who is the son of a former president of Malta, as his personal advisor, in the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Maksars have close connections with the Sicilian Mafia, and we have been wondering about the purpose of Abela's summer visits to Sicily on his newly-purchased yacht. Abela lists his legal specialty as "Labor Law,"  but that field has no relationship to criminal defense, and labor relations lawyers are civil practitioners. It has been reported, however, that he represented the brothers personally, and not through his law firm. 

 

 

 

Given attorney Abela's clientele, and the fact that his advisory position gives him access to each and every Cabinet meeting, as well as those the PM held with local "businessmen," the positions and goals of Abela's clients would certainly be made known at those meetings. Therefore, we must assume that their influence affected the decisions of Malta's government, then and now. What was a Mafia Lawyer doing as advisor to the prime minister, and how were decisions involving critical issues affecting Malta influenced ?

 

 

DID SWISS BANKER MATTHIAS KRULL TESTIFY BEFORE A NEW YORK GRAND JURY AGAINST THE MALTA DEFENDANTS ?

  Although the relationship between the Miami and New York investigations of what we call the Malta Money Laundering scandal is obvious, the details remain hidden , with one possible exception. The convicted Panama-based Swiss money launderer, Matthias Krull offers us one tantalizing bit of information, which is, of course, open for interpretation. Allow me, please.

A careful review of the docket sheet in United States vs. Matthias Krull indcates:

(1) A court-approved visit to the Middle District of Florida, ostensibly for a son's soccer tournament.      

(2)  A court-sanctioned religious retreat, wherein it is alleged that attendees cannot leave for any reason, and that an Assistant United States Attorney will be there, acting as a volunteer.                                                                           

(3) Court-ordered travel out of the District, but details not available.

Did Krull journey to New York City to testify before a Federal Grand Jury in one or more New York cases during Number 3 ? Was the information regarding trips Numbers 1 or 2 actually disinformation, to mask travel up north in support of those investigations, so as to confuse anyone seeking to learn whether Krull was a potential witness in a New York case or cases ? We cannot say, but the extremely favorably treatment that he has been receiving so far, especially allowing him to postpone commencing his 10-year prison sentence, could mean that his testimony is so crucial that prosecutors want him available immediately, and not through the usual tedious Bureau of Prisons/Court request procedure.

Anyone questioning my judgment on this set of facts need only look at the FIFA corruption scandal, where one of the key witnesses, Vice president Jeffrey Webb, has actually been allowed to remain under house arrest for five years, while he assists in the indictment of more senior FIFA officials. Long-term arrangements with special witness do occur, though often far from the glare of media coverage. Should the Malta money laundering targets fear the impact of his testimony ? Absolutely; he is a qualified professional, and expect his testimony to be extremely credible at trial. Perhaps they had better follow the advice wisely given on this blog, and enter into plea negotiations, before others take advantage of such an opportunity, and they have been thrown under the bus. Think about it, Mr. Abela and Mr. Muscat; It's your future.

THE MALTA MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION ADDS TARGETS IN THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA

                                                 Hamidreza Ghanbari, CEO of Pilatus Bank

Just when we started to understand the depth of the Malta money laundering investigation being conducted by US law enforcement agencies, it got bigger. New information, from the same reliable sources that originally advised us about the New York and Miami cases with new criminal links between Malta and Venezuela, Iran, Italy, Azerbaijan, Russia and Libya have added Dominica to the mix.

For those who are wondering how there can be any commonality between Malta and Dominica: Both countries have corrupt Labour governments with a long history of exploiting Citizenship By Investment passport programs; rampant money laundering and the facilitation of transnational white-collar crime; A dodgy foreign Citizenship by Investment consultancy that assisted in winning national elections; dominance by a prime minister who is more interested in acquiring personal wealth than helping his country, and who has been targeted by foreign law enforcement agencies; unofficial censorship by the local press; disregard of the Rule of law by the corrupt judiciary; unregulated offshore banks engaged in international money laundering. 

I might also find it interesting to add that this blog has extensively covered CBI corruption in both countries, and yours truly is considered an existential threat to both regimes. Their fears are justified. Both countries seem to be on a parallel track towards a bad end for all the participants concerned. There will be no happy endings in either Dominica nor Malta, due to their greed and avarice.

Anyone who doubts that Dominica is now a primary target should remember that the head of Malta's notorious money laundering Pilatus Bank, HAMIDREZA GHANBARI, curiously holds a CBI passport from the Commonwealth of Dominica. See "How did Hamidreza Ghanbari, the CEO of Malta's Iranian-controlled Pilatus Bank, have a CBI Passport from Dominica ? published July 25, 2020. You may access the article here.

Observers of the Pilatus Bank scandal have openly wondered why Ghanbari, as the senior bank executive, was not indicted when bank owner Ali Sadr Hasheminejad was charged with evading international sanctions in moving millions from Venezuela into Iranian control. Has he been cooperating with US and EU law enforcement, and been given immunity from prosecution ?

While we have no details of this ongoing investigation, the principal Dominica target of the investigation is most likely Prime Minister ROOSEVELT SKERRIT, who has been a Person of Interest of US law enforcement for several years. Skerrit has been engaged in the lucrative sales of Dominica diplomatic passports (which violate the United Nations Vienna treaty), for obscene amounts of money, and is known to be close to Venezula's President Nicolás Maduro. His precise role in the Malta money laundering scandal is not known, but the movement of $160m through Portmann Capital and Pilatus Bank may provide a clue, and the role of the cooperating Swiss banker, Matthias Krull could also be significant. This is obviously part of a money laundering investigation. Given America's recent zealous investigations and indictment of Venezuelan nationals, the Caracas-Valletta-Tehran pipeline of dollars is the most likely subject.

                    Roosevelt Skerrit, PM of Dominica, with President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela

Whether there are any other Dominica nationals implicated in the Malta investigation is not known, but we shall be exploring that avenue of investigation forthwith, and will report all developments back to our readers, as they occur. One of our Dominica sources reports that there has been extensive communication between Roseau, the capital, and Valletta, Malta's capital, since the December 2019 announcement, when Malta's Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, resigned in disgrace, in the aftermath of the assassination of  Daphne Caruana Galizia. Readers may not be aware that all telephone and Internet communications within Dominica are regularly monitored by the regime, and we believe those recordings may have been leaked to the press by  individuals who do not approve of the conduct of senior Dominican government officials.

We do know that there are Cooperating individuals who testimony has been secured in the Dominica phase of the investigation, Whether these CIs have given evidence against Maltese nationals is not known.

 

REPEATED EFFORTS TO HIDE INFORMATION IN THE SADR CASE INDICATE SENSITIVE MATERIAL THE US ATTORNEY DOES NOT WANT RELEASED

 

If you are closely watching the efforts of the trial judge in the Ali Sadr Hasheminejad case to get to the bottom of which Assistant US Attorneys violated Brady  vs. Maryland on making timely disclosure of information favorable to the defense, you may have noticed that there's another agenda: hiding from public view information that could confirm sealed indictments of other targets, which we believe is in connection with the Malta money laundering investigations in New York (SDNY) and Miami (SDFL).

While we understand the reluctance of the prosecutors to expose their possible negligent (or even intentional) acts, regarding certain of the Discovery that was withheld, there appears to be something else: vague references to other information, which includes some redacted (deleted) material. Does this information contain the names of the additional defendants who have sealed indictments on file against them ? 

One letter states that it is couriering over to the Court 1400 pages of exhibits to one prosecutor's letter about the matter. We need to know what is in those documents. Additionally, there is a cryptic reference (shown below) to "a letter" and " a Sealing Order.' Are these the names of the Malta money laundering defendants. ? Look at the filings below and make your own judgment. Are they just hiding behind "privacy concerns" the names of additional targets that are not yet in custody, and are any of these Maltese government officials, past and present ?

FORMER MALTA PRIME MINISTER'S FUTURE PLANS BETRAY HIS AFFILIATION WITH ORGANIZED CRIME

                                                  Remember me by Twitch
 

We note with interest disgraced former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's very public denials, regarding his plans to quietly relocate to Dubai, UAE, where he will take a position as CEO of a catering company owned by a powerful Malta corporation. The reason Muscat fears exposure of his new business partner, prior to his departure from Malta, is that, in addition to legitimate activity, the company Muscat has chosen to affiliate with is engaged in criminal activities in the European Union. Any statement to the contrary is a bald lie.

In truth and in fact, EU law enforcement agencies consider the firm's operations to constitute organized crime, and this may explain, in part, why several law enforcement agencies are in the middle of active investigations of Muscat and his associates. Most of our Maltese readers would instantly recognize the specific criminal activity involved, were we to name it on this blog, but to do so would bring with it an immediate lawsuit. Frankly, most of Malta's citizens fear the Maltese Mafia; on this blog we don't.

I am not the first person to bring this matter to public attention.Daphne herself previously identified the corporation, and its covert illicit business, and drew a lawsuit for that act.  We owe it to her memory not to flinch from intimidation by Malta's dark forces, but to speak truth to power. The multiple lawsuits, many of which remain active, notwithstanding that it is three years since her murder, speak volumes about the lengths that Malta's criminal elite will go to protect their turf.

 

                                              The Field of Honor. Photo courtesy Twitch                                                         

We trust that we have sufficiently linked Muscat with people that you do not want to meet a midnight on a dark street, so that our readers discount any public statement that the "Artful Dodger," makes to the press. Perhaps when you see him  moving into a multi-million dollar estate in Dubai that is far in excess of his legal income you will wake up and finally reform your country. It will soon be time for you to hand over your criminals to countries where courts that follow the Rule of Law will obtain justice for Mad Muscat and his Merry Men of Evil.

EVGENIY BOGACHEV - RUSSIAN "ZEUS TROJAN" HACKER - $3m REWARD - BANK FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING

 

WHICH MALTA TARGETS WERE LAUNDERING NARCOTICS PROFITS ? REDACTED LETTER IN SADR CASE POINTS RIGHT TO IT

 

                                             What did they know and When did they know it ?

The Deputy Chief of the SDNY Narcotics Division, in a letter to the Court, expressly asked that the letter be filed under seal, because of "information concerning witnesses in this investigation and others. " The Court rejected the request, and the letter posted below from the court file is publicly available.  Note that portions of the letter have been redacted, totally blacked out, to prevent those sentences from being released to the public, who under the law has immediate right to access, unless there are clear and compelling circumstances to deny access.

Let us go over a couple of important points, and our conclusions:

(1) If the Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Division of the US Attorney's Office made the request, it is because there is a pending investigation, or sealed indictment already, for some of the Malta defendants for money laundering of narcotics proceeds. This is serious escalation of the possible sentences that Messrs. Muscat, Abela and their PL associates could receive upon conviction.

(2) The letter request proves that there is information in the "Declaration and Exhibits" filed in the case implicating additional targets not previously charged with Federal felonies.

(3) The fact that Shawn Crowley, who signed the letter, and not the senior staff members who previously wrote the Court regarding the Brady issues which so disturbed the Court, means that there is a significant narcotics aspect to the Malta case. Since we have no information about the Malta targets being drug traffickers, the only other alternative is the laundering of the proceeds of narcotics crime.

(4) The mention of an In Camera review of evidence is further proof that there is material in the file which, if released to the public, would alert the additional targets, and allow them to engage in international flight to avoid prosecution. 

(4) Readers looking for proof that there are additional defendants charged in the Sadr case should add this information to the previous hints and clues that we have found, and reach the conclusion that there are some serious money laundering charges pending against additional defendants.

 

 

MALTA, FIGHTING THE EUROPEAN UNION ON ECONOMIC PASSPORTS IS A BIG MISTAKE

 

I have been intimately involved in the CBI (Citizenship by Investment) industry since the early 1980s, when St Kitts' Foreign Minister, William Herbert Jr., then also the US, UN and OAS Ambassador, introduced me to it, specifically authorizing members of the Medellin Cartel to apply for SKN passports. For those readers who do not know what happened to Billy Herbert, access our article, A Caribbean Money Launderer casts a Shadow Long After his Death here. I doubt that neither Mr. Robert Abela nor Mr. Joseph Muscat wish to meet the same end.

To understand why going up against the EU is not only wrong, it is downright dangerous for the people of Malta. The CBI consultancy that sold Muscat a bill of goods on how much money could be made by Malta  it sold economic passports ( and which reportedly aided in his 2013 election in dodgy acts and deed) used the East Caribbean States CBI model. Five countries in the east Caribbean, St. Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia and Grenada, all have similar programs. Without exception, those programs have resulted in rampant corruption, as well as the sale of passports which have EU access, to criminal elements, as well as individuals from extremely high-risk countries. These programs, which add millions to national budget, also have the effect, strangely enough, of depressing economic expansion, as the CBI money discourages economic development which would take place under normal circumstances. Why work hard to develop your new local businesses, when your national budget is already in your hands ?

That is bad enough, but there is an unexpected, and dark, consequence when a country sells CBI passports, which are then used by transnational financial criminals: all holders of passports of those nations, including innocent nationals born in those countries, face increased law enforcement, immigration and customs attention, because Western countries with bad experiences from criminals holding CBI passports from those countries, begin to judge ALL passport holders from CBI-issuing jurisdictions as possible money launderers, international sanctions evaders and terrorist financiers.

In plain English, continued  sales of CBI passports results in legitimate Maltese nationals being rousted by customs upon arrival at international ports of entry and airports. This includes searches of bags & baggage, and even strip searches, plus interrogation. That is a distressing event for anyone to suffer, no matter how thick their skin happens to be. A bulls'-eye target ends up on the back of your passport holders, what is known as guilt by association, specifically because some of your CBI passport holders are career criminals, practising their dark craft.

 Knowing this is the logical result of having CBI passports out there, in the hands of criminal elite, should be sufficient for the people of Malta to, as a group, eliminate CBI passports for their mutual safety and protection. The EU is correct, CBI passports create more problems than they solve. It is best, for all concerned, to cancel the program forthwith, unless you are willing to listen to horror stories regarding untoward events happening to Maltese passport holder entering the United States on holiday or for business, because they will be targeted.

 

CHINA'S MOST WANTED FINANCIAL CRIME FUGITIVES

 

DESPERATE TO AVOID EXTRADITION FROM CAPE VERDE TO US, MONEY LAUNDERER FILES BOGUS CASE IN NIGERIA

      

Alex Moran, Citizenship by Investment Antigua passport

                                       
The accused Colombian money launderer, ALEX NAIN SAAB MORAN, who fears he will be spending Life in Prison if extradited to Miami, has secured a Nigerian attorney, who has filed a totally bogus suit in the ECOWAS  (Economic Community of West African States) Court of Justice in Abuja, Nigeria,  claiming all the usual defenses; Political case, Diplomatic immunity, illegal arrest warrant, and Human Rights violations, including torture.

Cape Verde courts have already ruled against Saab on these issues, and he dreads the jury verdict of an American court, which cannot be bought and paid for. The case is not an appeal as a matter of right, but in the nature of a Habeus Corpus as a Writ of Amparo, to protect Constitutional rights. It is obviously filed solely for the purposes of delay; it is not known whether it will be be considered by Cape Verde, but its acceptance is discretionary.

Saab is a Colombian money launderer acting on behalf of President Maduro of Venezuela, and his criminal cartel. He was issued a diplomatic passport by Antigua & Barbuda, and owns several offshore  shall banks in the Caribbean. His eventual extradition and subsequent trial will again focus attention on Venezuelan money laundering for Iran.

SOME WORDS OF WISDOM FOR THE MALTA MONEY LAUNDERERS

 

                                                                    Bon Voyage, Joseph.

 Having gone through the experience myself a while ago, this might be a good time to acquaint the Malta money launderers who have been targeted by US law enforcement of the probable consequences of continuing to ignore the fact that many of them are destined to be indicted, arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced, and sent off to Federal Prison for their crimes. While they will most likely ignore this advice, at least they will get a preview of what awaits them, should they foolishly decide to plead not guilty and take their cases to trial.

1. Extradition is a matter of when, not if. Given the amount of resources that are reportedly being devoted to multiple investigations, it is safe to say that extradition procedures will, sooner or later, succeed. and the Malta defendants will find themselves on a plane bound for New York or Miami. Ignore any statements made to you by your Malta criminal lawyers that they can postpone the extradition indefinitely.

2. When you arrive in the US, in custody, you will not be permitted to bond out before trial. The Malta defendants have no ties to the United States, and are flight risks. No amount of conditions could insure their appearance at trial, should they be released on bond, so get used to pretrial confinement, bleak as it is.

3. The Government will load you up with multiple charges, which will cause wiser men than you to immediately enter into plea negotiations, because if you are convicted on all counts, you may spend the rest of your like in an American prison.

4. Long sentences mean bad places to spend several years in. Long sentences generally mean you are probably going to be designated to a prison facility in a high security level. Many of your cellmates will be doing time for serious narcotics offenses, or Federal crimes which involve violence. You do not want to be spending a year or more with these guys.

5. Your American attorneys, whom you will be paying an arm and a leg to, will act positive about your case, and declare that, if they lose at trial, they will surely prevail on appeal. The truth is 95% of the cases end up with a conviction. Stop dreaming that you will be at Club Fed, because your immigration status means no minimum security prison camp for you, ever. Their optimism might be linked to the fact that they won't be doing the prison time; you will.

6. The US Government has had years to piece together a bulletproof case, with live witnesses, documentary evidence, and a narrative sufficient to convict. Do not deceive yourself about its intentions and abilities. Their case will be solid.

Unless you are a total fool, you will note that the odds are pretty much stacked against you.The Federal Criminal Justice System is designed to convict, and it does that job very well. If you do not choose to enter a plea of guilty early on. Count on becoming a part of the nightmare, for many, many years. Let me humbly suggest that you ignore your lawyers' advice ( they are being paid by your superior, and owe allegiance only to him) are approach US law enforcement early on, to avoid the rush. Ignore this advice and your wife will divorce you, all your material assets will be seized and forfeited, and you will end up serving a long term in prison. Get with the program, before others in your crew beat you to it.

 

JUDGE IN SADR CASE WANTS ALL FILINGS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

As a part of the Federal District Judge's inquiry into the Brady violations that reportedly caused the case against the Iran sanctions violator, Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, to be dismissed with prejudice, the Court has asked for information from the US Attorney's Office. In an order issued today, it stated that, so far as can be done, all the factual filings will be available for viewing, and not sealed. That information may finally put to rest the nagging questions about the adequacy of the alleged violations, and whether they actually rose to the level that justified a complete dismissal of all charges,not just for Sadr, but also for a co-defendant who was never in the United States, nor in custody.

 Was the real reason for the dismissal major cooperation and/or the  surrender of million in assets ? Perhaps after we review the US Attorney's filings, we might be in a better position to answer that question. Here is the relevant order.

 

 

NEW OCTOBER 15, 2020 US INDICTMENT OF GRU HACKERS

 

TALKING ABOUT THE CRIMINAL INDUSTRY THAT NOBODY IN MALTA WILL DISCUSS OPENLY

 

I have been warned, by my Malta friends, not to discuss a specific criminal industry operating in Malta, as they deem it too dangerous a topic for journalists. No, its not dangerous drugs; those twenty kilos of cocaine taken by armed criminals were openly reported in the mainstream Malta press. It is a far more esoteric subject: Tuna Laundering. Unfortunately, this blogger seldom avoids interesting topics due to the risks involved, even if they involve powerful interests, and organized crime participants.

For those who do not go down to the sea in ships, tuna laundering is the art of selling illegally-caught Bluefin Tuna, which have been fished over and above EU quotas, through the use of falsified data, invoices and documents. They are caught in Maltese, French, Italian and Spanish waters. The income of just one tuna laundering ring, over a period of one year, is alleged to be an obscene €25m.

If you were wondering who benefits most from this illegal trade, other than the industry kingpins, it is alleged that the "industry" has been a substantial PL financial supporter, and Joseph Muscat's name has repeatedly come up as the government official who has given his blessing to the smugglers, who often transport the illegally-caught tuna in false boat bottoms. The smugglers exploit their financial power through bare-knuckle politics, to protect their illicit industry, which shows no signs of abating.

 

                                                             

 As we have said before, no wonder Italian law enforcement agencies are so interested in Malta; whether its money laundering through high fashion, tuna laundering, or or Maltese politicians visiting Mafia strongholds in Sicily, wherever Italian investigators look, they see Maltese officials in compromising positions.

MALTA'S FORMER PRIME MINISTER WILL BE SLIPPING AWAY TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

 

                                               Drawing for Proposed Muscat statue

Sources close to the family have reported that Joseph Muscat, Malta's former prime minister, who resigned in disgrace, due to his links to individuals implicated in the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, will be permanently relocating to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is known that he will be engaged in running a catering business, which is connected to a Maltese company. His family is planning on joining him there.

It may be noteworthy to observe that there is no extradition treaty between the UAE and the United States, and Muscat's probable indictment in America may have figured prominently in his decision to move to the Emirates.While the United States does, from time to time, successfully extradite its fugitives from the UAE, there is no guarantee that it will be able to obtain Muscat. Some of these extradition cases take several years to complete, especially if there is any cooperation between the fugitive and the government where he has taken refuge from arrest and trial in the United States.

The Leroy King-Stanford International Bank case in Antigua & Barbuda comes to mind; in that case, repeated and unexplained changes in the judges assigned to hear the case, new attorneys filing appearances and needing time to review the complex case, and frivolous multiple appeals all kept the wolf away from the door for more than a  decade, but eventually the US got their man, and he is awaiting sentencing in US District Court in Texas as we speak.

                                     Former Antigua senior government official Leroy King

 Muscat will be restricted, and most likely prevented from leaving the UAE while the process is ongoing.  He may feel trapped. We are wondering: Does this mean Muscat will not be returning to Valletta for the unveiling of his statue in Valletta in 2021? We understand that he did quietly commission it to be completed by that time; your tax dollars at work.

WE ARE TRAVELING ON ASSIGNMENT; MEANWHILE ENJOY ALL THE ARTICLES AVAILABLE HERE FOR YOU

 

I am traveling on assignment, and have little or no access to the Internet most of this week. Malta readers, please note that there are a few hundred articles available to you , and you are encouraged to review the August and September postings, as there are most certainly some that you have not read.

HOW DID JOSEPH MUSCAT GET PAID, AND BY WHOM ?

 

                                                           Muscat Bejeweled

This is such a complex question that we have sought expert advice, from one who has unraveled part of the puzzle for those of us looking in from the outside. We must take small bites of the big picture, to begin to understand it.

First, it is useful to look deeper to detect how Joseph Muscat could receive his part of a "commission" in secret (possibly coming from the first fuel smuggling scandal, revealing how MADDOX SA in Switzerland was set up in 2013, which interestingly deals with refined oil products, bunkering, and payments similar to World Fuel Services in Miami) as an alternative way to supply refined oil to the regime in Iran, which was most likely discussed during the first meeting with the President of Azerbaijan and the owner of SOCAR TRADING, without the media.

 

Second, when analyzing Yorgen Fenech's secret company, 17 BLACK LTD. in Dubai, it appears to have been originally involved with financial transactions and transfers related to LNG supplied to the power plant, while investigators were performing searches inquiring into why Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizza wanted to use Yorgan as a cover for another avenue of supply of refined oil products to Iran, in breach of international, and American, sanctions.

Third, we need to learn more about MADDOX SA, and the company's connection to SOCAR TRADING. Let's starts with Mariam Almaszade, the CEO of SOCAR, and who curiously used to be a Director of CROWBAR HOLDINGS SA, with the company being a shareholder in MADDOX ENERGY TRADING, all these entities being right in the middle  of sanctions violations, where we find Joseph Muscat, seeking to defuse and disconnect the complex situation from outside observers, especially the fuel smuggling scandal.

                                                          Mariam Almaszade

We do wonder whether Ms. Almaszade, as the situation deteriorates with US media attention, will have the foresight to resign, and approach the FBI Legal Attaché at her nearest US Embassy, to cooperate and obtain immunity from prosecution. With law enforcement agencies all over the EU, as well as the United States, probing SOCAR, in connection with fraud and foreign corrupt practices, this may be her only chance to avoid indictment. She should, however, secure her own attorney of choice, and not employ the corporation's counsel, for obvious reasons.

 We compare Ms. Almaszade to Turab Musayev, the reputed owner of CIFIDEX LTD., a Seychelles-registered front company, which was linked to the notorious Montenegro Wind Farm Project stock sale,  and who had to resign from SOCAR shortly after Yorgan Fenech (who was his associate) stepped down as a Director of the ElectroGas consortium.

                                                                Turab Musayev
 

We have merely scratched the surface of the issue; look for further discussion of these complex issues in future articles which will appear here on this blog. The contribution of our expert is gratefully acknowledged. If you were paying attention, you may now know the real reason why Joseph Muscat made that emergency trip to Miami, right after his trip to Dubai.We figured it out; Can you ?