OUR READERS IN MALTA ARE STILL NOT CONTRIBUTING TO THIS BLOG

What, me Worry ?  by COSIMO

 

We are asking our regular readers on Malta, and expats abroad, to contribute their fair share to keeping this blog up and running. Unfortunately, apart from the usual small group of loyal supporters, we are not seeing any of the large readership pitching in. We need your help, mates, for we do not accept advertising, so as to remain independent. Please keep us going, By making a Donation through the box at the right-hand side of the page. use your desktop, laptop or tablet, not through your smartphone, to do do, please. 

 Thank you for your support to Kenneth Rijock's Financial Crime Blog.

AN ANTI-AMERICAN AND ANTI-BRITISH DIATRIBE BY ONE OF MALTA'S LONGTIME CORRUPTERS AND TAX EVADERS TRYING TO MINIMIZE THE GREYLISTING

 

Sticking his Neck Out by COSIMO 

A dodgy individual who is the personification of Maltese corruption has published another opinion piece, in Malta Today, attempting to minimize the FATF Greylisting, insisting that it was done maliciously by the United States, after PM Abela played politics with the visiting American Secretary of Defence, Mark Esper. As the saying goes, "People who live in Glass Houses should not Throw Stones."

 MICHAEL FALZON, thrown out of the Nationalist Party after it was disclosed that he has a half a million Euros in a Swiss account, which he could not satisfactorily explain, has no bloody business minimizing the FATF action by saying that more money laundering, by volume, occurs in New York and London. He's alleging that a vengeful USA orders the FATF to Greylist little Malta in retribution for a perceived insult, served up by PM Robert Abela, upon Sec Def Esper. While we are sure that the US did not appreciate Abela's gameplaying with then-Secretary Esper, (he is known to have the same thick skin common to all American CEOs), Falzon's was in error, when he cited that as the reason.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Malta's well-oiled money laundering machine has taken on a transnational dimension in recent years, and  thereby directly impacted the American financial structure. One only need mention some of the names to prove this thesis: Pilatus Bank; Alex Nain Saab Moran; Iran sanctions violations; cocaine smuggling; fuel oil smuggling; Tuna laundering; IIU [Citizenship by Investment programme]; Matthias Krull. The list goes on and on ad infinitum.

Back in his Place by COSIMO

The criminal use of US Dollars, which must all move through the New York banking structure, placed Malta near the top of the list of jurisdictions designated as a Clear and Present Danger to American National Security due to Money Laundering and Terrorist financing. it is a cesspool of financial crime whose impact reaches the United States, when all that dirty money flows through New York's banks, and the Federal Reserve.

Having demonstrated that the US has ample reason to vote for Greylisting at the FATF conference, joining the UK and Germany, we now must examine the motive for Falzon to spread such disinformation, which is a clear effort to minimize the impact of the FATF ruling.  He was at the center of the ICIJ Swiss leaks scandal,  after his name showed up having a €465,000 account at HSBC in Switzerland, Although he feebly attempted to claim he earned that money prior to public service, most observers believe that it was the criminal proceeds of bribes received whilst he served in the government, and  that a businessman entering public service after enjoying such "extraordinary financial success" was not likely in Malta. 

His explanation is simply not credible. Falzon later sought, and received legal protection from being arrested for tax evasion and corruption, from Joseph Muscat, with whom he has hitched his star in recent years. Another bad move, given the very public exposure of the criminal history of any Maltese bad actors. Muscat apparently even subsequently granted him amnesty.

Just before her assassination, Daphne Caruana Galizia examined Michael Falzon's many sins, and pronounced him one of the "sleazy scum that has now scraped itself to the surface, and is now running the show ...while cheating all the way to the bank; in Falzon's case: HSBC Private Bank in Geneva."

She wrote the article on September 5, 2017; her final advice to her Fellow Maltese:

"My advice to young Maltese people remains the same: leave. you don't need this. these people are going to carry on poisoning the next few decades, nil natural causes carry them away, but they will meanwhile be coaching an entirely new generation to carry on poisoning it after they are gone with their HATRED, GREED, CHIPS, SLEAZE and CORRUPTION." Running Commentary.

 

BOOK SAYS OPM TRIED TO BLAME DAPHNE'S ASSASSINATION ON OIL SMUGGLERS

"JM Under the Azeri Thumb" by COSIMO

 

If this week wasn't bad enough for Maltese who believe in justice and the Rule of Law, the disclosure that, in his tell-all book, A Rent Seeker's Paradise, former PL executive Mark Camilleri related that Joseph Muscat's Office of the Prime Minister, which was dirty trick headquarters, passed around the rumour that, right after her assassination, investigative reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered by oil smugglers. 

To add insult to injury, the details included the tidbit about Chief of Staff Keith Schembri feeding that dastardly lie to his street operators, who gave it to the pro-Labour elements in the Maltese media. Why has this information never before become public knowledge ? If it had, perhaps Schembri might have been forced to divest himself of his behind-the-scenes control of Malta's own Gestapo, the Malta Security Service.

While it seems to be a part of the Labour playbook to attempt to frame others for your crimes, the arrogance of this particularly despicable rumour, when JM actually knew who the guilty parties were is, without a doubt, even a new low for Joseph Muscat. The fact that Robert Abela and the Labour leadership has not banished him from the PL speaks volumes about the rampant evil that pervades the Party.

Frankly, Malta doesn't deserve a visit from the Holy Father; there are just far too many unrepentant Sinners in its government. 

What would Saint Peter think about Malta now ?

RAMPANT CORRUPTION IN PALM SPRINGS DRAWS NEW FEDERAL ATTENTION

 

We cover a lot of cases involving corruption on this blog, probably because corruption is one of the 22 predicate offenses for money laundering. While most of our articles deal with criminal conduct that occurs abroad, today we are focusing on corrupt activities much closer to home, in this case California. I know many of our readers think the official corruption that they watch on television, on Animal Kingdom, which is set in Southern California, is fiction. Unfortunately, at least in Palm Springs, it is all too real.

Know Your Predicate Acts

Palm Springs is no stranger to corruption; its former mayor, Steve Pougnet, and developers were charged in a massive corruption case that seems to go on forever. Allegations of hundreds of thousands of bribe payments, so that the mayor would vote favorably on matters involving developers, appear to be supported by the evidence. One of the developers was dismissed by the trial judge; an appeal is reportedly pending of that controversial ruling. The case involves thirty counts of Bribery, Perjury and Conflict of Interest.

Elizabeth Melita Gargan, a seventy year-old widow and senior citizen, has reportedly been the subject of multiple bogus criminal charges flied against her, on behalf of an allegedly corrupt and racist Homeowners Association intent upon removing her from her home, and selling it in today's lucrative California housing market. There is absolutely no factual basis for the criminal charges, and the defendant has alleged that the City of Palm Springs, allegedly acting on behalf of the Homeowners Association, was instrumental in seeing that false charges were filed against two individuals who refused to testify against Ms. Gargan.

Jeffrey Ballinger

 

She also claims that Palm Springs City Attorney Jeffrey Ballinger has violated the Rules on Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California by filing multiple frivolous criminal charges against her, and by misleading the court in those cases. He is believed to be the principal actor in the Civil and Human Rights violations committed through the court system.
                                    

Ms. Gargan claims that the Riverside County District Attorney's Office was instrumental in the repeated filing of bogus charges against her, which were filed solely to facilitate her illegal removal from her home, so that the Homeowners Association(HOA) could sell it for a large sum. She further alleges a conspiracy between the Association's managers and the City of Palm Springs, which includes efforts to mislead the court about her purported role in drug offenses, which are completely false, and intended to poison the court's mind about thOSE cases. There are clearly Human and Civil Rights issues here, as repeated racist conduct by the Homeowners association managers, regarding Ms. Gargan, has been alleged. Apparently, the HOA managers are allegedly working with a local resident, JEFF BOSACKI, to harass and persecute Ms. Gargan, to run her out of her home.

 

Federal investigations into official corruption at Palm Springs City Hall have been conducted before; back in 2015, an estimated seventy-five Federal and State investigators descended on City Hall, serving and executing search warrants, as part of a major public corruption inquiry. We now have new information that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice civil Rights Division are planning on a new phase of investigation of the continuing corruption in Palm Springs government. We trust that they also take a hard look at Jeff Bosacki, to determine the extent of his involvement in the alleged criminal conduct.

Considering all the places in Palm Springs named after President Ronald Reagan, we wonder what he would have thought about all this corruption infecting his hometown.

 

we have chosen to focus upon Palm Springs 

WHICH ADDITIONAL REGULATORS MIGHT NOW SANCTION MALTA ?

In the aftermath of the triple threat of adverse rulings foreign regulators and NGOs have visited upon the Republic of Malta (FATF Greylisting, UK High-Risk designation, and Basle Institute AML rating), compliance officers at international banks are waiting for the next regulatory shoe to drop. We doubt that they will have long to wait. 

The regulatory agencies most likely to be next are The Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, and The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, commonly referred to as FinCEN, both of which are in the United States. Should OFAC sanction any Maltese banks or entities, due to the Pilatus Bank scandal, those financial institutions will be then be totally blocked from the American financial structure, and will most likely eventually fail. if FinCEN namemes any Maltese entities or banks, such targets will immediately become toxic in the international compliance world, and might also be barred from most EU, as well as North American, transactions; My money is on FinCEN, whose actions are not exactly sanctions, but which have the same effect in the compliance industry.

 

 Given the failure of Malta to name and shame (and arrest) the Pilatus directors and senior officers, as it was instructed, expect something untoward to happen, and it will get ugly. Once one of those agencies takes action, you can expect to see FINTRAC, Canada's equivalent of FinCEN, to take a hard look at Malta. 

 

I also believe that AUSTRAC, the Australian agency, will examine Malta, due to the large number of Maltese expats who live there. Malta's utter failure to charge Pilatus directors is the obvious primary reason, although the recent EU reminder to cancel its Citizenship by Investment (IIM) programme might also be to blame.

 

 How much worse does Malta have to look, in the eyes of the world's banks, for it to take remedial action ?

MEET THE MALTESE REGULATOR ENTRUSTED WITH ENHANCED DUE DILIGENCE WHO SHUT HER EYES AND LET ALI SADR, AND PILATUS BANK, IN THE DOOR

MFSA Supervisor Catherine Galea

Compliance officers at financial institutions in the European Union, meet Malta Financial Services Authority Banking Supervisor Catherine Galea, a 20-year veteran of that agency, who was entrusted with carrying out an Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) investigation of ALI SADR HASHEMI NEJAD, in connection with the banking license application of PILATUS BANK. How do we know this information ? It seems that the Compilation of Evidence, against defendants  Pilatus Bank, and its Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) CLAUDE ANN SANT FOURNIER, in a money laundering case, has begun, and Ms. Galea,, on behalf of the MFSA, is testifying as to the EDD she conducted on Ali Sadr.

As was reported today in the Maltese media, in assessing Ali Sadr's risk profile, Ms. Galea stated that she found Sadr to be born in Iran, but in truth and in fact a citizen of Saint Kitts & Nevis. This incredible finding of fact proves just how ineffective her EDD investigation actually was, for even a rudimentary check of Sadr would find that he was indeed a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran (a high-risk country), and his wealthy father was a well-known businessman there.

 Sadr's SKN passport was acquired through the Kittitian Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme, and he was neither a resident of St. Kitts, nor did he ever live there, and his economic "citizenship" was a cruel joke played upon the compliance officers of the world, because it allowed him to pretend that he was from a low-risk jurisdiction.

Of course, Ms. Galea, who lives in such a  country where citizenship and passport are yours if you pass enough money over the counter in Valletta, no matter who you may be, she knew very well that his citizenship was a legal fiction, and that he was an Iranian national, making him an unacceptable high-risk for a banking license within the European Union, given the international sanctions in place against Iran.

 

 

Yet, she passed Sadr, and indeed the Pilatus Bank license application was fast-tracked and ultimately granted. The rest is history; the bank went on to move millions for corrupt Asian PEPS, Latin American fraudsters and asset diversion specialists, Colombian money launderers, and all the usual suspects involved in global financial crime. Don't forget cleaning bribe and kickback money also.

So, since it all started with Ms. Galea, the gatekeeper who left the gate wide open, and therefore committed compliance malpractice, should she not also be held accountable for her sins ?  Having served as a compliance officer, conducting EDD on international investors, I can testify that there's no question this was a massive compliance failure. who is going to do something about it ?

GREEK CASE POSTPONED UNTIL FEBRUARY

 

JM Partying Like it's 1999  by COSIMO

We have a report that the Cyprus extradition case against Pantelis Varnavas, the husband of Malta's whistleblower, Maria Efimova, was postponed by the Greek court until February 2022. You may recall that INTERPOL has still not determined whether the arrest warrant was issued for purely political, and not legal, purposes. 

Therefore, none of the EGRANT material was introduced at today's hearing, according to reliable sources. The proof that Michelle Muscat was the Beneficial Owner of that offshore company, which was used for the corrupt and illegal purposes of her husband, then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, was not entered into evidence; The mystery continues.

Will Malta's next prime minister have the intestinal fortitude to grant Ms. Efimova whistleblower status, so that the documents will finally see the light of day ? Only time will tell, but we will be watching.

EXCLUSIVE: MALTA'S WHISTLEBLOWER WILL INTRODUCE THE EGRANT DOCUMENTS IN THE GREEK COURT PROCEEDING TODAY

What me Worry ?  by COSIMO

Maria Efimova, who we call the Conscience of Malta, intends to introduce the Egrant documents into evidence today, in a Greek Courtroom, where her husband, Pantelis Barnabas, is fighting extradition to Cyprus, based upon a bogus indictment intended to silence Ms. Efimova.

 Malta's Whistleblower has advised me that she has ordered her attorneys to submit the EGRANT files, in support of his request to pause all proceedings whilst INTERPOL makes a ruling upon whether Pantelis' indictment is purely political in nature, and without any factual or legal basis.

Given the nature of such a filing in open court, the documents should be immediately available to the press and public. They conclusively identify the beneficial owner of EGRANT, an offshore shell company that was the recipient of illegal bribe and kickback funds. This information, which is accompanied by a report, from an expert who examined the signatures, and verified them as genuine, will put to rest the mystery of who owns EGRANT.

 

Where's my bloody EGRANT file ?

 

We hope and trust that the Malta Police have Michelle and Joseph Muscat under constant surveillance, lest they seek to flee to an non-extraditable country, like Russia. Our readers will recall that the wife of the Colombian money launderer, Alex Nain Saab Moran, who will be imminently extradited to Miami from Cape Verde, has relocated to Moscow. Saab and his partner both used Maltese companies to move the Proceeds of Crime. 

Where is Michelle Muscat right now ? Is there someone on the ground at MLA  to foil her escape ?

   

MALTESE FOLK SONG CONTRIBUTED BY ANONYMOUS EXPAT

"Wait for it"  by COSIMO

                                                 THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO MALTA     

 

The devil went down to Malta, he was looking for a Soul to steal,                                                             

He was in a bind, because he was way behind,

And he was willing to make a deal.

When he came upon his young man on a computer, collecting bribes, and playing it hot,   

The devil jumped up on a fireproof safe,

And said " boy, let me tell you what."     

"I guess you didn't know it, but I'm a laundry man too.  

And if you care to take a dare, I'll  make a bet with you.

Now you work a pretty good hustle boy,

but give the Devil his due.

I'll bet a safe of Euros against your Soul.

'Cause I think I'm better than you."

The boy said "My name's Joey, and it might be a sin,

But I'll take your bet, you're gonna regret,

Cause I'm the best l-man that's ever been."

"Joey, open up sour screen, and play your keyboard hard

'Cause Hell's broke loose in Malta, and the Devil deals the cards

And if you win, you get this shiny car bomb made of Gold

But if you lose, the Devil gets your Soul."

The devil opened up his laptop, and  he said " Ill start this show."

And fire flew from his fingertips as he moved a million or so

And he dropped bribe proceeds clear across the Pond,

And it landed with a hiss

Then a crew of  his disciples joined in

And cleaned billions without a miss.

When the Devil finished, Joey bowed his head,

"Cause he knew he'd been beat,

he threw off his list of shell companies,

He laid his tablet on the ground at the Devil's feet.

That's the last anyone ever saw of Joey,

For his disappeared that day,

But someone said Bobby came and opened that safe,

But Joey's red hand reached out and pulled him inside,

as it snapped shut forever, they say.

                                                               Satanic Display by COSIMO
 

 

                                  

MARIA EFIMOVA'S NIGHTMARE AND GREEK JUSTICE

 

 This article appeared today in The Press Project.  We have translated it from the original Greek. All emphasis is that of the author.

The case of the murder of Maltese reporter Daphne Caruana Galizia, which shocked Europe and brought to light the entanglement, the corruption network and the ways of money laundering in Malta, continues to have its Greek part, which concerns the public witness Maria Efimova, source of the murdered journalist, who found asylum in our country. 

 Maria Efimova, a former employee of he Maltese bank Pilatus, who was being investigated by the murdered reported Daphne Caruana Galizia, was one of the key people in exposing the corruption, which involved a large number of people, with Prime Minister Muscat first. Maria Efimova testified in condition of anonymity, for a case that turned out to be literally murderous. The terms of anonymity were not met. Just one day after her testimony, the whole planet saw her name, her face, and her address published in the press. 

The information had leaked through the prosecutor's office. The consequences for the woman who risked her life to get justice did not end there; her dismissal followed, and a global chase for her and her family ensued. She left Malta for Greece, shortly before the assassination of Galizia, and the discovery of one of the key witnesses "self stabbed', with multiple knives, while he was being transported to a secret location, and was under 24-hour police protection.

While in Crete, Maria Efimova and her family were already receiving threatening telephone calls. Their regime of insecurity followed in Greece as well. That is why in March '18, she presented herself at a police station in the center of Athens, asking for protection. the Greek authorities, finding that two arrest warrants were pending against her, from Malta and Cyprus, arrested her. In June 2018, the Supreme Court MADE THE HISTORIC DECISION NOT TO EXTRADITE TO EITHER MALTA OR CYPRUS. It was an exceptional and important moment for Greece, which showed that it respects the institution of whistleblowers and protects them. The decision, however, covered only Ms. Efimova herself. So,since they could not hit her, they hit her family. 

 On November 17, 2020, her husband, Pantelis Barnabas, was arrested because a Cypriot arrest warrant had be issued, with strange accusations - they are actually involving him, transferring part of it to the wife of the individual indicted. he appealed to INTERPOL, which will be considered within the next month (October 2021). As for the RELATIONS BETWEEN MALTA AND CYPRUS on specific issues, they have already been recorded by international research. 

Despite the fact that his request is pending, tomorrow, Friday, a trial has been set, and Mr. Barnabas will be brought before the Greek court, seeking to postpone the case, which must be done after the examination of Mr. Barnabas request, by INTERPOL and the reasonably expected cancellation of the arrest warrant. In essence, tomorrow's decision is a historic as the one that gave new life - as much as international management allows - to Maria Efimova. 

The courts of our country are called upon to decide whether the families of martyrs of public interest, of "people" like us, who risk their lives, who lose their opportunities, for the common good -and are doing something, are also protected.in the knowledge that their families, who are willing to pay the price with them, supporting them, and who are also subject to threats and persecution.

 A refusal of Greek justice to postpone tomorrow's trial will be a dark, bad omen for justice in our country, and will led an innocent man to prison, because he "dared' to support his wife's heroic decision.

MALTA GETS ANOTHER BAD REPORT CARD FROM AN ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING NGO

Bad things, they say, come in threes. Well, Malta's failing grades for anti-money laundering just showed up elsewhere in Europe. The Basel Institute on Governance just published its 2021 AML Index, and Malta ranks closer to the bottom than it is to the top. 

When you add it to the FATF Greylisting, and the UK High-Risk Designation, Malta is indeed in major trouble in the international regulatory community. Malta showed up in position that is dead last among all the countries in the European Union and Western Europe. In truth and in fact,many of the dodgy tax havens of the Caribbean actually ranked higher than Malta. 

Its score was frighteningly close to those of red-lined high-risk jurisdictions; only a half point separated it from them. Obviously, the Basel Institute was not persuaded by the cosmetic new laws and regulations, and moved by the abject lack of money laundering prosecutions and non-existent convictions.

 Malta ranked last of Europe's 24 listed jurisdictions. Maybe now. the Government of Malta will begin to take concrete steps to reform and improve its AML structure, and start with criminal prosecutions for money laundering.

 

 

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT TO BE MADE IN EGRANT SCANDAL

Arrogance Personified

A reliable source from inside Malta has advised that there will be an important development in the EGRANT matter in the next couple of days. It is anticipated that it will finally answer our questions, definitively, as to the identity of the Beneficial Owner of the offshore company.  Most readers believe that  the Magistrate's report on Egrant was bogus, and that the conclusions were ordered by Joseph Muscat, who allegedly awarded the Magistrate with a judgeship for his judicial corruption. The overwhelming majority of Maltese are certain that Michelle Muscat will be named.

Further details are not available. whether Malta's Prime Minister, Robert Abela, intends to award Maria Efimova protected whistleblower status, so that she can reveal the contents of the expert's report on the validity of the signatures of the corporate documents, and the contents therein, we can neither confirm nor deny. Our source will not prematurely release any details.

 

We promise to release the information as soon as it is available, notwithstanding what hour of the day or night it occurs, in our time zone. Hopefully, there will copies of images released to the press and the public. Stay tuned. It is recommended that readers who have not yet set their computers to alert them when new articles appear on this blog do so at this time.

 

 

 

ARTHUR ROSS, FUGITIVE INTERNATIONAL MONEY LAUNDERER WITH TIES TO NYC METROPOLITAN AREA AND FLORIDA

EXCLUSIVE: ALI SADR IS LINKED TO THE CYPRUS COMPANY THAT BROUGHT BOGUS CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST MARIA EFIMOVA AND HER HUSBAND

 

"

"At Pilatus Bank, no request for Bulk Cash is too large for us to fulfill" by COSIMO

According to a confidential Maltese source of proven reliability, the Cypriot company that has brought what amounts to bogus criminal charges against Whistleblower Maria Efimova, and her husband, Pantelis Varnava, is allegedly closely linked to the owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors of defunct Pilatus Bank, Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad. Our source has provided documentary evidence in support of that allegation, which we have attached to this article, as proof thereof. You are urged to review these materials, as they provide what I can only describe as documented proof positive of the connection.

KWEK KEE SENG : WANTED FOR MONEY LAUNDERING FOR NORTH KOREA

 

WE ASK THE QUESTION: QUO VADIS MALTA ?

Quo Vadis Malta ? by COSIMO

As he [St. Peter] went forth of the city, he saw the Lord entering into Rome. And when he saw him he said: Lord, Whither goest thou thus ? And the Lord said unto him: I go into Rome to be crucified. And Peter said unto him: Lord, art thou [being] crucified again ? He said unto him: Yea, Peter, I am [being] crucified again. And Peter came to himself, and having beheld the Lord ascending up into heaven, returned to Rome, rejoicing, and glorifying the Lord: I am being crucified: the which was about to befall Peter. The Acts of Peter 3:25, Apocrypha.

When Saint Peter, said to be fleeing certain death in Rome, encounters the risen Christ on the Appian Way, we are told he asked of him "Quo Vadis ," meaning "where are you going ?" to which the Lord replied that he was going to Rome to be crucified a second time, "Eo Romam iterum crucifigi", after which point Peter turned around, and returned to Rome to his ministry, his fate, his faith and courage restored. 

Given the upcoming visit of the Holy Father to Malta, perhaps it is time for voters of integrity in Malta to take stock, and decide where Malta is headed is 2021 and beyond. Will there actually be a bona fide reform movement, removing the evil influences presently existing in government, with a broom at election time, that sweeps clean ? Anything less will simply not suffice.

Once a new administration is installed, then justice must be served; punishment should be fair but swift, and those corrupting influences that poisoned Maltese life for so many years should be excised. It will definitely be painful, but only for those who chose to defy not only the Rule of Law, but Higher Laws as well.

What happens now will be a litmus test for Malta:  which way is it going ? Finally, back towards the light, or deeper into darkness. Perhaps Peter himself will be watching.

_______________________________

The Acts of Peter, from the Apocryphal New Testament, M.R. James Translation and Notes; Oxford; Clarendon Press, 1924.

IMF TELLS MALTA TO TAKE THE NECESSARY STEPS TO EXIT THE FATF GREYLIST

 

If you didn't take the time to actually read the fine print on the International Monetary Fund Executive Board Assessment* dated 17 September, 2021, here is the relevant paragraph:

"While noting recent progress in strengthening the AML/CFT framework, Directors called for URGENT ACTION to address the remaining deficiencies in the AML/CFT framework and EXIT THE FATF GREYLIST.  They recommended prioritizing the areas of TRANSPARENCY ON BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP INFORMATION and FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE RELATED TO MONEY LAUNDERING AND TAX EVASION. Directors also advised the authorities to CONTINUOUSLY ASSESS HIGH-RISK ACTIVITIES and their impact on CORRESPONDENT BANKING ACTIVITIES." (emphasis supplied) IMF Press Release No. 21-269.

We may not have the restricted internal correspondence that the IMF delivered on the subject to the Government of Malta, but this statement most likely contains the Fund's major concerns. To put them in plain perspective:

(1) Make a Beneficial Ownership Information database available to all who need it, not just law enforcement conducting investigations, and I mean the Ultimate Beneficial Owners, not the straw men and front men in Valletta who stand in for foreign owners. Put it online so that bank compliance officers, investors, and the public can access the data. If that spells the end of Malta's favoured position as a corporate secrecy jurisdiction, so be it. Your days as a place where financial criminals can hide their involvement are over.

(2) Start arresting your major money launderers and tax evaders ( including those currently or formerly in government) and actually take those cases to trial within a reasonable time period. Stop this dilatory and obscenely excessive Compilation of Evidence nonsense and try these cases within six months. 

(3) Shut down the major organized crime operations that, by their very existence, endanger  Maltese banks' ability to acquire, and retain correspondent accounts in the EU and North America. This means hitting the Gasoil, Tuna Laundering, narcotics smuggling and other types of overt criminal activities that make Malta High Risk for foreign banks.

(4) Take a bite out of official corruption, at all levels, and prosecute the offenders to the fullest extent of the law.

Now, do you understand what the IMF was trying to tell you ? Otherwise, Greylisting will remain indefinitely. and Joseph Muscat's minimization of its effects  as "manageable" notwithstanding, the results will be hard to swallow.

____________________________________

*imf.org/en/News

 

FBI MISSING POSTER: GABRIELLE PETITO

IN MALTA, EVEN THE LEPRECHAUNS ARE MONEY LAUNDERERS: WHO IS CHARLES "TIKKA" (TINY CHARLIE) FARRUGIA ?

He connects the Dots for her  by COSIMO

                                    

His name is Charles Farrugia, and he is what you call in Malta a canvasser, a name for aides engaged by most Maltese politicians to do all their dirty work, including laundering the kickbacks they receive for granting favours to wealthy businessmen, drug traffickers, and all sorts of financial criminals who require facilitation of their dark deeds.They create a layer of protection for their bosses, in the event that they get caught committing a crime.

 Farrugia, whose nickname in Maltese loosely translates as "Tiny,' or "The Dot," is a known political aide to the controversial politician Rosianne Cutajar.While his Facebook page gives the reader the impression that he is some sort of local celebrity, which is reinforced by the fact that he is a government official at the street level, the Qormi Council, he allegedly took the fall for Rosianne Cutajar when she was exposed for her alleged involvement in an "under table" real estate deal, which appeared to be the sale of overvalued real property, in a money laundering scheme. 

Red's my Colour, of course by COSIMO

 

 This dodgy deal, which smells of tax evasion as well as money laundering, placed Farrugia's heretofore obscure role front and center in Maltese mainstream media, in other than his usual celebrity status. leaders who have previously happily posed for social photos with him may now want to rethink that arrangement.

                                      Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble by COSIMO
 

 Why Tiny exposed himself to criminal prosecution is a bit of a mystery, as chats reported in the media, between Rosianne Cutajar and wealthy Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech made fun of his diminutive size, but her exposure to the Council of Europe for reputed ethical violations has placed her on the proverbial hot seat, both in Valletta and Brussels, so the "little big man" was forced to take a bullet for her. 

Commission, you say; what Commission ? by COSIMO

 

Given the current state of Malta's dysfunctional justice system, his arrest is doubtful, because his middleman status protects his boss, which perpetuates the corrupt arrangement between dirty leaders and the police and prosecutors. His ilk will continue to service the political class in Malta, to allow it to remain in power, to the detriment and damage of the votes they are supposed to serve. 

 Birds of a Feather

 

RA and Mini-Me

 

 

VENEZUELA'S PRESIDENT MADURO, DESPERATE TO KEEP ALEX SAAB MORAN OUT OF AN AMERICAN COURTROOM, APPOINTS THE FUGITIVE A DELEGATE TO POLITICAL TALKS WITH THE OPPOSITION

 Some time in the next few days, Alex Nain Saab Moran, who faces major money laundering charges in US District Court in Miami, will be extradited from the Cape Verde Islands, where he was detained whilst en route to Iran from Venezuela. Alleged to be one of the world's most prolific international money launderers, and a close associate of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, The Venezuelan Government has resorted to an unusual tactic to keep him out of the United States. 

 He was named  a delegate to the pending political negotiations with the Venezuelan Opposition, which are being held in Mexico, under the supervision of the Government of Norway. Maduro must think that the US Government will jump at the chance to assist the Venezuelan Opposition, and pass on getting personal jurisdiction over Saab Maduro.  It is clearly a desperate move, but the chances of success are extremely small. Saab has information about most of the global financial crime orchestrated by Venezuela, and his arrest is a priority.

 Don't expect to see Saab go free from Cape Verde. He is too important a catch for the Department of Justice, and can implicate Maduro and many other senior government officials in Venezuela, as well as western Hemisphere-based terrorist financiers supporting Middle East global terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and Hamas. The US is not about to let him go for a political negotiation where the chance of a successful outcome is  small at best.