AN ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING CONFERENCE IN MALTA ? THE ULTIMATE OXYMORON

 

A former colleague posted news of an AML conference to be held in Malta in the near future, with a number of sponsors and co-sponsors. Given that neither Maltese regulatory agencies nor the country's law enforcement structure will pursue money launderers, for any purpose, we wonder why such a conference is not, by definition, an oxymoron. Malta's corrupt Labour government, supported by a wealthy business class, and the Maltese Mafia, insure that nobody connected to the power structure is ever charged for that crime, or if charged, never goes to trial. Corruption there rules the land.

The Pilatus Bank case is a prime illustration of the absolute futility of thinking that any significant money laundering enforcement programme is operating within Malta in 2022. Directors and officers of the Iranian-owned bank, a known money laundering destination, closed by by the European Central Bank, and moving literally hundreds of millions of dollars of dirty money,  have never been charged with anything in Malta. The simple reason is that the bank's owner was closely linked to senior government officials, who actually used the bank to launder the proceeds of their own corruption. Need we say more ?

A country whose criminal justice system is perverted by its elected leaders that cases linger, intentionally for years and even decades, is a legal joke upon its taxpayers, who are paying dearly for all that money laundering and financial crime run amuck. That's why AML conferences, though good intentioned, are a waste of time in Malta, as those who commit such crimes are never prosecuted, and work their dark craft with impunity.