In today's news from the Republic of Malta, prosecutors in the Pilatus Bank money laundering case are requesting an indefinite delay, so that they can receive assistance from the UK and other foreign jurisdictions. The United Kingdom request is to locate and obtain sworn video testimony from an unidentified individual who was the Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) at the bank's Mayfair London address. Prosecutors have stated that they are seeking information regarding the criminal charges pending in Malta, against the bank and its former Malta-based MLRO, CLAUDE-ANN SANT FOURNIER.
If you have been reading our continuing series on the Pilatus Bank scandal, you know that our investigation, and that of many others, revealed that the bank's London branch, at 4 Old Park Lane, was little more than accommodation address, and its sole employee, HANNA OLAFSSON, seemed to be wearing a number of hats on behalf of the bank. The Pilatus London branch, according to Daphne Caruana and other sources, was a branch that existed only on paper, whose sole function was to move money internally, through Pilatus from Malta to the UK, to launder dirty money through real estate acquisition.
Given that no bank can exist, under UK banking regulations, without having an MLRO, Ms. Olafsson presumptively had that responsibility. No wonder Maltese authorities want to take her testimony. Excuses from bank counsel, to the effect that she was "in the dark" about the bank's true activities, is simply not credible, as are most of the statements defence counsel has made on behalf of the bank.
Ms. Ofafsson needs to come forward, as the case has been postponed indefinitely pending receipt of evidence from abroad. Whether the entire case will later be dropped, due to some flaw or error in criminal procedure, which is how justice is delayed and denied in Malta's corrupt courts, remains an open question.
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