This week's money laundering news from the Republic of Malta: a senior HSBC officer was indicted last year for money laundering and fraud, but the matter was quietly orchestrated so that the media did not learn about, or report on it. Apparently he stole €1 million from bank customers and bought a large farm, complete with an exotic animal collection, moving money around accounts, Ponzi-style.
The most damning thing about the case is where tellers willingly gave him cash from client accounts, no questions asked. So much for the principle that you can always trust your banker.
Malta has literally dozens of major money laundering cases withering on the legal vine, fated never to go to trial. The legal system's antiquated "Compilation of Evidence" rules, which allow an infinite number of post-indictment hearings, allegedly to assemble the evidence, but in truth and in fact to delay ad infinitum the proceedings, where the defendants are members of the totally corrupt ruling party, Labour, which has dominated Malta since 2013.
Two major defendants, who have been barred from entry into the US due to their career criminal corrupt status, will obviously never go to trial. official corruption is simply too ingrained in the DNA of PL to be excised. My advice to the world's compliance officers: block any and all significant wire transfers TO or FROM Maltese banks, including the local branches of foreign financial institutions. The banks of the country are simply too far gone with systemic money laundering to be trusted. You may rue the day you allowed funds transfers from there.
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