When the current administration came to power in January 2021, there were multiple rumors that the leaders at the Department of Justice would start enforcing the anti-corruption laws, specifically the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), regarding Americans, several of whom were known Trump political campaign contributors, and whom had paid millions to secure or keep lucrative business relationships with the government of the Republic of Malta. Sadly, no indictments were ever issued, with the lame excuse that the January 6 cases were totally occupying DOJ, to the extent that other important matters abroad would be temporarily shelved.
Years later, none of Americans against whom there is evidence of FCPA violations in Malta have ever been indicted, and the consensus of opinion is that, like the massive corruption in the East Caribbean States, the US has obviously decided that there are other targets it prefers to focus upon abroad; justice will not be served regarding Americans who exploit Malta.
Now, with the explosion of information regarding the alleged payment of €5.9m, by an American company, into accounts of a Swiss shell corporation, and the subsequent major payments of what are claimed to be bribes and/or kickbacks to the former Prime Minister, the matter is again in the public eye, and the United States has come up short in the eyes of the European Union, which wonders whether America only takes criminal action abroad when it believes it is within its primary national interest.
Without American legal intervention in Malta, corruption and the money laundering that flows from it will continue to control domestic politics, and attract businesses from the U.S. who know that they can grease their way into substantial business relationships that allow them to take full advantage when it comes to excessive profits, verging upon theft. No wonder many Maltese have lost faith with the United States.
