MAGISTRATE IN MALTA RULES THAT THERE IS A PRIMA FACIE CASE FOR MONEY LAUNDERING AND CORRUPTION AGAINST FORMER PM JOSEPH MUSCAT AND TWO AIDES

A magistrate judge in the Republic of Malta has found that there exists a prima facie case for money laundering and corruption against the disgraced former Prime Minister JOSEPH MUSCAT, and two of his former close associates in a prior Labour Party government. The case will now proceed to trial, although many legal observers in the EU believe the island's corrupt court system, which allows the defense to use archaic Compilation of Evidence proceedings to delay a case for years, if not decades, will defer justice to deny it. Indeed, Muscat is probably more likely to be indicted and go to trial in the United States before ever appearing in a courtroom in Malta.

Rumours continue to persist that there will be an American indictment handed down, charging Muscat as well as a number of American businessmen who were linked to the hospital scandal, in which Muscat allegedly received bribes and kickbacks in Switzerland. A Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case is believed to be the nature of a US Federal case reportedly in preparation.