WHAT WILL MALTA'S DO-NOTHING MINISTER OF JUSTICE DO WHEN THE PILATUS BANKS MAGISTERIAL REPORT IS LEAKED TO THE PRESS ?

                                                          Pilatus who ? Never heard of it.
 

Malta's intentionally inept Minister of Justice, Edward Zammit Lewis, has lashed out at the Shadow Minister for Justice Jason Azzopardi for having the temerity to ask for confirmation that the Magistrate's Report on  Pilatus Bank, which recommends charging bank officers, directors and MLRO with money laundering, is in the hands of the Attorney General. It's called "Shoot the Messenger," and it is what corrupt government officials in Malta do when their refusal to arrest their friends and associates is mentioned in public. They lash out any anyone with the courage to ask the hard questions.

Malta's Justice Minister is a joke; his office refuses to charge anyone affiliated with the country's ruling Labour Party with money laundering, lest that lucrative sideline be denied to them. What will happen when the Magistrate's Report  on Pilatus appears in the global press, because it is now in the hands of overseas recipients who have the intention of releasing it at a very bad time for Malta's corrupt leadership ? Rest assured that we have been advised by the holder of that report that release to the foreign press is coming soon.

Whether Zammit Lewis ends up being charged with a corruption offense in another country we cannot say, but he certainly deserves some payback in Malta for slow-walking, and even feeezing, any justice when it comes to money laundering, as Malta is currently deserving of the title" Money Laundering Capital of the European Union."  Lewis should he brought to justice forthwith.

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JOSEPH MUSCAT HAS DROPPED OUT OF SIGHT

 

                                                 Joseph Muscat by COSIMO
 

  Malta's beleaguered former Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, is nowhere to be found. He has completely dropped out of sight, and he may have permanently departed from Malta. Most observers believe that he is in Dubai, UAE, where his much-publicized no-show job offer awaits. Others claim that his final destination is Qatar, where he had patrons when he was PM.

In any event, with US criminal charges believed to be imminent, expect Muscat to be underground, seeking to evade arrest and extradition. Have any of our readers seen him overseas ? if so, feel free to take his picture and send it to us at : miamicompliance@gmail.com

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FUGITIVE FORMER SAUDI INTELLIGENCE OFFICER LIVING IN CANADA HAS A MALTA CBI PASSPORT

 

 

As many readers are aware, the Government of the Republic of Malta recently released its list of foreign nationals who received their IIM ( Citizenship by Investment) passports in 2019. Among them local media found SAAD BIN KHALID AL-JABRI, formerly a senior counter-terrorism official in the Ministry of the Interior, as well as his wife and children. Al-Jabri, who is wanted in Saudi Arabia on charges relating to  theft of $11bn in state funds, has been living in Canada for an unknown number of years. Two of his adult children, still living in Saudi Arabia, also hold IIM passports. It is not known whether he has used his Malta passport to evade arrest and extradition.

It appears that Al-Jabri obtained his CBI passport without fulfilling the requirements of one year actual residency, and making continued investments in Malta. Additionally, for a period prior to his application, he was subject to an INTERPOL Red Notice, which calls for his arrest, which is grounds for disqualification of applicants. Many  IIP passport holders have been found to have received their travel documents despite  being unqualified for application, due to a number of reasons.

The European Union has repeatedly called upon Malta to cancel its IIP program, due to the fact that it facilitates money laundering and financial crime within the EU, and that such programs should not exist among Member nations. Malta has declined, alleging that it has now added additional protections to reduce the risk of financial crime. The pending MONEYVAL evaluation of Malta will most likely address the passport issue in it soon to be released report and probable imposition of sanctions.  

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SADR SERVES THE COMPETENT PERSON AFTER HIS US CASE IS CLOSED

 The Miami attorneys for Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad, the Iranian owner of Malta's closed Pilatus Bank PLC apparently think that they can persuade the judge in US District Court, to set aside his order, which closed Sadr's Discovery petition for failure to service the respondent within a set date. They caused a summons to be issued after the case was ordered closed, and still later (January 8) effectuated service of process. What's wrong with this picture ?

I honestly don't know if this is zealous attorney advocacy, or an arrogant client insisting that they try to get a third bite of the legal apple, to obtain evidence, ostensibly to be used to gather evidence for a suit against the European Central Bank, and to, amazingly reinstate the bank's license. In truth and in fact, the bask operated as a money laundering clearinghouse, and arrests in Malta have been promised by local authorities to be imminent. The bank's license has no chance to be reinstated. In fact, Sadr has not taken any steps to move to set aside the Court's order that dismissed the petition.

It's bad enough that Sadr, through his New York attorneys, is asserting that he was exonerated, when his sanctions violation and money laundering case was dismissed for Discovery errors; now, Sadr wants to recover damages from the ECB. he has no claim, based upon the facts.

When will those clowns who are the leaders in the Malta Police file criminal charges against the owners, officers and directors of Pilatus Bank, as they have promised ? No wonder Sadr filed his US civil suit, nobody is moving against him, because of rampant corruption in Malta. Obviously, Joseph Muscat put the word out; delay the matter indefinitely. 

 

 

A NOTE TO OUR READERS ABOUT THE MOBILE VERSION OF OUR WEBPAGE

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THE TWO JOSEPHS, MUSCAT AND MIFSUD, AND A MYSTERIOUS RUSSIAN WHISTLEBLOWER

                                               Who was doing favors for whom, we ask ?

There's a lot we don't know about the connections between former Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and certain Russian nationals who had accounts at the now-closed Pilatus Bank PLC. How many were agents of Russian intelligence, and precisely what were they doing in Malta ? Muscat is known to have become visibly upset when an associate brought up the subject while he was serving as PM. We believe that he fears them, due to information about their activities that he is aware of.

                                                      Joseph Mifsud  by COSIMO

  Then, add into the mix the elusive Maltese professor, Joseph Mifsud, repeatedly implicated in the leaking of Hillary Clinton 's emails, and Russian interference in the 2016 elections, another reputed Moscow intelligence agent whose relationship to Muscat keeps showing up in our investigation. Mifsud reportedly introduced Muscat to Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister; where that meeting went we surely would like to know.

                                                           Joseph Muscat's documented relationship

Why is this important ? Buried in the massive investigation, we have been advised that there is, for lack of a better term, a Russian whistleblower, who has supplied evidence to law enforcement. How do Russians figure into the Malta money laundering cases, we ask. Remember, it was the fact that Papadopoulos worked for Mifsud that seemingly first drove the FBI to pay attention to Malta. There are also a cast of the Usual Suspects ;  Middlemen and front men in local laundering operations, some of whom are said to be represent several nationalities, may have included the so-called " "Second Whistleblower" amongst them.

While there is no means of accessing the details, soon to be unsealed indictments  in US courts, the Russian factor may be more prominent than has been publicly disclosed.

 

 

 

MALTA NERVOUSLY AWAITS THE LEGAL TSUNAMI

 

                                            The Tsunami comes ashore on Malta's beach.

  It's coming soon, and the known targets of the Malta money laundering investigation are coping by taking sleeping pills nightly, and consuming anti-depressants. For years, they have been immune from criminal prosecution on their own country, due to rampant corruption and influence peddling that has infected the court system, the Malta Police, and all government prosecutors. The arrangement made them bulletproof, or so they thought, for what foreign jurisdiction would deign to seek to extradite them for international crimes, knowing of the inherent delays that would occur in Malta's courts, if requests were made from abroad.

The Malta targets, however made a fatal mistake;  in the arrogance that often comes with major financial success in criminal ventures, they neglected to avoid criminal transactions with the nationals of a country that has broad criminal conspiracy laws, and laws held to have extraterritorial application. A foreign jurisdiction, in charging its own nationals, simply added the Maltese co-conspirators to the indictments, and what Malta's corrupt leaders though would never happen, did in fact come to pass.

 Obviously, they failed to consider the consequences of committing transnational crimes that violate US laws, with American citizens or residents. It would appear that they did not receive useful advice from their attorneys. Whether their lawyers failed to consider the international implications, or chose not to be a party to any matter involving the rendering of any advice on how to evade criminal liability we cannot say, but now the targets are looking at the arriving legal tsunami, and, failing to cooperate early on  to mitigate their exposure,  they have no means of escape.

 

WITHOUT READER SUPPORT, OUR EXPANDED COVERAGE OF THE MALTA MONEY LAUNDERING CASES WILL BE ON A SUBSCRIPTION BASIS

 

 We regret to report that reader response to our call for Donations, to cover our expanded coverage of the expected upcoming criminal case filings, has been minimal. The cases, which are believed to be be in at least two cities, have not yet been unsealed.  We need court coverage of those cases to being to our readers complete information.

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CAPE VERDE APPEALS COURT SAYS ALEX SAAB MORAN CAN BE EXRADITED TO THE UNITED STATES TO FACE MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES

 According to published reports, The Cape Verde Court of Appeal of Barlavento has enter an order approving the extradition of reputed Colombian money launderer ALEX NAIN SAAB MORAN to Miami, to face massive money laundering charges in Federal Court. This ruling approves a lower court ruling from August.  Apparently, the Court did not buy the arguments that he would not receive a fair trial, and that the charged were politically motivated.

It seems that Saab has one more appellate avenue to exhaust, the Supreme Court of Justice.

SADR LAWYERS TAKE NO FURTHER ACTION ON PILATUS BANK US SUIT

 

 

A final check of the docket regarding In Re Pilatus Bank PLC,  the petition to collect Discovery filed in US District Court in the United States,  shows no entries except a Summons issued on December 28. You may recall that the Court ordered that the bank amend its petition, and serve the respondent, the former Competent Person appointed to wind up the bank's affairs in Malta, after its license had been revoked by the European Central Bank, before Christmas. 

While no service was effectuated, counsel did ask for additional time to serve, based upon their artful interpretation of the rules on the computation of time, which might possibly have given them until the 28th to serve him.  In any event, nine days later, there is no service in the court file, so the Court must certainly now consider the case closed, as it stated in only order it has entered.

We still have no idea why the owner of Pilatus, Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad, chose Miami attorneys for a case filed in New England. Sadr's criminal case was in New York, he lives in suburban DC ( Maryland), and he is not known to have any business affairs in Florida. Whether the Malta money laundering targets should take anything from his engagement of a Miami law firm, when Matthias Krull's Venezuelan money laundering case is there, we cannot say, but perhaps Muscat and company have cause for concern from that fact.

MALTA CONTINUES TO IGNORE CASE OF MURDERED BRITISH JOURNALIST LINKED TO DAPHNE AND MONTENEGRO

 

 

There has been no press coverage in Malta of the suspected poisoning of British investigative journalist Barry Randall, and we are wondering why. Mr. Randall, the editor of Caribbean News Now, an Internet news website that had a long record of covering both Citizenship by Investment matters, and corruption issues, died after a mysterious illness that some commentators have learned was attributed to Polonium poisoning, inflicted by person or persons unknown.

Mr. Randall, who your blogger knew well, was in direct contact with the late Daphne Caruana Galizia, as both journalists had a number of professional interests in common. As we have previously reported, Randall did later receive a threat letter, sent on behalf of a wealthy Asian resident of Malta, who reportedly represented Chinese economic interests, about his reporting. That individual left Malta soon after her murder, and has not been located since.

After receiving a tip from a source, Randall urgently traveled to Montenegro, without advising anyone of the purpose of his trip. He apparently had been requested to come in person, to receive what he described as blockbuster news. Upon arrival, he dropped out of sight, only to surface in the UK later, in distress and desperately seeking a flight back to the United States. thereafter, Randall, who was previously known to be in good health, became ill and later passed away. The subsequent arrest, upon arrival in Malta, of a suspected organized crime figure, who was carrying Polonium in his baggage, raises many questions about who was responsible for the murder.

The Question: was Barry Randall, following up on information about the Wind Farm project that Daphne was investigating, and did that get him killed ? His death is the subject of a US and UK investigation, but why hasn't Malta reported on the case ? There seems to be a news blackout on the subject. 

When will the Malta Police open an investigation, or have powerful and dark forces intervened ?

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WHO WAS BEHIND THE CONTRACT KILLING IN MALTA OF THE REPUTED MONEY LAUNDERER ?

 

 Who ordered the contract killing of wealthy businessman and art dealer Christian Pandolfino  and his boyfriend ? While the police have arrested the actual killers, the identity of the man behind the brutal double murder remains a mystery. It appears to be a contract killing made to look like a home robbery. Pandolfino was an alleged money launderer for prominent, powerful clients in Malta.

Our information indicates that the alleged reason for the crime was a large financial transaction involving a "corrupt family man" who leads a secret life. We have received an email from an insider, but we cannot publish his identity without further corroboration. If any reader has first-hand knowledge of this matter, we invite you to contact us, in complete confidence, at:  miamicompliance@gmail.com

 

WILL MALTA'S NEW FREE ZONE BECOME THE FAVORED DESTINATION FOR DODGY ART LEAVING THE UK IN 2021 ?

 

If you were wondering why our last article Malta's former Prime Minister and his Free Zone Money Laundering Scheme is timely, given that  Joseph Miscat's statements about his efforts to set up a Free Zone in Malta are several months old,  think again. The New Year has brought about a major change in the laws regulating the Fine Art industry in the United Kingdom, and Mr .Muscat and his crew appear to be seeking to profit handsomely by the perceived misfortunes of certain individuals who do not want British authorities to know what museum-quality art hangs on the walls of their London mansions. By that we mean the tax man, the enforcers of the Unexplained Wealth  laws, and anti-corruption investigators.

On January 10, 2020 all "participants" who do business in the UK art market become regulated. They will be required to institute the same Due Diligence and compliance checks as banks and other regulated professions. They will be reporting cash transactions that exceed £10,000. Violators face criminal charges and could be sentenced to a term of imprisonment or be required to pay fines. The art firms must even appoint an MLRO*, to supervise the program, who will be responsible for compliance with the law.

Imagine that you are an art dealer who sells Old Masters to dodgy Russian Oligarchs and reputed organized crime kingpins living in London. You will want to assist your client to move their art laundering instruments, their million dollar paintings, to a safe haven. Imagine also that you may be both in the UK and Malta art scene; there are a few such individuals, and they are all involved in the Free Zone project.

That is where Joseph Muscat, Chris Cardona and their Merry Band of Men come in. They set up the Malta Airport Free Zone, pass laws that exempt inbound art destined for the Free Zone warehouse from the requirements of the Cultural Heritage Act, and accept the lucrative business resulting therefrom. Art whose provenance is questionable, will flow into the new Free Zone, where it will remain sealed and safe from the prying eyes of international law enforcement investigators.

Did we mention that Malta stands alone as an EU state that is NOT a signatory to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. This means that there is no EU barrier to the operation of a Free Zone in Malta. We note that the world's Free Zones of note are located outside the EU, in Switzerland, all over Asia, and the UAE.

Watch these developments in 2021:

(1) Malta's Parliament enacting a Free Zone law, complete with the creation of exceptions to both the Cultural Heritage Act and Customs law for the art being imported from abroad.

(2) Some sort of consulting relationship with known figures in the Free Zone industry.

(3) A lead role for Joseph Muscat and Chris Cardona in the Malta Free Zone.

Question: does Malta really want to become known as the depository of the world's fugitive art assets ? This will eventually attract creditors' lawyers seeking to test the validity of Malta's laws, and foreign prosecutors with seizure and forfeiture claims. Wake up, Malta, before Muscat sells your Parliament a bill of goods and walks away with a fortune in fees, leaving Malta with the resulting problems.

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* MLRO: Money Laundering Reporting Officer.

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MALTA'S FORMER PRIME MINISTER AND HIS FREE ZONE MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME

  If you were paying close attention to Joseph Muscat's post-resignation activities in early 2020, you know that he told the local press that he has, strangely, retained one matter after leaving his position as prime minister in 2019: The government project to create a Free Zone adjacent to Malta international Airport, for the deposit and storage of fine art and other items of value. Putting aside the issue as to whether this is improper, or represents a conflict of interest, his continued involvement in the Free Zone project is but another of a number of ways in which Muscat and his associates intend to use the dodgy Malta fine art sales trade to launder the proceeds of crime.

First of all, for those who are not familiar with the Free Zone concept, it allows the wealthy to transfer and park their valuable possessions in a secure warehouse setting abroad, but in a legal limbo where the items arrive outside normal customs channels, and in essence are thereafter hidden from the world indefinitely., being dropped in a sort of Black Hole. You can imagine the potential for abuse; removing illegally-acquired assets from law enforcement as well as potential claimants and creditors; for secure tax evasion, and of course for money laundering, if the items of value can later be sold in an unregulated industry or business setting. Price manipulation and fraud of the owners are also facilitated, which we will discuss in a future article.

If you require more information, I recommend my article:  How Many Money Launderers under the Microscope are Parking their Drug Cash in Free Zones ? Published June 10, 2014 on this blog. You may access the complete text here.

Malta's love affair with the Free Zone concept dates back as far as 2014, when it was first advanced, and individuals who were directly involved began looking for qualified staff with sufficient fine art education and experience to run the program, as it was anticipated that most of the items placed on deposit would be fine art. We know that former Minister Chris Cardona was also involved, and he did take a trip to a number of international destinations, including the principality of Monaco, where the Russian billionaire businessman and investor Dmitry Ryboluvlev, believed to be a backer of the project, resides. Ryboluvlev's family members reportedly hold Malta IIM (Citizenship by Investment) passports.The unexplained loss of Cardona's travel receipts, which were said to exceed €8000 for the Monaco portion of the trip alone, was never resolved.

What is unusual about the feasibility of such a project is that it anticipates international import of fine art into Malta, which would be coming in for storage and deposit in a Malta Free Zone warehouse, runs up against Malta's Cultural Heritage Act, Chapter 445 of the Laws of Malta. 

The Act, for all intents and purposes, renders the importation of art for retail sale impossible as a practical matter. When art from abroad arrives in Malta, the act requires that the Superintendent of Cultural Heritage sends a staff member to inspect the work, which involves a substantial fee. The fee applies even if the art is coming from an EU country. Once he or she certifies it as art, it generally cannot be removed from Malta as it is now, by its physical presence, actually a part of the country's cultural heritage. Buyers will not purchase fine art to remove it to their residence abroad, or for resale, due to the additional initial governmental costs, which they must absorb, and the distinct possibility that they later cannot move the art out of Malta.

Given the foregoing, How could the Government of Malta, and presently Mr. Muscat, honestly believe the Free Zone project will work, if the clients had to endure the restrictions and costs of the CulturalHheritage Act ?  Muscat was the PM for six years; why didn't he modify the Act to exclude Free Zone transfers ? it makes no sense, unless he already has factored in a remedy, such as bringing in the art outside the normal Customs laws, free of the Inspection Costs. And removing the art from Malta ? Will it also be transferred free of the Superintendent's orders ? We cannot say, but given that the laundering of criminal proceeds, tax evasion, fraud upon creditors, and other criminal activities appear to be the principal reason anyone would be interested in placing their assets in a Free Zone, Malta does not need to become a favored destination for the proceeds of International Crime.

Since Joseph Muscat is no longer prime minister of Malta, this project should not only be taken away from him, it should be cancelled, with prejudice, as just one more of his criminal enterprises that will harm Malta. Finally, as we known, he won't be around much longer to run any project.

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Note to Readers: In Part Two of this story, we shall go into details how Art Laundering works in Malta, and Joseph Muscat's long participation in what is a lucrative, but sordid, industry.

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MALTA MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION SPLITS THE LABOUR PARTY, AS EACH FACTION SEEKS TO SAVE ITSELF FROM THE COMING STORM

                                                                Joseph Muscat
 

The soon to be public American money laundering and corruption indictments have divided Malta's ruling Labour Party into two competing factions; 

(1)The hardcore faction, whose titular head is currently PM Robert Abela, though the true power resides in the hands of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who has the support of the party's oldline Dom Mintoff supporters. Abela, though, has made what many are regarding as errors in judgment since taking office, and will possibly be replaced by Easter. if so, it will most likely be former MEP Miriam Dalli.

Robert's father, George Abela, the country's former president, is currently acting as RA's advisor, and you can expect him to respond if and when JM seeks to remove his son from office. The senior Abela lost a PL leadership election to Muscat, who was supported by Malta's "Construction Mafia" kingpins and Keith Schembri.

                                                                   Robert Abela

                                                                        Miriam Dalli

(2) The moderate faction, which has no designated leader, though the de facto leader is Health Minister Chris Fearne, whose PM ambitions were thwarted by the accession of Abela, whose father was formerly President of Malta.

 

                                                                        Chris Fearne
 

The hardcore faction, which rules the party at this time, refuses to cooperate with wither US or EU law enforcement agencies investigating the rampant crime in Malta, which has affected the countries that are currently targeting the Labour Party officials implicated in money laundering and corruption.

The moderate faction, which might better be described as the whistleblower faction, as the cooperating individuals we have identified as assisting US law enforcement all are from this group, does not want the impending indictments to destroy the party, nor do they want to themselves serve long terms in an American prison. The whistleblowers have produced a substantial amount of evidence implicating several members of the hardcore faction. Some have met with investigators, and given first-hand accounts of ongoing criminal activity. It is not know whether they have received immunity from prosecution, or merely been allowed to plead to minor charges.

The question remains; which group will prevail. Will the Labour Party survive the coming storm of indictments, or will it be relegated to the dustbin of  Malta's history ? The answer is coming in 2021.