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MT 29 July 2018

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13 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 JULY 2018 NEWS Egrant Inquiry Maria Efimova's four versions The FIAU Report The Conclusion Where it started The allegation: Daphne Caruana Galizia, 20 April 4.41pm • Al Sahra FZCO is a company owned by Leyla Aliyeva • The company has an account at Pilatus Bank • Around March 2016 the company transferred $1 million from its Pilatus account to a Dubai bank account belonging to Egrant Inc. • The transfer is described as a loan payment • The $1 million transaction was queried by a US correspondent bank, which delayed the transfer • A Nexia BT employee was pestering Pilatus to ensure it went through • Other loan payments of $100,000 each were made, twice a week, over several weeks between January and March 2016 between Al Sahra and Egrant The source: In her testimony Daphne Caruana Galizia identified Maria Efimova as a source for her information Version 1 She heard the $1 million transaction being mentioned in a heated conversation between Ali Sadr and Brian Tonna. Asked whether she saw the transaction or any statement, she answered: "No, about Egrant I only remember this conversation they had." Version 2 She heard the transaction being discussed between Emilia Maria Vacaru and Mehmet Tasli. Both Pilatus employees denied this. Version 3 She heard the transaction being mentioned in a conversation between Ali Sadr and Mehmet Tasli. She said she saw the beneficiary's name on the payment instruction: "Yes, I'm sure that I saw the name of the beneficiary and it was Egrant Inc." Version 4 She saw the money transaction from Sahra FZCO to Tillgate Inc.'s Dubai account, which was described as a loan payment and done in Sterling. Other transactions took place between February and March 2016. The source: A report of the compliance visit to Pilatus Bank dated May 2016 had flagged concerns on some transactions, including one to the amount of €1 million. The FIAU report is mentioned by the magistrate in his final remarks with little reference throughout the 50-page conclusions. The suggestion is that Caruana Galizia's report may have also been based on information from this report. The FIAU report, which had been leaked did not give details as to who made the €1 million transfer and to whom. Magistrate Aaron Bugeja's words "Information published by Daphne Caruana Galizia was the product of wrong interpretation of information that was equally misguided on these transactions that resulted from the FIAU compliance report on Pilatus Bank in May 2016." What the inquiry found The facts: Egrant magisterial inquiry, July 2018 • No company called Al Sahra FZCO existed • A company Sahra FZCO does exist with its owners being sisters, Leyla and Arzu Aliyeva • Another company Shams Al Sahra FZCO also exists, owned by Nijat and Tale Heydarov • Sahra FZCO and Shams Al Sahra had accounts at Pilatus Bank • Sahra FZCO did transfer millions to Dubai accounts but none of these were linked to Egrant/Tillgate/Hearnville • No loan payment transactions were found of $100,000 from Sahra, Shams Al Sahra or Al Sahra • Regular $100,000 transactions were made by Pilatus owner Ali Sadr to companies and people related to him • A forensic accountant found no physical or digital proof that Egrant Inc., Tillgate and Hearnville ever had an account at Pilatus WAR OF CONTRITION: The late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia went all-in to claim that Egrant Inc. belonged to Michelle Muscat. Instantly, all attention was focused on Pilatus Bank, owned by the Iranian-American Ali Sadr Hasheminejad (centre), who at one point had employed Russian national Maria Efimova (right), now living in Cyprus millions from its Pilatus Bank account to bank accounts in Dubai but the beneficiaries were not Egrant, Tillgate and Hearnville. Regular payments to the tune of $100,000 had been re- corded but these were made by Ali Sadr to companies and people related to him. No evi- dence emerged that such pay- ments were made to a compa- ny called Egrant. Indeed, the inquiry conclud- ed that Egrant, Tillgate and Hearnville never had accounts at Pilatus Bank and no sign of attempts to open accounts for them were found. None of these companies ever received funds from bank accounts held at Pilatus by po- litically exposed persons from Azerbaijan. The inquiry findings shot down the allegations made by Caruana Galizia on that event- ful day, 15 months ago, exon- erating the Muscats. When contacted by Malta- Today for an answer to the inconsistencies flagged by the magistrate, Efimova respond- ed from Greece that she want- ed to read an English transla- tion of the inquiry findings before commenting. ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt

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