Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1311619
13 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 NOVEMBER 2020 "Very often, investigations require cooperation from various other enti- ties, local and foreign. Gathering the information in itself could be a lengthy process, and so are analysis and inves- tigation. The nature of these crimes, mostly being carried out digitally on computers, moving numbers around, means that our investigations must be a hundred per cent on point, to be able to prove without a shadow of a doubt what happened. We very rarely have smoking guns, there are no murder weapons to be found, or fingerprints to be exam- ined. And yet, we are successful." Mamo was appointed head of the FCID on 1 July and since then, she said, her department had charged 15 people and one commercial entity with mon- ey laundering in eight cases brought to court. She oversees two units: one investi- gates money laundering and the financ- ing of terrorism and the other focuses on economic crimes. A superintendent is in charge of each unit, with 21 inspec- tors and investigating teams overall. The department is based in new offic- es in Santa Venera, where Konrad Miz- zi and Keith Schembri were brought under arrest for interrogation at the beginning of this week. The offices in- clude interrogation rooms and lock-up cells just for this purpose. "We are in the middle of a tsunami, but I want to bring this ship to port, despite the tide being against us," she said. "The work is stressful and we are constantly under scrutiny, but I am determined to make this department a success." And that does not necessarily mean convictions and arrests, because her department is also tasked with a myr- iad of other duties. Chief among these at the moment is the police corps' re- port for Moneyval, the Council of Eu- rope's monitoring body entrusted with the task of assessing compliance with the principal international standards to counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and which will decide if Malta is to be grey-listed in its upcoming report. "I want to be sure that our contribu- tion to Moneyval helps raise our stand- ing," Mamo said. She said she had found a lot of coop- eration by Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà but insisted that he has never in- terfered in her work or that of her sub- ordinates. Nor has she met any political interference. "Absolutely not. Never and no one," she said. Mamo said that her dealings with for- eign counterparts highlighted the need for the department to be constantly aware of developments in the field, al- though she claims the quality and lev- el of training of Maltese investigators compared quite favourably to those abroad. "Some of our officers are law- yers, others are accountants and gradu- ates in business management," she said. "But we all submit ourselves to contin- uous training and research, and that is indispensable in our line of work." That work includes continuing so- called 'high complex investigations' launched before Mamo took over the department, with some of those cases involving PEPs and most being part of a magisterial inquiry. "When I took over, I told my team to review all the open pending cases and to determine wheth- er any of them needed to be closed with- out leading to any prosecution, because that would not be fair on the persons involved," Mamo said. "But these high complex cases will remain open and we will pursue our analysis and investiga- tions." She insisted that each case is tackled with the same zeal and attention, irre- spective of the subject under investiga- tion. Because to do otherwise, she said, would be a breach of the oath each of- ficer takes upon joining the corps. Mamo is also the only one woman of 13 assistant commissioners, but she says she enjoys a very close camraderie with her colleagues. "Women in the corps are no longer a rare oddity," she said. "I am glad that more women officers are rising in the ranks every year, as I be- lieve we have a lot to offer, as much as the men at least." And after 31 years in the corps, AC Mamo recognises it takes sacrifice and determination to reach the success she has, but she says she would do it all over again if she had to. "No regrets, none whatsoever," she said. AC Alessandra Mamo