Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1406390
LUKE VELLA BERNARD Grech has pledged that a Nationalist government will not reverse the extension of development zones undertaken in 2006, insisting no develop- ment rights will be taken away. The Opposition leader stopped short of acknowledging that the 2006 extension of development boundaries undertaken by a Nationalist administration was mistaken, insisting the develop- ment spree of recent years was the Labour government's doing. "We will not be taking away the development rights acquired by people," he insisted when asked whether a PN government will reduce development boundaries. But Grech also stopped short of saying which planning policies should be changed or reversed to control the development spree, opting to focus on the incon- venience caused by construction work instead. He added that that there is a need for more proportionate development and beautification of neighbourhoods, but did not mention concrete proposals that would address rampant overde- velopment. Grech said the PN has the en- vironment and the quality of life of the Maltese at heart as he announced a working group within the party that will be de- veloping environmental policies. The working group dubbed PN Greens is headed by candidate and animal lover Janice Chetcu- ti. Grech called for more people who want to leave a mark on the environment, to join the PN, even if they do not usually ap- pertain to the party. Chetcuti said that the work- ing group will "seek what's best for the country and what's best for the Maltese". She invited all those with a genuine inter- est and possibly even a diverse opinion, including hunters that do their utmost to preserve and protect trees. Both Chetcuti and Grech said the PN will be respecting the decision taken in a 2015 referen- dum to keep spring hunting. Chetcuti also remarked that the input from both hunting NGOs and bird conservation groups is needed. She criticised the government for environmental schemes that are too complex and for aban- doning most projects, like plant- ed trees in gardens that are dy- ing because they are not being watered. Chetcuti said that as a mother of two children, she had lately been finding it much more diffi- cult to find open spaces for the recreation of her family. PN secretary-general Michael Piccinino said that PN Greens would be open to all those who want to work for change for the good of the environment. 3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 01 SEPTEMBER 2021 NEWS PN's green aim,but no reversal of local plans Janice Chetcuti Bernard Grech FIAU flags 'lax approach' in Pilatus Bank operations CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 WHEN documentary evidence was obtained by the bank, no consideration was given as to whether such evidence was suf- ficient or whether it made sense in the first place. At times, the bank was even of- fering loans secured against cash held at the bank without a clear rationale and without the bank considering whether the loan granted would make economic sense. Loans were being offered without any economic rationale even for the bank itself, in view of interest never being paid, and were also being used to conceal the true source of funds. The bank itself would prepare documentation for its custom- ers in order to justify accepting an exceptional high amount of funds not he premise that these related to dividend distribution, even though the bank knew that these had not been paid out or that they could only provide a justification for part of the ex- pected account activity. There were also conflicting explanations not he move- ment and channelling of funds through various entities and legal arrangements, as well as contradictory information as to the source of funds. According to the FIAU, the Bank relied heavily on gener- ic information provided by its customers, "which was not even considered to be sufficient to es- tablish the customer profile for normal risk customers". 15 customers, €390 million turnover In 15 of the files reviewed, the source of wealth (SOW) and ex- pected SOF was indicated as be- ing in part or in full being gen- erated fro the operations of the same business operation, mean- ing that 15 customers were be- ing funded by the same business activity. "However, it was observed that were one to combine the ex- pected annual turnover of the 15 customers abovementioned, this would amount to a total of circa €390 million. Howev- er, the financial statements in question referred to compre- hensive income of €23.5 million – the shortfall between the two amounts had to be considered as too significant to ignore." In another instance, Pilatus Bank provided documentation stating that the account turn- over for a particular customer will be €5 million. This custom- er turned out to be a well-known entrepreneur in the United Ar- ab Emirates and Azerbaijan, in- volved in the agriculture, retail and construction industries. "However, there were no de- tails of the customer's own as- sets (apart from names of cor- porate entities owned by the customer) and evidence of the business earnings obtained from the same. " For another customer, whose wealth is estimated to be in the €100 million region, Pilatus Bank "failed to obtain the nec- essary documentary evidence to substantiate the SOW of the customer". Sketchy loan agreements and no transaction scrutiny On transaction scrutiny, the FIAU found that Pilatus Bank allowed transactions to pass through its customers' accounts relatively freely, and that this was the case in 86% of the cus- tomer files reviewed. "Albeit the customers were us- ing sketchy loan agreements and invoices to transfer money to and from each other, the Bank failed to inquire further with its customers to ascertain the veracity of the rationale behind the transfers taking place." The FIAU referred to one cus- tomer who transferred over $3 million to an external company under the guise of a loan. The only document available was a letter confirming that the com- pany had been appointed by the customer to act as its agent in the UAE - no reference was made to the said loan. A particularly suspicious case involves a customer who was provided with a $6.5 million loan from Pilatus Bank, secured with its own funds. "The Bank did not question what could be the reason for requesting such a loan rather than making use of one's own funds. When one considers that the customer was to incur interest on the funds borrowed and could not make use of its own funds, the eco- nomic rationale behind such the transaction becomes even more doubtful." The FIAU said of particular concern was the bank's "lax ap- proach" towards both its due diligence and enhanced due dil- igence obligations despite being set up purely to serve high-risk customers. "It must be remarked that the Supervisory Committee could not in any way ignore the bank's direct or indirect exposure to a series of connections with fig- ures from the Caucasus region considered to present extreme risks of money laundering," the FIAU said. Pilatus shuttered Pilatus Bank was shuttered in November 2018 when the Eu- ropean Central Bank revoked its license two years after it was first implicated in alleged mon- ey laundering breaches. The bank was thrown into the spotlight just before the 2017 general election when Daphne Caruana Galizia alleged that the former prime minister's wife Michelle Muscat owned the Panama company Egrant, which had an account at Pilatus. A magisterial inquiry into the allegations found no such ac- count attested to Egrant or Mi- chelle Muscat and dismissed the claims. The bank's owner, Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, an Iranian na- tional, was eventually arrest- ed in the US and charged with breaching sanctions against Venezuela. The case against Hasheminejad was eventually abandoned.