Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/392875
TAPED dialogues that had revealed damning comments by the former Nationalist deputy mayor Cyrus Engerer in 2010 – today a Labour candidate and government advi- sor – in conversation with former Sliema mayor Joanna Gonzi, were edited out before being aired on Labour's One TV and maltastar. com back in 2012. Cyrus Engerer today serves as a consultant to at least two minis- tries. In the original tapes, deposited in court as evidence in charges the police lodged against former coun- cillors Bobby Calì (PN) and Martin Debono (PL) – who were last week acquitted of fraud and misappro- priation – Gonzi is heard saying that she "wanted [Debono and Calì] dead" and Martin Debono's mother to die of a heart attack. In the tape – aired in March 2012 when Engerer had by then turned to Labour – Engerer replies that it might be "easier to hit them with a big hammer". Gonzi replies that she "really wished them dead." maltatoday CONTINUES PAGE 9 Newspaper post CONTINUES PAGE 4 YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT FREE WITH MALTATODAY • VIDA MAGAZINE • Fashion, lifestyle, travel and more in our autumn special LAMPEDUSA, A YEAR LATER 'If my government were responsible for the deaths of 200 people, I would want to know' • 12-13 Aditus Foundation's NEIL FALZON Zahra family launch foundation towards creating safer environment for children - online and offline MATTHEW VELLA THE Malta Financial Services Authority has stated that despite its supervisory efforts, the chances that licensed entities fail "cannot be eliminated" when quizzed about the €7 mil- lion alleged misappropriation at the Maltese Cross Financial Services firm, whose books the MFSA did not inspect for six years. "Notwithstanding the Authority's supervi- sory effort, the chance that a licensed entity may fail cannot be eliminated. No supervi- sory system is waterproof and it is therefore unreasonable to expect supervisors to prevent all failures, particularly when we are dealing with humans whose behaviour might change during the years, together with their circum- stances," an MFSA spokesperson said on be- half of director-general Marianne Scicluna and chairman Joseph V. Bannister. Over the past five years, hundreds of mil- lions in investors' money has been lost by Mal- tese financial services firms and banks, who have been accused of selling complex financial instruments to retail clients, sometimes under false premises. The MFSA has often been under pressure for failing to act faster on accusations of mis- selling or to order compensation for wronged clients. But in the charges against accountant Jean Claude Bugeja, who lost over €6.2 million in clients' investments in a bid to recover a €250,000 loss, it was revealed that the MFSA had not carried out an inspection for six years, a court was told. Bugeja was said to have lost €250,000 in a €1 million investment in 2008, and then, in trying to recoup the loss, misappropriated investors' funds which he eventually lost over a six-year span. During questioning, Bugeja was said to have described the system as "very easy" to ex- ploit, claiming that the MFSA's last inspection of the company's books was in 2008. During the MFSA inspection, Bugeja told police, he gave auditors a summary of what the clients had and not what they were meant to receive, and that the MFSA auditors only checked with the banks' documents and not with the clients themselves. "No legal or regulatory system has ever guar- anteed or can ever guarantee against criminal fraud or similar wrongdoing," the MFSA said when asked about these claims in court. "There is risk in every business or profession, even where this is regulated and supervised. However, in circumstances where, through a malfunction, market malpractice or fraud, a licensed entity fails, the MFSA will take all necessary measures to safeguard investors' interests." 'Unreasonable' to expect MFSA to prevent all failures Regulator says no supervisory system is waterproof when quizzed why alleged fraudster's books had only been checked once in six years Cyrus Engerer Zahras to launch LISA MARIA FOUNDATION PG 3 One News censored embarrassing Engerer comments during secret Sliema recording MFSA chairman Joseph Bannister €1.20 SUNDAY • 5 OCTOBER 2014 • ISSUE 778 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY HUNTERS TELL COURT 'We're minority backed by 100,000, referendum on spring hunting cannot be held' PAGES 4-5