Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/516462
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 MAY 2015 News 9 one of glamour and outright he- donism, dating Dutch glamour model Talitha van Zon, the model Vanessa Hessler and having Be- yoncé and Mariah Carey sing at his parties. He bragged of having had a prof- ligate $2 million-a-month spend- ing habit, according to van Zon, who was famously evacuated to Malta with her arm in a plaster cast after jumping out of the balcony of a Gaddafi compound as NTC rebels attacked. She recounted her private world of luxury with Mua- tassim: dinner with Princess Caro- line of Monaco, annual holidays in the Caribbean island of Saint Barts, flying by private Boeing, and holidays in Paris and London with several floors of the most expensive hotels booked for his friends. Now Bank of Valletta platinum card statements released by the Wall Street Journal attest to Mua- tassim's life of luxury and impul- sive purchases. Thousands spent in city breaks at Dolce & Gabbana, Hermes, Emporio Armai and Ver- sace outlets; picking up the €4,000 tabs at the Buddha Bar in New York or Tokyo's Roppongi Chic; and spending €21,000 over four days for a Courchevel chalet, win- ing and dining. The documents were exclusively revealed by the WSJ even though they form part of behind-closed- doors proceedings brought by the Libyan state against the unknown heirs of Gaddafi. The Libyan state wants the Mal- tese Attorney General to identify funds held by the Gaddafis in the company Capital Resources Ltd, under a mutual legal assistance treaty. Muatassim Gaddafi was the sole shareholder in Capital Resources Ltd, set up in June 2010 by audi- tor Joe Sammut – a reference point for Libyan businessmen today – to hold all assets under Gaddafi's as- sumed name Muatasimbllah Mua- mmar Abuminyar. Also registered at the same ad- dress as Capital Resources was Mezen International, the company in whose name Muatassim was is- sued with a BOV Visa Platinum Card. In Malta, payments of €50,000 were effected in one single deposit to zero his maxed-out credit card. The Maltese Attorney General has no intention of releasing the cash unless the office knows there is a properly-mandated author- ity to receive the money. With Libya roughly split between the internationally-recognised Tobruk government and the 'Libya Dawn' rival in Tripoli, the money is going nowhere fast. The Libyan Attorney General says that Capital Resources Ltd has assets far in excess of what it could have legitimately earned. Libya was said to have accused Bank of Val- letta of having violated know-your-customer rules that should have prevented it from opening an account for Gaddafi in the first place. "The bank stood to profit from the re- lationship because his deposits were a cheap source of funding and his massive credit- card transactions generated fees," the Wall Street Journal reported. Sammut, whose testimony was also given behind closed doors, said in court that he discussed the transactions with Bank of Valletta and then decided not to report them to Maltese authorities. He remains a point of reference for Libyan businessmen fleeing turmoil in their country, hous- ing companies like tourism and real estate company Mabco, run by businessman Jalal Baayou; Ferasa International Trading & Construc- tion, owned by Zuhir Abdusalam Almuntasar; Lamar International Group, headed by Naser al Jerrari, Jawal, headed by Abdulmoneim Abulghasseim, and West Tripoli and Tripoli Stone Company. On his part, BOV's chief execu- tive, Charles Borg, said that neither the bank nor its executives are un- der investigation for any wrongdo- ing related to Gaddafi's accounts. He said the bank applies strict due diligence on its customers. Libyan-owned Milano Due to rise to 12 levels THE Milano Due hotel in Gzira is set to rise from the current eight storeys and penthouse to 12 storeys. The application presented by Fauzi Elwalda foresees the demolition of the existing hotel and the construc- tion of a 116-room replacement on 10 storeys and an additional inter- mediate floor and a penthouse level. The hotel will be overlooking the Strand as well as Henry Bouv- erie Street. The Libyan Arab Mal- tese Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO) owns the hotel. Elwaldi is listed as a director of LAFICO. The new hotel will also include an out- door and indoor pool at room level and a multipurpose hall and gym in the intermediate level. The new policy on hotel heights permits hotels to rise two floors above what is permitted in the local plan. Along the Strand current poli- cies limit heights to seven floors and a penthouse. Moreover Gzira is one of the localities where over 10 sto- rey buildings can be permitted ac- cording to another policy regulating building heights. letta of having violated know-your-customer rules that should have prevented it from opening an account for Gaddafi in the first "The bank stood to Sammut, whose testimony was also given behind closed doors, said in court that he discussed the transactions with Bank of Valletta businessman Jalal Baayou; Ferasa International Trading & Construc- without his BOV platinum