Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/737583
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post PG 9 • Editorial WEDNESDAY • 12 OCTOBER 2016 • ISSUE 490 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Etihad 'threatens' to withdraw from Alitalia investment Abu Dhabi airline CEO says Italian government has failed to keep its promises on Alitalia which is interested in acquiring a stake in Air Malta JURGEN BALZAN ABU Dhabi airline Etihad which owns 49% of Alitalia is having second thoughts on its invest- ment in the airline because of the Italian government's failure to honour a number of promises. Various reports in the Ital- ian media say that Etihad are "threatening" to withdraw its investment after a mere 18 months, with Alitalia currently losing €500,000 a day. In an interview with Italia daily newspaper Il Corriere Della Se- ra. Etihad 's chairman and CEO James Hogan said he was "dis- appointed " with the Italian gov- ernment led by Matteo Renzi because "a num- ber of the condition precedents haven't been met." While insisting that Abu Dhabi airline is committed to Alitalia he warned that the government should do its part. "We're com- mitted to the partnership, to tackle these issues, but frankly as an investor we need Italy to support us." Earlier this year, Alitalia signed a Memorandum of Un- derstanding with ther Maltese government over the possible acquisition of 49% of Air Malta by the Italian airline. However, Prime Minister Jo- seph Muscat is very close to ter- minating the agreement signed with Alitalia in April as there are serious doubts on whether it will benefit the country and Air Malta's employees. If Etihad pull out of Alitalia, it would definitely spell the end of Alitalia's interest in Air Malta because the Italian airline's fu- ture will be on the line. Reports in the Italian media paint a bleak picture of Alitalia's future given that Etihad are only willing to invest more money in new aircraft and expand its op- erations if it is allowed to use It- aly as a hub for intercontinental f lights and carry out a restruc- turing process. One of Etihad 's main bones of contention is the Italian gov- ernment's failure to allow the airline to use Linate airport in Milan as its base for interconti- nental f lights and link Milan to the US and the Middle East. PAGE 6 MATTHEW VELLA OVER €5.3 million in deposits were made over four years in- to the Capitalone Investment Group bank account, from mainly Cypriot and Greek companies, that were later disbursed into other Cypriot companies. The Bank of Valletta trans- actions were effected follow- ing faxed instructions from Baltimore Fiduciary Services' director Richard Abdilla Cas- tillo. The transactions were hand- ed over by Bank of Valletta when it was notified on 28 De- cember 2012 that the Maltese police was pursuing "an ongo- ing money laundering investi- gation". In its request the police re- quested a survey of all transac- tions on the accounts of Capi- talOne Investment Group, which in turn revealed the slew of deposits, withdrawals and faxed banking instructions from Richard Abdilla Castillo, one of the co-directors of Bal- timore Fiduciary Services. Baltimore Fiduciary was then the owner of CapitalOne's en- tire shareholding, acting as a nominee company to hide CapitalOne's ultimate benefi- cial owner. Dutch police had alerted the Maltese of suspicions of al- leged drug trafficking when it arrested Robert Soogea and Henrique Cumberbatch in November 2012, requesting a freeze on his Malta holdings. These included his interests in CapitalOne Investment Group. While MaltaToday cannot suggest any irregularity from the transactions, these pay- ments are the smoking gun that led police investigators to request guidance on the investigation, and to forward the information to the Dutch public prosecutor seeking in- formation on the holdings of Robert Soogea. Bank of Valletta also revealed it had issued credit cards in the name of 'CapitalOne In- vestment Group / Robert Soo- gea', and other associates like Ioannis Moustos, confirming the link between the man ar- rested in the Netherlands and CapitalOne in Malta. PAGE 2 CapitalOne's €5.3 million deposits were police's smoking gun One of the bank documents BOV handed over to the police