Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/739032
2 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2016 News Pumping out diesel… from inside a garage! PAUL COCKS A garage in a residential area in Mosta is raising concern among many of the residents in the vi- cinity as it has become apparent that the owners – Silverstar Ga- rage and Car Rentals – are using the garage to store and distribute diesel to numerous vehicles. MaltaToday received a number of complaints from residents in Triq il-Kultellaz in Mosta on the safety and health hazards they could suffer by having a diesel storage and pump in a garage in the area. When contacted, Silverstar owner Rennie Zammit denied that the company had a reservoir or pump in the garage in ques- tion and that they only kept a very small volume of diesel in reserve for the vehicle rental fleet. "There are no pumps, and we only store a very small volume in the garage to use in case of emer- gency, at night for example, for our own vehicles," he said. The Environmental and Re- sources Authority confirmed that no environmental permit for a diesel pump in Triq il-Kultellaz had ever been issued. "We have checked our environ- mental permitting records and confirm that we have no applica- tions for a petrol or diesel pump in Triq il-Kultellazz, Mosta," their email read. On Friday morning, MaltaTo- day witnessed a fuel bowser dis- pensing diesel at the garage, while a number of minivans and a coach lined up behind it. When the bowser was done – after more than 30 minutes – the vans and coach moved up in front of the garage, where a man pulled a fuel pipe – with a black nozzle like those seen on diesel pumps at petrol stations – out to the wait- ing vehicles and topped their die- sel tanks in turn. Zammit insisted that the com- pany only stored a very small Residents in an area of Mosta have expressed concern that a diesel reservoir and pump are housed in a garage in a residential area, with flats all around Vans and coaches line up to fill up fuel tanks before school transport runs Swedish pensions authority suing Falcon Funds for damages CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "We now expect them to comply with out request and carry out an orderly and responsible re- demption, in order to return as much of the savers' money as possible." Falcon Funds, through its public rela- tions agency, has said it has returned €67 million so far and that it plans to return more in the coming week. "A total divestment of the funds will be made in an orderly fashion to safeguard the value of the pension savers' invest- ments," Falcon Funds said, saying the money would be returned "within a few months". But the SPA is insisting that the value of savings inside Falcon Funds will "in all likelihood" have a lower value than originally invested because of "harmful investments" that inflated the value of the savings. Falcon Funds has retorted that the SPA's insistence that €154 million are held in "illiquid assets" – meaning se- curities that cannot be easily sold or ex- changed for cash without a substantial loss in value – was an exaggeration. "All the funds' investments are UCITS-eligi- ble. The directors of Falcon Funds Sicav plc do not share the SPA's concern over the value of the funds. The board will cooperate fully with any investigations that may be undertaken." But the SPA told MaltaToday that Falcon Funds appealed, and lost, in three administration courts, as well as having sued the SPA in a Stock- holm district court. The SPA has coun- ter-sued Falcon Funds. "Since 15 June we tried to establish a dialogue with them so that they follow the redemption order. Unfortunately, we have seen nothing that resembles a redemption plan yet. And no money." The authority's spokesperson added that it would be up to the police to de- termine the culpability of individuals involved in Falcon Funds. "We gave a very thorough statement of facts to the Swedish economic crimes authority. We described events that we believe are of a criminal nature." Falcon Funds was deregistered from Sweden's private pension platform in August, and its three sub-funds will be removed from pension savers accounts in November, with these holdings trans- ferred to the government-owned fund AP7. The SPA said that if there are in- sufficient funds, it will be savers who will bear the risk for their accounts. "As the SPA has already sued Falcon at the Stockholm district court, individual sav- ers don't need to do anything. We sue the company on their behalf and any damages the lawsuit results in, will automatically be allocated to their accounts as compen- sation." Misled savers The Falcon Funds saga became a mat- ter of national concern in Sweden when complaints flooded in from savers who said they were misled into switching their private pension accounts, by operators of the call centre Konsumentkraft. A television exposé on Swedish TV's Kjalla Fakta (Cold Facts) later revealed Falcon Asset Management Falcon Asset Holdings Directors: Tonio Depasquale, Guido Mizzi Directors: Tonio Depasquale, Guido Mizzi Farrell resigned director- ship in FAM in March 2016 FALCON FUNDS Sicav Directors: Tonio Fenech, Joseph Xuereb, Ian Zammit created 22/11/13 created 27/7/15 created 31/7/15 Temple Asset Management Owners: CAM (BVI) and Anthony Farrell Comino Holding LLP (London) Falcon Gozo • Falcon Comino (Isle of Man) Temple manages Falcon Funds, but its Floriana building also houses Falcon Asset Managament In February 2016, Ing- manson transferred his one share in Falcon Asset Management to Falcon Asset Hold- ings, and onwards to Comino Holding LLP in London. Falcon Gozo and Falcon Comino's real owners are hidden behind Isle of Man nominees. owned by Emil Amir Ingmanson was named by Temple Asset Management as the ultimate beneficial owner of Falcon Asset Management When €216 million in pension savings transferred from Insiderfonda pension fund to Optimus, which later became Falcon Funds, the Swedish pensions authority suspected foul play created April 2015 Emil Amir Ingmanson