Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/741600
2 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2016 News Sadeen seeks permits for three new buildings for Bormla campus JAMES DEBONO THE company behind the private univer- sity at Zonqor Point, Sadeen Education Investments, has presented a planning application to build an additional floor on the knights' building and three new buildings in Bormla's Dock Number 1 area. The historical building, used as a galley storehouse by the Knights of Malta, will see substantial internal alterations to ac- commodate classrooms and workshops set over six levels. A top floor had been added in 1804 to house a ropewalk. Dock Number 1, which will host part of the American University of Malta's cam- pus, will also see the erection of three new buildings and underground parking over which a student accommodation building will be constructed. The application foresees the construc- tion of a modern standalone administra- tive building, set over five levels between the British and the Knights building, and a new wing for the Knights building along Triq 31 ta' Marzu, also set over five levels. Sadeen has also applied for the excava- tion of the existing surface car park in Triq San Pawl, and the construction of a multi-level underground parking with a four-storey student accommodation building above. In August, Sadeen was issued with a permit to allow the development of a campus on the site of the British build- ing in Dock 1 in Cospicua. This was ap- proved by the Planning Authority despite a lack of a master plan for the whole site. On that occasion architect Edwin Mint- off announced that the master plan for the whole area was still being drafted and would address the area comprehensively; that master plan would assess the pro- vision of parking space for the campus. He also claimed that the site known as St Paul's car park would be enough to cater for the parking demand of the project. No application has so far been submit- ted for any development on Sadeen's Zonqor site in Marsaskala, 18,000 square metres of which are controversially out- side the development boundaries. In Au- gust, Dr Nasser Zayyat, the university's academic head, announced that a master plan for the Zonqor campus was still be- ing drafted. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt CapitalOne 'owner' had been convicted of securities fraud CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In Greece, Ioannis Moustos's name is not new, with a colourful history that in- cludes securities fraud and ongoing legal troubles. Earlier this year, Baltimore Fidu- ciary Services sold off CapitalOne Investment Group to Moustos – ef- fectively 'returning' the company to its owner, almost three years since a police investigation into the com- pany appeared to have been shelved by Maltese police. Beppe Fenech Adami, the Na- tionalist MP who was a Baltimore director, resigned his directorship in January 2014. MaltaToday has reported that the police marked the CapitalOne file 'PU' – 'put away' – in December 2013. Earlier, in January 2013, the file was marked 'BU, three months' – 'bring up in three months' – when investigators alerted top brass of the presence of a politically exposed person in Bal- timore. In 2000, Greek businessman Mou- stos was fined 80 million drachmas (€234,000) over insider information connected to the shares of the com- pany Electra, and in 2001 he faced new legal troubles when charged with securities fraud on the transfer of shares in the Tasoglou company. He had to pay bail of 100 million drachmas (€290,000), as CEO of the brokerage firm Lead Capital, after being charged with direct complic- ity in the fraud of 1.1 billion (€3.2 million) drachmas and money laun- dering, according to newspaper Kathimerini. In 2002, the Greek Capital Market Commission fined Moustos €1.46 million for the Tasoglou securities fraud. He filed an appeal with the administrative courts but he lost the case in 2013, when the Council of State decided that the fine was fair. In 2007 he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, suspended for three years, for the Tasoglou securi- ties fraud. Moustos and another 35 persons are now facing charges of felony for fraud and money laundering through securities transactions in 1999 and 2000. Although first acquitted, the Supreme Court re- versed the judgement. Throughout this period, in 2011, Moustos attempted to list his com- pany Avacom on the Cypriot stock exchange. According to documentation seen by MaltaToday, Avacom's shares were held by TopCapital Holdings Ltd (70%), while the rest was split between Senoblema Trad- ing and Chiriphera Enterprises. All three companies were reportedly subsidiaries of CapitalOne Invest- ment Group at one time, while Gillesa Shipping was the ultimate beneficial owner of CapitalOne. The owner of Gillesa Shipping was, at the time, Moustos's then wife, Anna Maria Logothetis. But a journalist for a Greek financial newspaper told MaltaToday that it was likely Moustos wanted to hide his real ownership. But most of these companies are today no longer trading, having been used by CapitalOne to pur- chase a controlling stake in the GATS tourism group. MaltaToday has also indepen- dently confirmed that Moustos registered an offshore company in Panama, MCM Petroleum SA, in 1997. Moustos was also attempting to open a bank in Malta, a venture for which he was preparing with a request to the MFSA to raise his authorized share capital to €200 million. When he was unable to obtain a licence in Malta, in June 2013 he registered the company First Mer- chant banking corporation, in Lon- don. Right: Ioannis Moustos has told Greek television that CapitalOne was owned by his ex-wife (left) the TV star Anna Maria Logothetis, which means she could have been hiding his real ownership Top: the frontal elevation of the Knights bulding, which will have an extra floor added, and right: the accomodation building for students. Bottom: the administration building and the new wing as it appears in the architectural plans