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MW 20 December 2017

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maltatoday WEDNESDAY 20 DECEMBER 2017 News 3 Dire cted by Chris Gatt & Adapted by Marylu Coppini 22nd D e cemb er to 2nd January Shows at 3pm & 7:30pm - MFCC, Ta' Qali B o oking: www.madc.com.mt YANNICK PACE MALTA has seen a rise in what are commonly referred to as CEO scams over the past year, as the European Union scram- bles to put in place a system to monitor and combat such crime, MaltaToday has learned. Such scams usually involve a company accountant or finan- cial controller receiving an email from the company's CEO (chief executive officer), with instruc- tions for them to transfer money to a particular bank account. "It's normally something relat- ed to some shipment which has gotten stuck somewhere or a de- posit on a property," Inspector Timothy Zammit, head of the Malta Police Cybercrime Unit, told MaltaToday. He said there were two ways this could happen. In some cases, the company's systems are compromised, allowing the criminal to get unauthorised access to the company's emails and employee profiles. "The other, which is quite in- teresting, is social engineering," said Zammit. "We notice that through platforms like LinkedIn or the company website one can identify a company's CEO and what his email is, as well as that of the financial controller." This then allows the attacker to create an email address, which is almost identical to the CEOs. Such scams differed from the rest because they involved a lot more effort and planning, and were also targeted at a particu- lar company or individual rather than the masses. The pay-off was also much bigger according to Zammit, who said the Cyber- crime Unit had dealt with cases where companies had lost up- wards of €250,000. Zammit wouldn't commit to a single figure for the combined amount of money lost in Malta but insisted it was definitely "a couple of million". Malta is not alone in experi- encing a rise in such scams, said Zammit, who added that Eu- ropol had also started treating such cases in the same way that it does serious organised crime. "Europol has even opened what we refer to as a focal point on CEO scams," said Zammit. "It's basically a repository of information which every coun- try contributes to. Then in cases where we get crossmatches we undertake joint operations." Given the sophisticated nature of the scam, Zammit said that reported instances of failed at- tempt were also shared with Eu- ropol in order to have as much information available as possible. He said that people have lost "tens of thousands" through such scams with one company in particular having been de- frauded out of over a quarter of a million Euros. Normally targets are people who have a private accountant or people who have made invest- ments with a stock broker, who might receive an email on their clients' behalf, asking them to sell stock and transfer the mon- ey to a specific bank account. CEO scams on the rise PAUL COCKS THE many lovers of the Italian Pandoro – not to be confused with the pannettone – will be able to enjoy their favourite soft cake this Christmas and in the future, thanks to an investment company based in Malta. On 8 December, Melegatti – the Verona company which has been producing the Pandoro since 1896 – was on the brink of collapse, and had already stopped production and notified its 300 full-time workers of the termina- tion of their employment. But at the end of last week, the company's comptrollers an- nounced they had accepted an investment from a private equi- ty fund managed by a company registered in Malta. Sources close to the deal con- firmed to MaltaToday that Abalone Asset Management Limited, set up in 2015, had committed up to €2 million in extraordinary funding while an- other Italian fund was to commit €4 million in commercial credit. The company has since already turned out 5,000 Pandoros, which it is distributing directly to retailers, having missed out on all wholesale delivery sched- ules for the festive season. The case was covered exten- sively by Italian media, which re- ported on the complaints of the 300 full-time employees and the numerous part-timers, who had yet to be able to cash the salaries for the last three months. The workers' union welcomed news of the new investment by the Malta-based equity fund and said it was looking forward to see a new plan and strategy for the longevity of the company drawn up as soon as possible. "Now we expect a serious plan of action that befits the brand's history and potential as well as recognising the responsibility shown by the workers," Maur- izio Tolotto of the Fai Cisl un- ion, said. Sources within Abalone Asset Management told MaltaToday they were quite proud to have been able to save such a promi- nent brand and product. They were also hopeful news of the investment would help counter some of the bad press Malta faced in recent weeks, having just narrowly escaped a vote in the European Par- liament on being declared a tax haven. The firm is based in Pieta and employs 13 staff. Only recently, sources said, it has reached €1 billion of assets under its manage- ment. pcocks@mediatoday.com.mt Malta-based equity fund saves Pandoro Melegatti, producer of the world-famous Pandoro since 1894, has survived bankruptcy thanks to a last-minute cash injection by a private equity fund managed by a company based in Malta history and potential as well as recognising the responsibility shown by the workers," Maur- izio Tolotto of the Fai Cisl un- Sources within Abalone Asset Management told MaltaToday they were quite proud to have been able to save such a promi- nent brand and product. They were also hopeful news of the investment would help counter some of the bad press Malta faced in recent weeks, having just narrowly escaped a vote in the European Par- liament on being declared a The firm is based in Pieta and employs 13 staff. Only recently, sources said, it has reached €1 billion of assets under its manage- pcocks@mediatoday.com.mt Melegatti, producer of the world-famous Pandoro since 1894, has survived bankruptcy thanks to a last-minute cash injection by a private equity fund managed by a company based in Malta

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