Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/958047
maltatoday SUNDAY 25 MARCH 2018 4 News CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 According to her lawyer, there was a 30-day window within which the file had to be sent, with a decision on her case ex- pected roughly within a month of its arrival. He went on to say that Efimova would be fighting her extradi- tion to Malta because she feared for her safety and that she would not be granted a fair trial. As to the grounds upon which the arrest warrant would be challenged, Papastergiopoulous said he did not yet have a clear strategy since he had not seen all the relevant documents, but said he was convinced a strong case could be made, mainly since he believes the charges against Efimova did not merit a European arrest warrant being issued. A senior police official who spoke to MaltaToday alleged that the European arrest war- rants had nothing to do with the Caruana Galizia claims. How- ever, the warrants were issued after the Egrant story broke last year, prompting many, includ- ing Efimova herself, to believe that they were issued as a means of intimidation. "The warrant was issued after she failed to turn up in court to give testimony in cases which pre-dated the Egrant allega- tions," said the source, adding that warrants could be issued by any judicial authority. The source added that as an EU member state Greece could not refuse to extradite Efimova. "The warrant is for her to be brought to testify. Once she does so, she is free to go back to Greece." Anti-corruption prosecutor wants information on Pilatus Bank Asked whether he had been con- tacted by the Greece's corruption prosecutor for Efimova to testify, Papastergiopoulous confirmed that the prosecutor had requested a meeting to determine whether Efimova had any information on corruption or illegalities relating to Greece. "She [the prosecutor] wants to know whether Efimova has any documents from the bank show- ing corruption that could be linked to Greece," he said. Papastergiopoulous confirmed that the prosecutor had no juris- diction to investigate crimes or al- legations related to Maltese affairs. Efimova grateful for solidarity Greek MEP Stelios Kouloglou, who has been in contact with Efi- mova over the last two months, said that Efimova was in good health, and being treated very well in prison. Speaking to MaltaToday after visiting Efimova in prison, Koulo- glou said he had met with Efimova and the director of the prison where she was incarcerated, dur- ing which he asked him to thank "everybody" for their solidarity, especially Caruana Galizia's sons. Asked about claims that the case was on Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' desk, and that she was likely to be granted asylum, he too said it was unlikely that such a request would be entertained. He said he could not state whether Tsipras had taken an in- terest in the case, but stressed that Greece had also "taken an interest in fighting corruption". ypace@mediatoday.com.mt MATTHEW VELLA MEMBERS of the European Parliament who visited Malta on a "rule of law" fact-finding mission are to reiterate a call to the European Central Bank to withdraw Pilatus Bank's banking licence in Malta. Earlier this week however, a spokesperson for the ECB told MaltaToday it had no supervisory over- sight on Pilatus Bank, after it was contacted over news of the arrest of chairman Ali Sadr Hashemine- jad in the United States on charges of breaching US sanctions against Iran. "The ECB does not supervise this bank and any action must therefore start from the MFSA," a spokesperson told MaltaToday. The MFSA has since frozen all asset movements in the bank by its directors and shareholders. Casa has called the action "farcical". The spokesperson said Casa was told by the ECB that it could not act on the matter. "We are aware of the allegations, but this is a bank-specific issue and something in the court of the MFSA," the spokes- person told this newspaper. A spokesperson for Casa is however contesting the comment as a definitive reply to the MEP, and cited the legal grounds empowering the ECB to fully intervene in the matter and withdraw the private bank's licence. "The ECB has a duty to intervene. Pilatus has made government corruption possible. It is the financial intermediary that receives, conceals and transfers illicit funds. Any con- tinued operation of this bank implies the possible continuation of criminal activity. The bank must be closed down." Hasheminejad's arrest by a New York dis- trict attorney on bank fraud, money laundering and breach of US sanctions was uncon- nected to the complaints Casa first had filed with the ECB. In April 2017 the bank was implicated in the Egrant mag- isterial inquiry, kick-started on a complaint by the Prime Minister into allegations by the late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that the bank had processed a $1 million transaction from the Aliyev ruling family of Azerbaijan, to his wife. In his letter to the ECB Casa was unequivocal about the bank run by Hasheminejad, who holds a St Kitts & Nevis passport, and is the son of one of Iran's richest men, banker Seyed Mohammad Sadr Hasheminejad. "The fact that the evidence directly links the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta to Pilatus Bank suggests that this money laundering outfit will continue to operate within the European Union with impunity unless the ECB uses the legal powers it has at its disposal to intervene," Casa told the ECB. The MEP has sent similar reports to the Council of Europe's MONEYVAL group, as well as to the Egmont Group, which groups some 155 financial intelligence units, asking them to mark every trans- action originating from Pilatus bank to be marked as "suspicious and be investigated." Pilatus denied hosting any accounts for the Mus- cat family, and provided the inquiring magistrate with its core banking platform and IT system for the investigation. The inquiry is stil ongonig. In 2016, Malta's FIAU (Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit) director Manfred Galdes sent a re- quest to the Commissioner of Police to investigate suspicious transactions at Pilatus Bank. But police commissioner Michael Cassar resigned two weeks after receiving the letter in April 2016, and the in- vestigation was never taken up. In 2017, the classified FIAU reports were leaked, revealing a suspicious €100,000 pay- ment from Nexia BT partner Brian Tonna, to the PM's chief of staff Keith Schembri. A magisterial inquiry is now underway on al- legations by former PN leader Simon Busuttil that the money was a kick- back by Tonna on the sale of Mal- tese ctizenship. "The bank was used in two instances by Keith Schembri and his associates to launder the proceeds of corruption, namely from the sale of Maltese passports," Casa said. MEP insists ECB still assessing request to withdraw Pilatus licence bank's licence. "The ECB has a duty to intervene. Pilatus has made government corruption possible. It is the financial intermediary that receives, conceals and transfers illicit funds. Any con- tinued operation of this bank implies the possible continuation of criminal activity. The bank must be closed down." Hasheminejad's arrest by a New York dis- nected to the complaints Casa In April 2017 the bank was implicated in the Egrant mag- isterial inquiry, kick-started on a complaint by the Prime Minister into allegations by the late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that the bank had processed a commissioner Michael Cassar resigned two weeks after receiving the letter in April 2016, and the in- vestigation was never taken up. In 2017, the classified FIAU reports were leaked, revealing a suspicious €100,000 pay- ment from Nexia BT partner Brian Tonna, to the PM's chief of staff Keith Schembri. A magisterial inquiry is now underway on al- legations by former PN leader Simon Busuttil that the money was a kick- back by Tonna on the sale of Mal- tese ctizenship. "The bank was used in two instances by Keith Schembri and his associates Nationalist MEP David Casa Ferris request Activists hung posters outside the Greek embassy on Friday night, calling on Greek PM Alexis Tsipras to protect Maria Efimova Efimova to fight arrest warrant for failing to testify in cases pre-dating Egrant allegations