Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/975483
maltatoday SUNDAY 29 APRIL 2018 4 News The Office of the Attorney General is inviting applications for a post in the grade of Trainee Lawyer (Legal Drafting). The selected candidates will be employed on a full-time basis and will be required to work for a minimum of forty hours per week. Applicants must be in possession of a LL.D. degree. Letters of application, including a detailed CV, should be addressed to: Human Resources (Jobsplus Permit 591/2017) Office of the Attorney General, The Palace, St. George's Square Valletta or Email to: ag@gov.mt by not later than Friday, 11th May 2018 at noon. POST OF TRAINEE LAWYER (LEGAL DRAFTING)AT THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TIA RELJIC FORMER Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has set much store by the international press reports in The Daphne Project, to claim a possible link between the Maltese govern- ment and the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. He told Saviour Balzan in an ex- tended interview for TVM's Xtra that he is "merely quoting" the in- ternational press reports, which re- ported witnesses who claim to have seen minister Chris Cardona at a Siggiewi bar speaking to the men suspected of having assassinated Caruana Galizia, before and after the murder. "For the first time a minister has been found to be linked," Busuttil, today the PN's spokesperson for good governance, said. "A week passed since then. How have the police not interrogated him yet?" Cardona has already submitted his own declaration to the police. But Busuttil has stopped short of saying whether he believes in a political mastermind behind the murder of Caruana Galizia. "God forbid that a minister was involved. But I want the truth, and I want to know if a minister was in fact in- volved – and if he is, he would need to shoulder both political and crim- inal responsibility." "I am not saying that someone is guilty or innocent. I am just say- ing that the police should do their job," he said, adding that the Prime Minister should have suspended Cardona until investigations are complete. "If an unfounded allegation were to be made against you, does this mean that you should resign, even if it were nothing more than a lie?" Balzan asked, while implying that Cardona's reputation was already burdened. Busuttil railed against Joseph Muscat's intention to present a popular show of force on Inter- national Worker's Day on Tues- day, 1 May, as a "response" to the Daphne Project reports. "It's not an appropriate response from a seri- ous politician," while claiming that the journalists' exposés are strong enough to have "already taken down the government." He said Muscat was sending a message that people should stay silent after Labour won the 2017 election with a record consecutive 36,000-vote majority. "Democracy doesn't work this way. The world is watching us to see how we will react. The response cannot be 'be- cause I won the election'." Busuttil clarified that he was not accusing anyone of guilt. "I just want an investigation to take place... [and] the Prime Minister to shoulder political responsibility... Political and legal responsibility are separate, however, and taking political responsibility should not depend on whether one is found guilty or not... Resignations should happen as soon as there are doubts or suspicions – until the politicians' names are cleared." The stories so far have also re- vealed a connection between Mus- cat's aide Keith Schembri's Panama company and a Dubai company that is possibly connected to the agent of the LNG tanker; and sug- gestions that ElectroGas partner SOCAR has procured gas at a high- er rate for the Delimara plant. He said news of Schembri's knowledge of the mysterious Dubai company 17 Black and its connec- tion to his Panama company was "explosive". He also said that the private bank Pilatus should have been immedi- ately shuttered over allegations of kickbacks and money laundering. "It is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to see that the institutions work as they should. But the Prime Minister did the opposite. He in- stead went to Ali Sadr Hashemine- jad's wedding and became friends with him. According to the FIAU, it was Keith Schembri who put pres- sure so that the MFSA licenses the bank. Between the reputation of Malta and Ali Sadir, Muscat chose Ali Sadr." Busuttil: Workers' Day show of force 'inappropriate' CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 But the red flag raised by the FIAU was not deemed serious enough for immediate inter- vention by the MFSA. The compliance visit was later followed up with explanations from Pilatus, their advi- sors KPMG and the Camilleri Preziosi legal firm, and finally after Galdes resigned from the FIAU, with a clean bill of health from the FIAU in September 2016. Meanwhile Bartolo's comments to MEPs this week seemed to play down the extent to which the MFSA was informed of the risks posed by Ali Sadr Hasheminejad and his bank. "Regulators cannot act on intelligence which is not supported… confirmed. Regu- latory action needs to be taken not simply on suspicion but on factual evidence," he told MEPs. "Many times regulators are in a very dif- ficult situation, having intelligence that is a whisper in the ear. But you cannot use it because you need a sound basis on which to act, because you might prejudice what an- other country is doing," he said – referring to the FBI's sanctions-busting investigation on Hasheminejad, which predates Pilatus Bank's setting up in 2013. While the MFSA was not aware of the US investigation, it was clearly aware of Galdes's warning on how Pilatus was carrying out its business for mainly Azerbaijani clients. In May 2016, the MFSA enforcement director was aware of the FIAU's findings that: • Companies which should have been classified as having PEP involvements were not in fact classified as such; • Information on the source of wealth and funds was too generic, even in the case of high net-worth individuals or PEPs from Azerbaijan, a high-risk jurisdiction; • Absence of documentary proof on the source of funds of the deposits; • No documentary evidence of origin of funds of a €1 million transfer from a third party into an account classified as high-risk; • A €505,000 "loan repayment" where the bank claimed that such loan agreements were not drawn up in writing but reached through a 'handshake'; • Lack of accurate and comprehensive documentary evidence kept on file on three particular companies that were the main source of wealth and large transactions; • A "glaring, possibly deliberate disregard" of money laundering reporting obligations when transactions seemingly proceeded simply through an explanation from the head of private banking; • No proof of actual purchase of immovable property obtained in cases where customers' transactions were seemingly intended for such purposes. While Bartolo told MEPs this week that the MFSA's due diligence and monitoring of Pilatus Bank was constant after the bank ob- tained its licence, the FIAU was clear in 2016 that the bank was opening accounts a PEPs and that "a blind eye is being turned for these individuals to be able to invest their funds without appropriate questions being asked." In September 2016, the FIAU had told the bank its shortcomings "no longer subsist" after Pilatus furnished more documentation. MaltaToday put it to the MFSA in a re- quest for comment this week that Bartolo was informed of these shortcomings and that this was a clear warning that necessitat- ed action – but a money laundering probe by the MFSA only started in February 2018, just before the arrest of Hasheminejad in the US. So why was this report not immediately used to start the "comprehensive review" Bartolo told MEPs about? "My assessment of the actions taken so far with respect to Pilatus Bank is that the MFSA acted prudently and in the public in- terest, taking measured steps to build solid evidence on this case," the MFSA's newly- appointed CEO Joseph Cuschieri told Mal- taToday on Friday. "Regulatory action taken by a financial supervisor must always be proportionate and justified. Demanding a comprehen- sive review of the conduct of business of a licensed entity, such as the one which the MFSA/FIAU requested in relation to Pilatus, needs to be justified on the basis of concrete grounds. "The MFSA has been very careful to build its evidence using all information and intel- ligence available to it before taking action." Since Hasheminejad's arrest for having transferred US dollar payments to Iranian beneficiaries, Pilatus Bank has been placed under the control of a competent person ap- pointed by the MFSA. Bartolo told MEPs that while the MFSA was not aware of the US investigation, it re- ceived information that was "sketchy". But its comprehensive review of the bank – a transaction by transaction examination – started in February 2018, just a month before Hasheminejad's arrest. The MFSA is now analysing all accounts opened by the bank and those that have been closed, all transactions and inward and out- ward flows of money, as well as having taken a copy of the bank's data, records, docu- ments, email exchanges, and audio record- ings. "It is a complex exercise – it cannot be fin- ished in a few days, it has been going on for weeks," Bartolo told MEPs. "We acknowl- edge that the bank may have money that is dirty and we are also ready to make sure we protect that money if it exists." In a humble admission, Bartolo pointed out, "We're not perfect. In hindsight, we could have done better…" MFSA told of serious shortcomings at Pilatus but money laundering probe only came before US arrests FIAU told MFSA that Pilatus was turning a blind eye at PEPs "to be able to invest their funds without appropriate questions being asked"