Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/993482
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 JUNE 2018 3 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The judge accepted the family's arguments, in- sisting it was natural that doubts are raised when the person in question (Vallet- ta) is a politically exposed person, a husband of a min- ister and an FIAU board member. The ruling was welcomed by the Caruana Galizia family but sources said the judgment came as a shock for the police force after building a solid case against three men, who stand ac- cused of murdering the journalist. Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb on 16 October last year, short- ly after leaving her family home in Bidnija. Two months later, a mas- sive operation by the police and army in Marsa and oth- er locations led to the arrest of 10 men. Three of these – George Degiorgio, his brother Al- fred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat – were eventually charged with planning and carrying out the execution. The compilation of evi- dence is ongoing and the prosecution is being led by police inspectors Keith Ar- naud and Kurt Zahra, who report to Valletta. The motif for the murder remains unknown and it is widely held that the three men may have been com- missioned by an unknown individual or individuals to carry out the crime. Caruana Galizia's son, Matthew, welcomed the judgment and tweeted that his mother had been in- vestigating Valletta's "sus- picious unwillingness to charge government offi- cials". Former Opposition leader, Simon Busuttil, called the judgment "a step towards justice". Lawyers Jason Azzo- pardi, Eve Borg Costanzi and Therese Commodini Cachia appeared for the Caruana Galizia family, while lawyer Victoria Butti- gieg represented the office of the Attorney General in the proceedings. Daphne's family welcomes ruling as police force reels in shock MATTHEW VELLA BANK of Valletta has said that none of its assets have been seized or confiscated in the on- going dispute with the Deiule- mar bondholders in Italy. BOV is appealing an Italian court's order for a precautionary warrant requesting €363 million to be hived off, as a provision for damages requested by bond- holders of a shipping company that went bankrupt. The Italian court in Torre d'Annunziata, a province of Naples, upheld the claim back in March after it was brought by liquidators of the Deiulemar group and representatives of the company's 13,000 Italian bond- holders. While none of the bank's assets have been seized, BOV, however, said on Monday that to ensure seamless continued banking op- erations, the bank placed on its own initiative the whole amount of the 'sequestro conservattivo' with another bank, pending the appeal proceeding. "However, these assets still belong to the bank, held in the bank's own name and for its own benefit. Therefore, nothing has changed since the bank's state- ment of last March," BOV said. The bank has appealed the court decision authorising the issuance of the 'sequestro con- servattivo' and the hearing of that appeal has not yet taken place. Bank of Valletta took over a trust that held €363 million in assets of shipping company Dei- ulemar in 2009, which filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Two years later, seven members of the three founding families of the Deiule- mar company were jailed for up to 17 years for illegal financial transactions when the company collapsed. It was declared bank- rupt in 2012 owing more than €800 million. They were found guilty of fraudulent bankruptcy, having transferred their assets to Mal- tese, Swiss, and British Virgin Is- lands trusts to avoid their expo- sure to creditors and the 13,000 retail investors who subscribed to their bonds. "The bank was never in pos- session of any funds as a trustee when it was established in 2009, and the only trust assets it held consisted of shares in a Ma- deira registered company, part of the Deiulemar Group, which was declared bankrupt in 2012," Bank of Valletta said on Monday. "The bank reiterates that it is determined to take all the ac- tion required in any forum to defend itself against the un- founded allegations being lev- elled against it in the Italian Court of Torre Annunziata, as and when necessary. In the meantime the bank will keep the market informed of any material developments in this case. The bank will continue to update regulators on any devel- opments as they arise." No assets seized in Deiulemar case, Bank of Valletta says Many Italians took to the streets in protest after Deiulemar's collapse