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Wirecard processed payments for Maltese casino linked to ’Ndrangheta: FT

Wirecard processed transactions for a Malta-based online casino that was later found to have laundered funds for the ’Ndrangheta mafia organisation, the Financial Times reported Monday. Italian courts determined that the gaming company, Malta-based CenturionBet, was used by an arm of the ’Ndrangheta to launder millions of euros in criminal… Read More

Maltese banks told to keep eyes open for suspicious terror funding patterns

Terrorism is historically an uncommon factor inside Malta, but terror financing is a distinct phenomenon which the island has not been immune to. A report by Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) has revealed various cases in which Maltese credit institutions were used for the funding of terror organisations, as… Read More

Sparkasse Bank fined €217,000 for anti-money laundering breaches by FIAU

Sparkasse Bank has been fined €217,000 for anti-money laundering breaches by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit. The Austrian bank was used by Portmann Capital Management, which was identified as the suspect investment firm named in US Homeland Security Investigations investigating illegal payments from the Venezuelan state oil company to top… Read More

28th July 2020

Malta: Unexplained wealth order law placed on backburner

An attempt to introduce an “unexplained wealth order” law by the justice minister has been placed on the backburner, according to a Cabinet source. Although the reason is unclear, the legal proposal for executive powers to clamp down on unexplained wealth and the accumulation of assets such as cars, boats… Read More

21st July 2020

Malta: 10,000 companies taken off registry

Around 10,000 defunct companies have been stricken off the Malta Business Registry, in another move intended to improve the island’s reputation. Companies were taken off the list when they failed to file annual reports or accounts or did not give official ownership information. Malta now has 96,000 companies on the… Read More

17th July 2020

Malta: €27.6 million recovered from Panama Papers, Swiss Leaks probe

Tax authorities have investigated 237 cases in connection with the 2016 Panama Papers leak and a further 96 over Swiss Leaks and have so far recouped more than €27.6 million, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said on Wednesday. Scicluna said €14.2 million was recovered from 163 concluded cases following the Panama… Read More

14th July 2020

‘58 foreigners bought Maltese passport without presenting birth certificate’

A total of 58 foreign nationals bought a Maltese passport without presenting their birth certificate in just 18 months, opposition MP Karol Aquilina is claiming. “This is further testament to the fake due diligence of this programme which is tarnishing Malta’s reputation,” he said. Aquilina divulged this “scandal” in parliament… Read More

9th July 2020

Nigerian scammer arrested by FBI could be behind €13m BOV cyberattack

The United States government has gained custody of a Nigerian man who could have been behind the multi-million cyberattack on Bank of Valletta in February 2019. The FBI’s criminal complaint says that Ramoni Igbalode Abbas aka “Hushpuppi”, who amassed 2.4 million followers on Instagram flaunting luxury cars, designer clothing,… Read More

7th July 2020

‘Malta’s financial juridisction needs a revamp’: MFSA CEO

MFSA CEO Joseph Cuschieri says the financial regulator is ready to take on a new role that will bolster its investigative and supervisory powers against the problems of financial crime that risk Malta’s greylisting by Moneyval. There is serious talk about Malta’s possible grey listing from Moneyval. Let’s start with… Read More

3rd July 2020

Portmann channelled €120 million through Pilatus Bank, Malta inquiry hears

€120 million in financial transactions from the shuttered Portmann Capital Management, were funnelled through the private Malta-based Pilatus Bank, the former economic crimes unit boss said. Assistant Commissioner Ian Abdilla told the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, that Portmann had channelled a total of €120 million… Read More

2nd July 2020

ECB withdraws Malta-based bank’s licence

A Malta-based bank, Satabank, has had its licence withdrawn by the European Central Bank, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna and the Malta Financial Services Authority said on Wednesday. The decision was taken on the recommendation of the authority. The Bulgarian-owned bank, established in 2014, had its 12,000 accounts frozen by the… Read More

29th June 2020

Freezing order on Yorgen Fenech’s massive wealth is relaxed

A court has granted Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Yorgen Fenech access to millions of euros worth of shares and immovable property which he had inherited, ostensibly as they are not the proceeds of crime. This was the subject of a decree issued on June 18 by Magistrate Rachel Montebello… Read More

26th June 2020

Maltese MP voted out by party amid turmoil over Panama Papers’ ties

The political career of Malta’s former deputy prime minister Konrad Mizzi lies in ruins after his ruling Labour Party (PL) colleagues voted for his expulsion over secretive offshore dealings revealed in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists-led Panama Papers investigation. Mizzi was the star performer during the country’s… Read More

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