(Main picture: John Dalli with Mary Swan and Luisa Dalli)

The Maltese police, working in tandem with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, have put the daughter of former minister and EU commissioner John Dalli on police bail, this newspaper has learnt.

Mr Dalli and his daughter, Claire Gauci Borda, have been heavily implicated in an alleged scam that saw a number of low-cap American investors swindled out of their life savings, a collective US$600,000. The investors have since asked the FBI and the Maltese police to investigate, which they have clearly been doing.

This newspaper is informed that the transcripts of Mrs Gauci Borda’s interrogations are being reported straight back to the FBI.  The Maltese police have also seized computers and files from a number people involved in the alleged scam.

Each of the eight American investors had wired their funds to a Maltese bank account held by Corporate Group, which was run by Mr Dalli’s daughters – Claire Gauci Borda and Louisa Dalli – and located at Mr Dalli’s business address.

The fact that Mrs Gauci Borda has now been placed on police bail indicates an upping of the investigation’s tempo. Mrs Gauci Borda has been called in for questioning over her role in the alleged scam, and she is expected to be questioned further. Under the conditions of police bail, she has been barred from travelling abroad without police permission and also has to make herself readily available for further questioning.

(Claire Gauci Borda)

In May, this newspaper reported how a group of small cap investors from South Carolina, who dubbed themselves the ‘Upstate 8’ as they hail from upstate North Carolina, were allegedly defrauded by two companies registered at Mr Dalli’s Portomaso address: Tyre Limited and Corporate Group. The two directors and shareholders of the latter company are John Dalli’s daughters.

“At the time of wiring the funds, our group was under the understanding that their funds were being wired to a company known as Tyre Limited, which is located in Malta and whose business address is or was John Dalli’s personal residence. Claire Gauci Borda was [also] a director of Tyre at the time,” Mike Brady, a spokesperson for the group said in his letter to the FBI and the Maltese police requesting investigations.

The duped investors only got to know of each other after they lost their money, as one of the conditions of investing was that the investors had to keep quiet about it.

Mrs Gauci Borda was the investors’ go-to person but after months upon months of being given the run-around by Mrs Gauci Borda when asked where, exactly, their money was, they began to take action.

In July, Regina Hayes, one of the group’s outspoken members, informed this newspaper that the FBI had assigned an officer to the case and that she and a fellow Upstate 8 victim had already met with the FBI over the case.

The group of American Christian investors were told that their money would be used to fund African miners who were unable to get financing from the banks. By playing on their Christian sensibilities, they were led to believe that part of the funds would be used to help orphans in Africa and The Philippines.

A spokesperson for the group of defrauded investors recently told this newspaper that the investment plan was offered to them by an intermediary acting on behalf of international fraudster Mary Swan, believed to be an associate of the Dallis, who also goes by the aliases of Emma Corbin and Lady Bird among others.

Ms Swan is believed to have operated from a Sliema apartment for several years before leaving the country.

Ms Hayes said the group has also been in contact with the Maltese police and that it has been sharing information with the force which, according to Ms Hayes, has been “extremely helpful”.

Following this newspaper’s report on 10 May, in which it was reported that the Maltese police and the FBI had been requested to investigate the allegations, Mr Dalli filed a criminal complaint (kwerela) against this newspaper.

The Maltese police did, however, raid Ms Swan’s Sliema apartment soon after that, on 26 May, when Economic Crimes Unit officers entered the flat in the afternoon and did not leave until 10.30pm, after loading a police van with boxes of documents and computers.

A source had confirmed with this newspaper at the time that Ms Swan had been detained by police officers during the search. A number of other persons, thought to be of foreign nationality, were also investigated in connection with the scam.

The Malta Independent on Sunday recently asked the police for an update on their investigations into Ms Swan’s nefarious activities.  We were informed, however, that no such updates can be given in view of Article 112 of the Police Act.

This article states that the police are not permitted to give any details to the press about any suspects who have either been arrested or are to face criminal charges, with the latter case likely applying to Ms Swan given that she has already been questioned by the police.