PN MEP David Casa has called for the revocation of the licence given ti Pilatus Bank to operate in Malta following the arrest of its chairman in the United States.
Partit Nazzjonalista's Head of Delegation stated:
“The arrest of the Chairman of Pilatus Bank Ali Sadr Hasheminejad in the United States has further exposed this bank as a criminal organisation. It is disgraceful that this bank was ever given a licence to operate in Malta. It is even more disgraceful that this bank was allowed to continue to hold that licence despite the overwhelming evidence of the bank’s involvement in criminal activity.
"The FIAU has been aware that Hasheminejad was being investigated by FinCEN since at least 2016. In the report that shows how this bank laundered the kickbacks Keith Schembri received from Brian Tonna for the sale of passports, reference is made to Hasheminejad being investigated for illicit money transfers in another jurisdiction.
"In addition, MFSA representatives sat across from MEPs last December and told us how thorough their due diligence processes were on Pilatus Bank," Casa said.
"These institutions are either complicit or so incompetent it beggars belief.
"I reiterate my call on MFSA chairman and its Supervisory Board to desist in the irreparable damage they have caused to Malta’s reputation and to revoke Pilatus Bank’s licence immediately.
"It is clear to all that this Bank has been protected from scrutiny in view of the relationship between Hasheminejad and Keith Schembri and the fact that that the bank has been exposed to have laundered money for Schembri on a number of occasions.
"This must end now. The longer this persists the more damage it will cause to Malta, to our reputation and to our financial services industry."
Casa has also called on UK regulators to seize and preserve evidence of the bank’s involvement in possible criminal activity from the Bank’s offices in London.
Casa wrote to the National Crime Agency last week calling for a criminal investigation into Pilatus Bank and in particular to investigate:
• Purchases of assets in the UK with funds originating from Pilatus Bank;
• The possible use of Pilatus Bank in the UK as part of the layering process;
• The criminal liability of the ultimate beneficial owners and legal representatives of Pilatus Bank;
• The criminal liability of clients of Pilatus Bank; and,
• To make use of the recently introduced Unexplained Wealth Orders to seize corrupt property purchased with funds derived from criminal activity.
David Casa has now called on the NCA to immediately step in to seize and preserve evidence and to the Prudential Regulatory Authority to investigate the circumstances under which the bank was set up and operates a branch in London.
In another statement, MEP Roberta Metsola said questions remain as to how the Pilatus Bank chairman has been allowed to manoeuvre with impunity in Malta since being granted a licence to operate a bank under this Labour administration.
Joseph Muscat, Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi have spent the entire last year defending the actions of Pilatus Bank and its Chairman. Malta’s Police Commissioner has spent the last year mirroring the Government line and refusing to take any action on the most serious corruption and money-laundering allegations in Malta in a generation, Metsola said.
As the news broke of Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad’s arrest, the Police Commissioner has again been found wanting. He has yet to direct his force to investigate Pilatus Bank or even seal off the bank’s Ta’ Xbiex headquarters in order to preserve what evidence may still be there. He has instead remained silent.
The PN has called for the Bank’s licence to be revoked immediately and called for an investigation into this bank.
We have long called for action to protect the integrity of the Maltese financial service industry which relies on a reputation of strong enforcement and stamping out abuse. With no action being taken Malta’s reputation will continue to suffer.
The message is clear: you can run and run, but you will not be able to hide forever, Metsola said.