The reputable Italian financial paper Il Sole 24 Ore claimed yesterday that around €360 million of the around €800 million lost by 11,000 small investors when the shipping company Deiulemar folded up have been traced to Bank of Valletta in Malta.

Asked for its reaction, Bank of Valletta remained silent to the time of going to press.

The 11,000 small investors lived mainly around Torre del Greco and Procida, near Naples. The shipping company was reportedly stripped bare by its own owners and founders who hived off its funds into a network of trusts and fiduciaries in foreign countries.

Seven components of the three founding families (Della Gatta, Iuliano and Lembo) were condemned to a total of 90 years in jail last July for the bankruptcy of the company.

Now, three years after the collapse, a substantial amount of the missing funds have been found in three trusts held at BOV – Giano, Gilda and Capital. The company’s liquidators have asked the Torre Annunziata tribunal to ask for the return of the money but BOV, according to the paper, has said these claims are baseless.

Lawyer Monica Cirillo who is helping the depositors said there is a risk the available funds get dispersed. Already the €800 million originally siphoned off have become €360 million as funds were moved from Malta to other jurisdictions such as Switzerland, Madeira and the Virgin islands.

€363m held in trust at BOV linked to fraudulent bankruptcy of Italian shipping company