Austin Bencini, a director at Allied Newspapers, publishers of Times of Malta, has clarified that he attended the wedding of arrested Pilatus Bank chairman and owner Ali Sadr Hasheminejad in his “private capacity” and that the company board was satisfied with his explanation.

Both Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his Chief of Staff Keith Schembri have confirmed having attended the 2015 wedding in Venice. Hasheminejad was arrested last week on charges that he evaded US economic sanctions and money laundering.

Malta Today later reported that Bencini was "another guest at the wedding.”

His wife Juanita Bencini is President of the Institute of Financial Services Practitioners and a former partner and consultant at KPMG, the auditors of Pilatus Bank, the newspaper said. 

In a statement, Bencini said: “With reference to the first statement issued by the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, indicating that a director of Allied Newspapers Limited was also present at the wedding of Seyed Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, I wish to clarify that my presence at the wedding in 2015 was in my private capacity and that I have today explained the circumstances of my presence to my colleagues on the board of directors who have accepted my statement and reiterated their confidence in me.”

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