Member of the European Parliament David Casa has been selected by the European People's Party to be its official spokesperson for anti money-laundering legislation within the Parliamentary Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs.
Reacting to this new appointment, Casa, who forms part of the European Parliament's administration, said: "We cannot expect honest businesses to adhere to stringent AML rules while the powerful and the corrupt run roughshod over our citizens."
David Casa's appointment followed a speech he gave during the Plenary Session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, during which he referred to the murder of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, whose second anniversary since her brutal assassination will be remembered next month. "Had the institutions been more effective in combatting money-laundering, Daphne Caruana Galizia, might have still been with us today," said MEP David Casa
"When our institutions fail to identify, investigate and prosecute money laundering offences it is whistle-blowers and investigative journalists that end up on the front line. And in some cases it is they who pay the ultimate price. Journalists like Daphne Caruana Galizia and Jan Kuciak," MEP David Casa told MEPs during a plenary session.
"Money laundering is an inevitable consequence of crime. It allows corrupt politicians and big business, human traffickers and fraudsters to enjoy their ill-gotten gains," said the standing rapporteur David Casa.
"And while it is often complex. Often spanning across diverse jurisdictions and involving multiple financial entities - the impact on our citizens is clear. We are being robbed of funds that should have gone to our education, to our healthcare to our infrastructure."
"Things must change. And European institutions cannot only act after charges are brought outside of Europe."
Casa's new role entails monitoring the implementation of the 5th anti-money laundering directive and will lead the debate on behalf of the EPP Group on any revisions of the current legislation.
"The identification of criminal organisations exploiting our financial system must be faster. Action must be expedient and decisive. And EU institutions must have all the tools at their disposal to ensure this happens," concluded Casa.