On Sunday afternoon, a political appointee to Malta’s Shanghai consulate – Aldo Cutajar, who is the brother of the Maltese civil service chief Mario Cutajar – was charged with money laundering.

The police told the court that some €500,000 in cash had been found during a raid on his home on Saturday and there were between $300,000 and $400,000 in an account in his name in Dubai.

It is a piece of news which has gone somewhat under the radar owing to the significant developments related to the Covid-19 situation. However, regardless of the pandemic situation – the seriousness of this case cannot be ignored.

Cutajar was occupying a role within Malta’s Shanghai consulate after being moved there from Beijing in 2016. Ironically, it is the same role which the wife of the erstwhile government minister Konrad Mizzi – Sai Mizzi – controversially occupied for the princely salary of some €13,000 per month.

An added twist to the story is that Aldo Cutajar in 2005 pleaded guilty to misappropriation of funds entrusted to him by a government department, for which he got a suspended sentence and a perpetual interdiction.

That interdiction – which essentially means that one cannot vote, cannot sign contracts, or work in the public service – was revoked by a magistrate only months later.

The government clarified yesterday that Cutajar was never really sacked from the public service, owing to the fact that the interdiction was also waived off by the Public Service Commission, and he occupied several roles, in different ministries, under different administrations.

Regardless of this fact, several questions have arisen, including how someone convicted of a serious offence can hold such roles in government, particularly a diplomatic role.

People forming part of voluntary organisations need to submit a police conduct when registering with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations – is this to say that there was no such stipulation required for someone employed in the public service – not least as a representative of the Maltese people abroad - be him a political appointee or otherwise?

These are all questions which can be asked in a public inquiry, something which is being called for by both the Nationalist opposition and several NGOs.

Looking at this case from another angle, Cutajar’s arrest and subsequent trip to court came only a couple of days after Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa told The Malta Independent that the police and its newly revamped Economic Crimes Unit was started to see results when it comes to money laundering cases.

This is key for the upcoming Moneyval assessment - Moneyval had criticised the police for the lack of prosecutions on money laundering cases, marking that as a point which required addressing.

If cases like these are anything to go by, then it does seem that progress is being made by the police with regards to these cases. This bodes well for the upcoming Moneyval assessment, although one would imagine that more results need to be seen in the future – something which the Police Commissioner committed to in his interview with this newspaper.

As said, Aldo Cutajar’s arrest and charging has been somewhat buried in the midst of all the developments related to Covid-19, but this does not detract from the seriousness of the case. 

Action needs to be taken, and it needs to be taken immediately.