Lawyers defending a former Pilatus Bank director have slammed the prosecution's request to appoint an expert to decrypt a large portion of data taken from the bank.
Lawyers for Claude Anne Sant Fournier argued in court on Monday the request comes four years after proceedings were initiated and the decryption process would take many more years to complete.
Criminal proceedings against Sant Fournier resumed on Monday before the court presided over by Magistrate Leonard Caruana. The former bank director stands accused of money laundering.
She was charged in 2021, alongside the bank itself, following the conclusion of a magisterial inquiry into Pilatus Bank.
Pilatus Bank was shuttered in 2018 after the European Central Bank withdrew its licence on a request by the Malta Financial Services Authority. The request was made after the arrest of Pilatus Bank owner Ali Sadr Hasheminejad in the United States, on charges of breaching Iran sanctions. Hasheminejad was convicted of the charges but the US government later withdrew the criminal case before sentencing.
During previous sittings, the prosecution had declared that a significant portion of the data which had been taken from the offices of Pilatus Bank was, and still is, encrypted. A request for a court expert to be appointed so as to advise the court on the process of decryption was made.
Taking the stand on Monday, expert Martin Bajada noted that this decryption process would take years.
Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Kathleen Grima for Sant Fournier raised various concerns. It was argued that one could not comprehend how there still remained data which was not accessed after an inquiry costing millions and taking various years was concluded. Reference, moreover, was made to this request coming at a very late stage, with such decryption bound to lengthen proceedings which initially commenced in 2021 even further.
The Court, having heard submissions, appointed Bajada to undertake the decryption of the data.
The prosecution is being led by Inspector Lianne Bonello with the assistance of AG lawyer Kevin Valletta.
Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Kathleen Grima are representing Sant Fournier.
Lawyers Stefan Camilleri and Stephen Tonna Lowell are appearing for Pilatus Bank.