Alfred Sant condemns EC’s disproportionate treatment to Malta on money laundering allegations

Maltese MEP Alfred Sant has criticised the European Commission on its disproportionate treatment to Malta on the enforcement of anti-money laundering rules when compared to the much more serious case of Latvia. Dr Sant was reacting in a supplementary question to a reply by EC Commissioner Vera Jourova to the Maltese MEP’s Parliamentary Question on actions taken by the EC on money-laundering accusations levelled at ABLV Bank in Latvia.

Commissioner Yourova said the Commission, being aware of the events and eventual liquidation of the ABLV Bank in Latvia was monitoring the situation after it opened an infringement procedure for non-communication of transposition measures of the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive against Latvia in July 2017.

In his Supplementary Question, MEP Sant pressed EC Commissioner Jourova to explain why and how her treatment of Malta had been disproportionate to how she had handled the Latvian scandal.
The Maltese MEP said in the case of Latvia, the European Commission is carrying monitoring activities and several letters have been sent to the anti-money laundering authorities. It has also requested a breach of Union law investigation from the EBA. Latvian ABLV had around 4.6 US$ billion in assets, handled transactions valued at tens of billions of dollars in offshore jurisdictions.
In the case of Malta, argued the Maltese MEP, the European Commission had requested preliminary enquiries that lasted two years as well as on-site investigations. It further requested the FIAU to meet and to provide with additional information. It also asked the Maltese authorities to take a number of measures, questioning its methodology, strategy, ability to react as well as its processes for inspections.
The Maltese MEP noted that EC Commissioner Vera Jourova, in official press releases, referred to the fight against money laundering in the context of “Malta and other countries” and has repeatedly referred to Malta’s systematic weaknesses when referring to the case of Pilatus Bank. Pilatus Chairman Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad was accused of funnelling 115 million US$ through US banks.
Latvian Bank ABLV has been implicated in money laundering, bribing officials and facilitating breaking of sanctions against North Korea. The United States Treasury’s Financial Crimes Unit has accused ABLV of making money laundering a pillar of the bank’s business practices for a number of years and that the Latvian bank was involved in the theft of 1 billion US$ in assets from fraudulent Moldovan banks. Representing the third largest bank in Latvia, it was recently liquidated following assertions of institutionalised money laundering.

Maltese Version – ALFRED SANT JIKKUNDANNA T-TRATTAMENT SPROPORZJONAT TAL-KE LEJN MALTA DWAR ALLEGAZZJONIJIET TA’ ĦASIL TA’ FLUS

Alfred Sant ikkritika bl-aħrax lill-Kummissjoni Ewropea għat-trattament sproporzjonat tagħha fil-konfront ta’ Malta meta mqabbel mal-każ ferm aktar serju tal-Latvja dwar infurzar ta’ regoli dwar ħasil ta’ flus. Dr Sant kien qed jirreaġixxi waqt mistoqsija supplementari fil-Parlament Ewropew għar-risposta tal-Kummissarju Vera Jourova għall-ewwel Mistoqsija Parlamentari tiegħu dwar x’azzjonijiet ħadet il-Kummissjoni Ewropea dwar l-akkużi ta’ ħasil ta’ flus indirizzati lil Bank tal-Latvja ABLV.
Il-Kummissarju Yourova qalet li l-Kummissjoni hija konxja tal-ġrajjiet u tal-likwidazzjoni eventwali tal-Bank ABLV u qed tagħmel monitoraġġ tas-sitwazzjoni wara li fetħet proċeduri
għan-nuqqas ta’ komunikazzjoni tal-miżuri ta’ traspożizzjoni tar-Raba ‘Direttiva Kontra l-Ħasil ​​tal-Flus’ kontra l-Latvja f’Lulju 2017.

Fil-Mistoqsija Supplementari, Alfred Sant insista mal-Kummissarju Jourova li għandha tispjega għaliex u kif it-trattament ta’ Malta kien sproporzjonat meta mqabbel mal-mod kif imxiet mal-iskandlu tal-Latvja.

Alfred Sant qal li fil-każ tal-Latvja, il-Kummissjoni Ewropea qed tagħmel monitoraġġ tal-attivitajiet u ntbagħtu għadd ta’ ittri lil awtoritajiet ta’ kontra l-ħasil ta’ flus. Talbet ukoll investigazzjoni dwar il-ksur tal-liġi tal-UE mill-EBA. Il-Bank tal-Latvja ABLV kellu madwar $4.6 biljun dollaru Amerikan f’assi, immaniġġja transazzjonijiet li jammontaw għal għexieren ta’ biljuni ta’ dollari f’ġurisdizzjonijiet offshore.
Fil-każ ta’ Malta, argumenta Alfred Sant, il-Kummissjoni Ewropea talbet inkjesti preliminari li damu sentejn kif ukoll investigazzjonijiet fuq il-post. Talbet ukoll li tiltaqa’ mal-FIAU u tkun provduta aktar informazzjoni. Il-Kummissjoni Ewropea talbet ukoll lill-awtoritajiet Maltin biex jieħdu numru ta’ miżuri, waqt li kkontestat il-metodoloġija, l-istrateġija u l-abilita` tagħhom ta’ kif jirreaġixxu għal-proċessi ta’ ispezzjonijiet.
L-MEP Malti innota li l-Kummissarju Vera Jourova, fi stqarrijiet uffiċċjali għall-istampa, irreferiet għal-ġlieda kontra l-ħasil ta’ flus fil-kuntest ta’ “Malta u pajjiżi oħra” u ripetutament irreferiet għad-dgħufija sistematika ta’ Malta meta irreferiet għal każ tal-Bank Pilatus. Iċ-Ċerman ta’ Pilatus Ali Sadr Hashemi kien akkużat li għadda $115 miljun dollaru Amerikan minn banek Amerikani.
Il-Bank tal-Latvja ABLV ġie implikat b’ħasil ta’ flus, tixħim ta’ uffiċċjali u iffaċilitar tal-ksur tas-sanzjonijiet kontra l-Korea ta’ Fuq. L-Unita` li tinvestiġa r-reati finanzjarji tal-Istati Uniti akkużat lil ABLV li l-ħasil ta’ flus għamlitu l-pilastru tal-prattiċi kummerċjali tal-bank għal bosta snin u li l-bank tal-Latvja kien involut f’serq ta’ $1 biljun dollaru Amerikan f’assi minn banek tal-Moldova frodulenti. ABLV, it-tielet l-akbar bank tal-Latvja, ġie illikwidat wara akkużi ta’ ħasil ta’ flus istituzjonalizzat.