Malta PM Hits Back At ‘Unjust’ Decision As Money Laundering Watchdog Puts It On Greylist

In 2020 Malta’s prime minister Joseph Muscat was forced to resign after it emerged his chief of staff, Keith Schembri, had been arrested in connection with a police investigation into money laundering from the sale of Maltese passports. Schembri denies wrongdoing.

Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela has said the Financial Action Task Force’s decision to put it on a grey list was “unjust” and “undeserved.”

The FATF, a money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog set up by the G7 countries, greylisted Malta on Wednesday, 23 June.

​Malta’s booming financial and gaming sectors will be hard hit by the decision, which will introduce an extra layer of bureaucracy in foreign investment, money transactions and banking activity.

In the last decade Malta’s economy has boomed but critics have said much of the investment in the country was linked to money laundering and corruption.

​In 2017 journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who had made a number of allegations against politicians and businessmen on the island, was killed by a bomb.

The Panama Papers scandal in 2016 named Maltese government minister Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri, chief of staff for the former premier.

Schembri has been charged with money laundering and corruption and Mizzi was thrown out of the ruling Labour Party but remains an independent MP. 

​He pointed to a report by the Council of Europe’s expert group, Moneyval, which said Malta was one of the most compliant countries.

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana said the government hoped to be able to mitigate the effects of the FATF decision “in t

Sourse: sputniknews.com