Yesterday, the Minister for Justice, Jonathan Attard handed a new victory to organised crime. The law is being changed so that the state prosecutor and the police won’t be able to seize all your assets in Malta if you are caught laundering money – they will only be able to seize the funds that are suspected to have been laundered.
Malta’s laws on money laundering are basically, a copy and paste of the United Kingdom versions (thanks to Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech who oversaw part of the process when she was Deputy Attorney-General). The concept that the authorities can seize all of your funds if caught laundering money is inscribed in UK law and it is derived from years of practice, experience, and discussion. There are many important reasons why the authorities should be able to seize all of the funds of alleged criminals instead of just hunting down those funds that are allegedly illicit. Organised crime layers its financial activities and is also able to legitimise it given its resources and options. In addition, there are also many legal avenues even of compensation for innocent suspects who had their funds seized. The Maltese government is not striking a balance – it is simply further disarming the authorities and strengthening organised crime.
What is also worrying about all this is that Malta still risks getting grey-listed again by the FATF if it gives up its supposed fight against money laundering. Professionals in the finance industry will tell you how seriously grey-listing has affected us, but the corrupt dilettantes in Labour keep jeopardising the livelihoods of many Maltese with their foolish and blatant support for organised crime.
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