With his bank accounts frozen and withdrawals monitored, Joseph Muscat needs lots of cash to conduct his miserable underhanded political activities and pay his host of lawyers who are defending him in Court. One of his latest cash sources which Joseph Muscat used to pay his lawyers were the proceeds from the Bank of Valletta junk loans which were sold to 3514 Capital.
3514 Capital
3514 Capital was registered in 2022 for the sole purpose of acquiring the Bank of Valletta junk loans which BOV Chairman Gordon Cordina wanted to get rid of as part of a derisking exercise. The company is a partnership between Christopher Vella of Polymath & Boffin and Jean-Carl Farrugia of DF Advocates, currently charged in court with money-laundering over the Vitals and Steward fraud along with Joseph Muscat. Kevin Deguara of DF Advocates is a close associate of Joseph Muscat.
The Bank of Valletta junk-loan portfolio was promoted to all local major funds and brokers. No one wanted to buy it. It consisted of more than โฌ30 million of debt owned by clients who had either gone bankrupt or couldn’t repay their loans. Their bank accounts and assets were already frozen by the bank.
After no buyer was found for the junk portfolio, Christopher Vella, who is a friend of Joseph Muscat, sought the opportunity as a buyer of last resort and teamed up with DF Advocates to use their SICAV (Iridium) so as to be able to purchase the loans. Joseph Muscat helped in the organisation of this scheme behind the scenes and helped the new partners to rope in Deo Scerri as their face for their operation.
The directors and senior management of the Iridum SICAV including Christopher Vella and Jean Carl Farrugia are paying themselves more than โฌ600,000 per year collectively.
Up to โฌ20 million recovered and cashed at retail foreign exchanges
Given that most of the debt-owners have their bank accounts frozen, they are unable to make bank transfers so they are paying back their debts in cash. According to an FIAU source, 3514 Capital has already recovered up to โฌ20 million of this debt which they have deposited into their accounts at foreign exchanges including Fexserv.
Deo Scerri wasn’t even paid his dues
Deo Scerri, former BOV chairman who represented 3514 Capital Partners, eventually left after being paid a meager fee for his role. He realised at a later stage that Joseph Muscat had played him and was involved in the scheme.
Iridium never had the capital to buy BOV’s junk debt and and it does not have โฌ100 million in assets
Iridium, formerly Alerce – Global Investment Fund, never had the capital to buy BOV’s loans. Joseph Muscat roped in unknown investors for the purchasing of the BOV debt with 3514 Capital. They bizarrely say that have โฌ100 million in assets under management, but these are nowhere to be found in their accounts.
Bank of Valletta sold anyway, despite risk
Bank of Valletta was aware of the risks when it sold its debt to 3514 Capital, but they sold it anyway because they couldn’t find a buyer. Junk only attracts junk, and only junk will buy it.
Still need to collect up to โฌ4 million to break evenย
They still need to collect at least another โฌ4 million just to break-even, according to their official accounts, but this does not necessarily mean it is reflective of the reality.
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