MEP David Casa on Monday published the full version of a draft FIAU report showing how €1.3 million was wired to Dubai-based company 17 Black.
The Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi had listed 17 Black as one of two so-called “target clients”, which were set to pay in million to their once-secret Panama companies.
In a statement in reference to the Egrant inquiry, Mr Casa “noted” how Dr Mizzi had attempted to use the “three per cent of a published inquiry that had little to do with him to absolve himself of wrongdoing”.
Investigators from Malta’s anti-money laundering agency (FIAU) traced two payments totalling $1.4 million (€1.1 million) to 17 Black, from a company in the Seychelles called Mayor Trans, according to a leaked report.
The Seychelles company is owned by an Azerbaijani national.
The $1.4 million was sent to 17 Black in November 2015, via ABLV, a Latvian bank recently closed down due to money laundering violations.
Another $200,000 (€161,000) payment was sent to 17 Black by Orion Engineering, a company owned by Mario Pullicino, who is the local agent for the FSU unit feeding LNG to the new power station.
The FIAU found…
