Crane Currency, which recently opened shop in Malta, has been implicated in “one of the biggest financial scandals in the history of Liberia”.

The international currency printer stands accused of receiving €736,142 in kickbacks when agreeing to print Liberian dollar bank notes.

It is alleged that Crane Currency illegally printed some €14.4 billion worth of Liberian dollars and then injected the money into the country’s economy.

The company inaugurated its customer service centre in Malta yesterday.

Criminal charges are reported to have been filed against the company in Liberia and senior officials at the Central Bank of Liberia who allegedly colluded in the case of suspected fraud. Crane Currency denies having been served.

Just yesterday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said the facility in Malta had exceeded expectations as he inaugurated a customer care centre at Crane Currency’s plant in Ħal Far.

Crane Currency, which started production in Malta in 2017, immediately courted controversy in the country when it was revealed that a company belonging to the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri would service and repair Crane’s machines.

Schembri was described by Muscat as being “the catalyst in making sure things got done” when announcing the deal.

The Prime Minister has insisted that he sees no conflict of interest, however, Schembri himself has admitted that his company may be contacted to service the machines, “as had been the case with the other company in the currency industry that operates in Malta”.

Crane Currency has since reacted to these allegations.

What do you make of these revelations?

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Julian Bonnici

Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.