Financial practitioners Matthew Pace and Lorraine Falzon of Zenith are back in court today as the compilation of evidence against them in a case of corruption and money laundering continues.

Pace is the owner of the financial services firm Zenith, previously MFSP Finance while Falzon is a director and the firm’s money laundering reporting officer.

Last month the court heard how Pace was described as a ‘professional money launderer’ by an expert appointed to work on the Hillman inquiry.

The two were granted bail some weeks ago with Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech decreeing that there was enough evidence for the pair to stand trial.

The Malta Financial Services Authority yesterday said that Hector J. Spiteri had been appointed as an administrator of the business and to take control of it in order to preserve its assets on the strength of a court order.

Pace has been granted bail against a deposit of €40,000 and a personal guarantee of €60,000. Falzon was granted bail against a deposit of €25,000 and a personal guarantee of €50,000.

They have been banned from travelling and are be required to sign a bail book every day.

They have both pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering and corruption amongst others.

The inquiry is related to allegations that Keith Schembri channelled over €650,000 to then-Allied Newspapers Managing Director Adrian Hillman in suspicious payments between 2011 and 2015 in a deal which saw his company, Kasco, supply a printing press to Times of Malta in 2018.

Investigations found that Schembri, former Allied Newspapers managing partners Adrian Hillman and Vince Buhagiar, Kasco Group CEO Malcolm Scerri had all opened accounts at MFSP at roughly the same time, between 2010 and early 2011.

Inspector Camilleri has described how €650,000 had been deposited in client accounts held by MFSP in order to be reinvested. The funds were transferred to another account held by Schembri and then passed to other accounts.

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