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Malta Reacts To Pilatus Bank Chairman Getting Arrested By The USA

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The Pilatus Bank saga took another unexpected twist last night.

Just last year, the controversial bank was at the centre of the Egrant scandal that shook Malta to the core. Maria Efimova, a former Pilatus Bank employee, told late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that she saw a declaration of trust in a secret safe inside the bank’s kitchen which showed that the secret Panama company Egrant belonged to the Prime Minister’s wife Michelle Muscat.  

The unforgettable image of Chairman Ali Sadr Hasheminejad hurriedly leaving his bank in the middle of the night with a packed luggage hours after Caruana Galizia’s report is seared into Malta’s collective memory – and many wonder what information was lost that night. At the same time, police commissioner Laurence Cutajar was famously filmed leaving a rabbit restaurant and refusing to comment on the Egrant story. 

Now, with the news that the chairman of Pilatus Bank, Ali Sadr, has been arrested by a US federal court over charges of funnelling over $115 million from Venezuela through US banks, many in Malta feel vindicated. 

Moreso, his arrest comes barely hours after Maria Efimova handed herself in to the Greek authorities, further fuelling the hope that Malta finally get some answers.

Many people felt that his arrest was long overdue

Including the former Opposition leader

And the current one

And some also hoped that his arrest could lead to developments in other cases

Some condemned his financial crimes as especially contemptible

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While others were wry-fully surprised to see any developments at all

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Some people questioned the government’s silence

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However, finance minister Edward Scicluna gave his two cents to Lovin Malta

And some Maltese MEPs asked why Malta’s police force weren’t actively investigating the bank even though the US forces were

Others called out state media for not covering the case 

Amid all the developments, some still tried to lighten up a dark situation with a bit of Maltese humour

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Do you think his arrest was long overdue?

READ NEXT: BREAKING: Pilatus Bank Chairman Arrested By United States

Johnathan is an award-winning Maltese journalist interested in social justice, politics, minority issues, music and food. Follow him at @supreofficialmt on Instagram, and send him news, food and music stories at [email protected]

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