A corporate service provider based in Malta has been fined for overlooking crucial details in clients linked to fuel smuggling, fraud, and tax evasion. 

In a decision notice, the FIAU said that the company had been fined €22,500 over the handling of three specific clients. The company and parties involved were not named.

One customer, whose links to tax evasion had been reported in the media, had never filed its annual accounts with the MBR for registration with the CSP failing to question the veracity of the corporate customer’s structure. 

The FIAU noted that the customer listed on paper is different to the one actually involved in the company even though he continued to be the source of the company’s funding and still being in control of it.

The CSP claimed that the customer had never opted to mention the media reports, however, this was dismissed by the FIAU committee. 

The other two cases involved an individual linked to convictions related to oil smuggling, fraud, and tax evasion. While no name was mentioned, sources have suggested it could be linked to the Darren Debono case. 

Still, the CSP did not take any of this into consideration because it said that a google search did not yield any results. The corporate customer did not provide the required customer due diligence documentation, never submitted accounts with the MBR, and failed to provide beneficial ownership information to the MBR

“The Subject Person did not perceive all this information to be of importance simply because the BO did not feature under sanctions by the EU and UN and that no trading has been carried out by the corporate customer,” the FIAU said.

The CSP was fined for breaching for failing in its customer due diligence and reporting obligations in suspicious transactions. 

What do you think of the case?