MaltaToday reported that the warrants are for Pilatus Bank owner Ali Sadr, operations chief Luis Rivera, operations supervisor Mehmet Tasli, director Hamidreza Ghambari, and chief risk officer Antoniella Gauci.

Both Gauci and Sadr were named in a magisterial inquiry that recommended money-laundering charges against them, yet they both remain unpunished.

Sadr left Malta in 2018 and it’s suspected that he intentionally helped his bank’s clients transfer, convert, and conceal the proceeds of crime, according to the inquiry which was handed to the state at the end of 2020.

Meanwhile, the bank found itself at the centre of corruption and money laundering claims against a number of high-ranking officials that formed part of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s administration.

On 20th April 2017, assassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia claimed that the bank held an account for the Panama company Egrant, which she had claimed Muscat’s wife Michelle was the Ultimate Beneficial Owner.

However, a magisterial inquiry found no evidence that Egrant ever belonged to the Muscats.

Caruana Galizia had also claimed that former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and other associates including former John Dalli held an account at the bank.

In fact, emails show that Sadr had complained to Schembri about the authorities’ allegations about lax money laundering at the bank. Additionally, both Schembri and Muscat travelled to Florence to attend Sadr’s wedding.

In response to Gafa’s statement about this recent development, Maltese NGO Repubblika said “this step is being taken too late and is being done because the Commissioner is being forced to do his duty by civil society.”

This comes after the organisation filed an appeal in Court against the Police Commissioner last month over inaction against Pilatus Bank officials.

What do you think about these international arrest warrants?