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Muscat Rubbishes Italian Criminal Probe Claim Dismissing Author As A ‘Con Artist’ And ‘Fraudster’

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Disgrace former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has rubbished claims that he is subject a criminal probe from Italy’s Financial Intelligence Unit, dismissing the report’s author as a “con artist” and “fraudster”.

“To make it clear: this convicted felon and fraudster claims that an authority told him it is doing something that the same authority does not do.”

“This further confirms that this person is a not-so-good con artist who can only find fertile ground with the gullible,” Muscat wrote on social media.

Quoting sources, Rijock claimed that the Unita di Informazione Finanziaria per l’Italia probe involves financial transactions conducted in Italy that are linked to Muscat. However, Muscat said that the UIF does not carry out such investigations.

Now, such an oversight might be forgiven to an unrefined outsider, but not to someone who claims to be an expert and to have been given this information from within the same authority,” he said.

Rijock has lodged similar sensational claims against Muscat and members of Malta’s government in recent weeks.

According to Rijock, a former-money-launderer-turned-FBI informant, the FBI have launched a special money laundering investigation focusing solely on Malta and a number of Cabinet members are cooperating.

He says FBI agents have been on the ground in Malta for weeks, that the US is seeking to extradite Muscat and that the former Prime Minister is also being accused of Providing Material Support to a Designated Terrorist Organization.

Rijock also claimed Muscat is exercising power over the current Cabinet by handing them proceeds of corruption, often in cash, and that Muscat used a trip to Miami, where Rijock himself is based, to head off to a Caribbean country to deposit illicit cash.

“Over the past couple of weeks, a disgraced former lawyer, whose claim to fame is having been at the service of the mob, seems to have taken a liking to me. Based in the United States, but of dubious origin, this individual, who has lost innumerable libel suits because he simply made up stuff, has taken a keen interest in using his failed tactics to invent stories about me.”

“I will react appropriately, at the time and by the legitimate methods of my choice,” Muscat said.

The US Embassy of Malta has refused to comment on previous claims, telling Lovin Malta the FBI maintains a standard of practice of neither confirming nor denying any investigation.

What do you think of Muscat’s statement? Comment below

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

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