Pilatus Bank owner Ali Sadr Hasheminejad will not be convicted in the United States after federal prosecutors withdrew their criminal case against him.

Back in March, Hasheminejad was found guilty of bypassing US sanctions on Iran by using a complex web of companies to funnel $115 million from a Venezuelan construction project to his father, major Iranian businessman Mohammad Sadr Hashemi. He was due to be sentenced in August. 

However, Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Berman has now asked a judge for permission to drop the case against Hasheminejad, due to the likelihood of continued litigation over the suppression of evidence that arose in his trial.

He said that given the resources that would be required to address the issues, “it would not be in the interests of justice to further prosecute this case”.

US media house Bloomberg has described Berman’s decision as a “rare move”.

In Malta, Hasheminejad is best known as the owner of Pilatus Bank, which late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had alleged was used to transfer millions from the ruling family of Azerbaijan to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s wife Michelle.

A magisterial inquiry found no evidence to back up this claim, but the bank ended up losing its license after its owner was indicted in the US.

Following the US government’s decision to drop its case against the banker, Caruana Galizia’s family immediately called for him to be extradited to Malta.

“The fact that Ali Sadr Hasheminejad was prosecuted in the US means he was charged on the basis of evidence of money-laundering,” they wrote. “The prosecution is ending on the basis of an alleged technical, procedural issue, and only in relation to charges of a breach of US sanctions. None of this changes the evidence against Hasheminejad, which remains overwhelming.”

“Proceedings in the United States do not exempt or prevent the Malta Police and Attorney General from prosecuting Ali Sadr Hasheminejad. On the contrary, it is now more important than ever that he is prosecuted in Malta, since he has destroyed Malta’s reputation in the process of using the country as a base for facilitating criminal activity, via Pilatus Bank.”

“For this reason, the Government of Malta must request his extradition immediately.”