“The Prime Minister cheated everyone into thinking he was being transparent when he appointed an inquiry into the allegation he received bribes into a bank account of a secret company set up in Panama in his wife’s name. But the inquiry’s remit is extremely carefully defined and its conclusion will necessarily be limited by the [...]
After a 15 month wait, we heard this morning Magistrate Aaron Bugeja passed on his inquiry report on Egrant to the Attorney General. I got a tipoff around 9 am and the source was neither the Attorney General’s office nor, of course, the Magistrate’s. At Labour HQ they were already patting each other on the [...]
When Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri realised they were caught red handed setting up a company in Panama they did not regret setting up structures to hide their bribes. They regretted having been caught. Of all the servers in all the legal offices in all the countries in the world, Mossack Fonseca’s in downtown Panama City [...]
Watch Edward Scicluna melt in front of the microphones of the press and a glorified microphone-stand working for the Labour Party. There’s a complete and utter absence of any form of logic in his response. First, the questions put to him did not accuse the FIAU but the police for failure to act on FIAU [...]
I have been following you for a couple of months now. Since the tragic demise of Daphne Caruana Galizia, I struggled to find a newspaper or blog that transpired the real situation in Malta. I read her blog once and since then followed her avidly. She was the only light that in a very dark [...]
This is my article published in this month's Money magazine. The resident ghosts Not much information is provided by the government on the sale of citizenship. But in an interview with an industry magazine recently they did say sales are on the increase and now they’re handling an average of 20 applications a week. [...]
In the world of Donald Trump, of Brexit and of neo-fascists in Italy and populists all over Europe, here's something to make you feel a bit better.
Henley & Partners expansion strategy appears to focus on satellite countries in Russia’s orbit. Its recent entry into Moldova follows quickly on Henley’s expansion of its portfolio to include Kazakhstan. Marco Gantenbein from Henley with Chiril Gaburici Moldovan Economy Minister Selling Moldovan and Kazakh passports may not be the intuitive choice for passport [...]
When Labour came to power in 2013, they put the civil service to the guillotine putting all but two of its top managers out to pasture. The top civil servant and almost all ‘permanent’ secretaries were removed in one of the first government initiatives that would demonstrate the utter contempt this government would show to [...]
Edward Scicluna is fighting for his political skin. His article in today’s Times of Malta is an attempt at survival by resorting to some classic right-wing Labour rhetoric of ‘my country right or wrong’. It took him some time to say it because of the residual embarrassment that comes with education and the majority of [...]
There has been some discussion on the comments boards of this blog about the nature of fascism and whether the unpleasantness around us fits that description. There are no goose-stepping armies and Poland is not likely to be partitioned soon. That much is certain so you may want to find other names for what is [...]
Let’s be clear about this. The government’s action to remove protest banners moments after they are put up on the basis of planning or environmental laws it habitually ignores in all other cases is the illegal abuse of basic civil rights. Yesterday an angry and annoyed man was filmed going down Saqqaja Road removing small [...]
MFSP, the investment management company that handled large deposits from Keith Schembri without checking where he got the money from appears to be managing the risk it may be forced to close down. It has already been punished significantly by the anti-money laundering agency, the FIAU, who has imposed fines on MFSP though, interestingly, not [...]
The following is the speech by Petra Caruana delivered at yesterday's vigil in Valletta: Good evening everyone, my name is Petra I was a friend and great admirer of Daphne. Through her courage, integrity, work and stories, Daphne has taught me many lessons. One of my fondest memories of Daphne is sitting in her living [...]
Joseph Muscat was at his wife's all white fundraiser a few days ago and had to make conversation. Here's one chat he struck up. Madame goes by the name of Tatyana Malinova. Here are some of her Instagram pictures. Хороший был вечер ? About last night ? Party it’s good but football more important ???? [...]
The following is the statement by #occupyjustice at their action at Castille today: The World Cup of Corruption The football World Cup may be over, but here in Malta the World Cup of Corruption is still ongoing. We still have three key players who have been shown the red card over and over, yet [...]
Mustafa Cetinel, still at present a director of Pilatus Bank, is being indicted in the United States federal courts after an FBI investigation. In April, the Financial Times reported that Mustafa Cetinel had been investigated by the FBI, but no news of an indictment has emerged since. A physical inspection of the records at the [...]
Times of Malta has been carrying a series of stories about public procurement that should, under normal circumstances, be raising serious alarm. The almost universal indifference to wrongdoing is just what allows the government to ignore rules or to turn them round to seem like they are following them while they really frustrate the reason [...]
On his way to work this morning, Joseph Muscat would have driven by these notes left for him by Il-Kenniesa. Just in case they were taken down before his drive, here they are for another view.
