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Malta Financial Services Authority

July 8, 2023

The Maltese Financial Regulator And Its Remarkable Legal Costs!

According to a report from Maltese online news outlet, The Shift, Malta's financial services regulator MFSA has come under scrutiny for its spending on legal services, with the regulator paying €420 per hour to a US law firm, Sheehan Phinney, and engaging around 10 other firms at lower hourly rates ranging from €50 to €220. In addition, the regulator employs full-time lawyers, some earning salaries exceeding €120,000 per year.

Binary Options

April 17, 2023

Liquidator Of Israeli-Maltese Binary Options Scam Broker OneTwoTrade Resigned!

The Maltese Up & Down Marketing Limited d/b/a OneTwoTrade allegedly scammed hundreds of victims and millions of euros with its binary options fraud scheme. It went into liquidation. However, Jean-Paul Debono, the liquidator, resigned in January 2023. He informed the Maltese Business Registry of his decision. One of its former directors Ivan Grixti (LinkedIn), is a former Malta Labour Party MEP candidate.

April 17, 2023

Malta’s FIAU And The Pilatus Bank Scandal

There is no stop to the scandals in which Malta’s FIAU is embroiled. Pilatus Bank was a Malta-based bank with a license issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) when Edward Scicluna was the Minister of Finance. Today, Scicluna is the Central Bank Governor of Malta. In September 2016, the Malta FIAU inspection highlighted several shortcomings in the bank’s operations. But the FIAU issued a clean bill of health.

April 16, 2023

New Book Reveals How Maltese Law Enforcement Obstructed Efficient Prosecution Of Pilatus Bank!

A book released in Malta by NGO Repubblika concludes that police officers investigating suspected money laundering at MFSA’s licensed Pilatus Bank were searching for justifications for the decision not to prosecute top bank officials. The author Robert Aquilina exposed how police officers discussed how to justify the decision by Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg not to prosecute Pilatus Bank's former top executives, Antoniella Gauci and Mehmet Tasli.

Malta Financial Services Authority

January 23, 2023

MFSA Officials Accused Of Giving False Court Testimony

There is no end to how low the Malta MFSA can go. Shocking court testimony by an MFSA official claimed that two former officials hid documents from the magisterial inquiry into the operations of Pilatus Bank. According to Anthony Sacco, these documents were hidden in a safe on the Authority’s premises that were only accessible by two MFSA officials. However, new information shows that these officials had already left the MFSA and, as such, could not have had anything to do with concealing the documents from the inquiring magistrate.

January 2, 2023

Really? Former MFSA Officials Hid Pilatus Bank Documents In Office!

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) just keeps making headlines for the wrong reasons. Shocking court testimony by an MFSA official revealed that two MFSA officials hid documents from the magisterial inquiry into the operations of Pilatus Bank in a safe on the Authority’s premises that was only accessible by two people who are no longer at the Authority. This testimony was revealed on Maltese television by a local NGO President.

December 18, 2022

Judgment day is fast approaching for Malta’s FIAU!

Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) has been sued by more than a dozen companies and professionals. The authority is accused of having breached Malta’s Constitution and the European Convention for Human Rights, given that it acts as judge, jury, and prosecutor. The same entity that decides whom and when to investigate or not carries out the investigation and then decides on the punishment to be given has been trying to defend itself at Malta’s courts.

November 7, 2022

Pilatus Bank – A Never-Ending Maltese Money-Laundering Case!

The Maltese Pilatus Bank was at the center of a huge European money-laundering case. It was launched in 2014 by, Seyed Ali Sadr Hasheminejad a/k/a Ali Sadr. The European Central Bank shut the bank down in 2018 after Ali Sadr was arrested by the FBI on charges of breaching sanctions against Iran. Sadr was indicted in the U.S., but finally, the charges were dropped. However, the money-laundering charges in Malta continue. It seems to be a highly political and controversial case!

October 31, 2022

Regulatory Issue: Malta’s Lombard Bank Sues FIAU Over Unconstitutional Fine!

Maltese financial institutions, including Lombard Bank, are challenging the legality of administrative fines dished out by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) in court. Claiming that its rights were breached in the FIAU’s applications of sanctions against it, Lombard Bank initiated legal proceedings in Malta’s Constitutional court. FIAU fined the bank when Malta faced the possibility of being grey-listed by Moneyval and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

September 18, 2022

Interesting: MFSA And Malta Face Damages Claims From Pilatus Bank Owner!

FinTelegram has already reported many times on the unorthodox approach of Maltese authorities against money laundering and illegal investment practices. The collapsed Pilatus Bank is maybe a perfect example of the failure of Maltese regulators. The online magazine Shift reports that the investigating European law enforcement agencies are coming under pressure. In a pending arbitrage case, the World Bank's ICSID recommended suspending criminal investigations against its owner Ali Sadr, who also seeks compensation for damages.

September 4, 2022

MFSA’s CEO Called It A Day. What A Regulatory Mess!

FinTelegram reported that the Irish Joseph Gavin resigned from his post as CEO of the Maltese Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Earlier this month, MFSA announced that Gavin would resign later this year. However, he resigned before the end of the Summer. The Irish lawyer was appointed to the financial regulator in July of 2021 on a package reportedly worth €160,000. The previous CEO, Joseph Cuschieri, has had to leave in disgrace, and the Acting CEO who succeeded him, Christopher P. Buttigieg, is facing lawsuits surrounding his conduct as an MFSA official. A mess!

Malta Financial Services Authority

June 22, 2022

MFSA’s CEO Joseph Gavin Out Of Action

In what has been described as a very strange statement, the CEO of Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), Joseph Gavin, is currently indisposed. Eyebrows were raised for a short statement issued by MFSA with no explanation whatsoever. Joseph Gavin, an Irish man, was appointed as MFSA’s CEO on a salary package of around €150,000 per year following the resignation of disgraced Joseph Cuschieri. Further eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Gavin would not be replaced by Christopher Buttigieg, but by Michelle Mizzi Buontempo.

US Treasury Forgives Ukraine Looters!

On 26 September 2024, the United States Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ‘FinCEN’ made the astonishing decision to drop sanctions against ABLV Bank of Latvia. ABLV was sanctioned in 2018 for a list of reasons, including helping Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich’s bagman, Serhiy Kurchenko, steal billions of dollars from Ukraine.

Gurbir Grewal’s Departure from the SEC: His New Position and Potential Impact on Crypto Regulation!

Gurbir S. Grewal, the former Director of the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has left his position to join Milbank LLP, one of the most innovative and prestigious law firms globally. This transition from his high-profile regulatory role to private practice is likely to have lasting implications, particularly on the SEC’s enforcement strategy in the crypto sector.

Warning Against The Imminent Danger of Pig Butchering For The Dawning Cyber Society!

Pig butchering scams are a devastating form of cybercrime that blend romance and investment fraud, leaving victims emotionally and financially shattered. These sophisticated operations, run by organized crime syndicates, often exploit human trafficking victims as unwilling scammers. The perpetrators meticulously cultivate trust over months, luring targets into fraudulent cryptocurrency investments through fake platforms.

MLM Schemes

Latest Arrests in $4 Billion Forex AI Fraud Scheme OmegaPro and the Austrian Connection!

FinTelegram has reported on the fraudulent crypto MLM schemes OMNIA Tech and OmegaPro several times in the past. This week, various media outlets have reported the arrest of Robert Velghe in Turkey, who has played a crucial role in both scams. The OmegaPro MLM scam is believed to have stolen around $4 billion from victims worldwide. Here is our update with a request for additional information from whistleblowers.

Crypto MLM Scam: David Carmona Sentenced to 121 Months for IcomTech Crypto Ponzi Scheme!

iComTech was one of the numerous fraudulent MLM schemes that used cryptocurrencies as a means of fraud in parallel with the crypto hype of 2017/18. David Carmora started IcomTech in approximately 2018 with other co-conspirators as a purported cryptocurrency mining and trading company. The scheme promised to earn its victims high profits and guaranteed daily returns that would double their money within six months.