MEP David Casa on Sunday accused the FIAU of operating like the corrupt politicians it protected.
On Monday, a day after a magisterial inquiry exonerated Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his wife from any connection with Egrant Inc., Mr Casa publsihed the full version of a draft FIAU report showing how €1.3 million was wired to Dubai-based company 17 Black.
In a statement issued on Sunday in reaction to an article in Illum stating that it was the unit’s intention to proceed against him criminally, he said the report he published concluded that police action was necessary against Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and provided detailed evidence of corruption and money laundering.
Mr Casa said that when understood in connection with the revelations of the Daphne Project, in particular the declaration that Dr Mizzi and the PM’s chief of staff Keith Schembri were to receive $150,000 monthly, it was possible that such criminal activity was ongoing.
Watch: 'Egrant inquiry clears me and Keith Schembri too' - Konrad Mizzi
“It is appalling that rather than ensuring action is taken against potential ongoing crime, the FIAU is operating like the corrupt politicians it protects. It is attacking those who hold it to account for its dereliction of duty and leaking its intentions either directly to the press or, even worse, to the corrupt politicians with which it is colluding,” he said.
Mr Casa said that the hijacking of the institutions had now reached an unbearable level.
“The objective is clear – threaten, intimidate and destroy those standing between the rule of law and those that seek to undermine it.”
He said confidentiality rules in anti-money laundering laws were in place to prevent suspects from becoming aware they were being investigated as they might abscond or destroy evidence. The insistence on enforcing such a law in the case of Dr Mizzi, when his exploits were well-documented and largely in the public domain, was a perversion of the intention of that law.
The perversion of the law to silence the critics of Labour Party politicians was not a new development but a strategy that was used against slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, most notably through the abuse of libel laws to cripple her financially, Mr Casa said.
He added that this week he gave his word to his electorate that he would not succumb to such threats. He said he was now more determined than ever to do good on that promise.