Maltese investigators have requested the help of the Latvian anti-money laundering office to trace payments made via a shady Latvian bank connected with alleged corruption involving the company 17 Black, a top investigative news website has reported.
The outgoing head of the Latvian Office for Prevention of Laundering of Proceeds Derived from Criminal Activity, Viesturs Burkāns, told Re:Baltica that the FIAU had requested its assistance last February in connection with transfers via Latvian ABLV bank.
Read: $1.6m wired to Mizzi and Schembri's Panama 'target client'
Leaked documents had shown that a total of $1.6 million (€1.3 million) was transferred to 17 Black, a Dubai company listed as one of the "target clients" which would pay in money to Keith Schembri's and Konrad Mizzi's once-secret Panama companies.
Leaked documents had shown that a total of $1.6 million (€1.3 million) was transferred to 17 Black
The FIAU had traced two payments totalling $1.4 million (€1.1 million) to 17 Black, from a company in the Seychelles called Mayor Trans, according to a leaked report.
The Seychelles company is owned by an Azerbaijani national.
The $1.4 million was sent to 17 Black in November 2015, via ABLV, the Latvian bank recently closed down due to money laundering violations.
Mr Burkāns refused to disclose more information regarding the request, citing the restrictions of the law, but said that after initial answer was given, the probe in Latvia continues.
According to information obtained by Re:Baltica, ABLV had itself reported transactions from the Mayor Trans company's account as "suspicious", but it is not known when and what prompted it. ABLV refused to comment, quoting the clients' secrecy right.
The Latvian banking regulator, the Office of the General Prosecutor and the Latvian Ministry of Justice all denied that they received legal assistance request from Malta.
ABLV which has featured in several international money laundering cases is in liquidation following a probe by the US Treasury unit.
The agency accused the lender of institutionalising money laundering as a pillar of the bank’s business practices and of failing to implement effective anti-measures, and allowing its clients with ties to North Korea anti-ballistic program to circumvent the United Nations’ sanctions, Re: Baltica reported.