Activists marked the demise of the scandal-ridden Pilatus Bank by hanging out “its soiled clothes” on Monday night.
The bank’s directors were notified by the European Central Bank on Monday that its license had been revoked, two years after it was first implicated in alleged money laundering breaches.
“Liar, liar, your laundered pants are on fire”, “#TruthNeverDies”, “Daphne was right”, read some of the slogans pegged to a washing line in front of Whitehall mansions the seat of Pilatus bank.
Shirts with "Mafia State" written on them and illustrations depicting crooks running away were also left hanging.
“It took two years for the Malta Financial Services Authority to finally wake up and smell the oozing stench of Pilatus Bank. Two whole years to shut it down and have its license revoked,” said #occupyjustice, an activist group led by women.
The activists’ action highlighted the fact that in these two years, the Pilatus Bank chairman, Ali Sadr, who was allowed to leave Malta freely, was arrested in the US and is now facing imprisonment of up to 125 years; and the journalist who was investigating its corrupt practice has been assassinated.
Read: EU watchdog backs proposal to withdraw Malta's Pilatus Bank licence
“Meanwhile, the person who pushed for Pilatus Bank to be given a licence, and even has a bank account there – Keith Schembri the Prime Minister’s own chief of staff – is still running the country alongside Joseph Muscat. No wonder Malta is being seen by the rest of the world as a dodgy country,” #occupyjustice said.
Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated while uncovering shocking corruption stories, they said, including those related to the shady operations of Pilatus Bank.
More than a year on, the commissioner of the killing was still unknown not one single person had assumed political responsibility for her assassination.
“It is crystal clear that this bank was used as a racket base for the Prime Minister’s close friends. And we won’t rest until they all will be brought to justice,” they said.