Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar insisted yesterday he had not commented on reports by the government’s anti-money-laundering agency because he was precluded by law and not because he did not want to.

“The law is clear, I am not in a position to comment on the documents you mentioned. But if I were in a position to do so, [then I would],” he said.

Mr Cutajar was asked for his reaction to a report in The Sunday Times of Malta that the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit had flagged a second instance of suspected money laundering by Keith Schembri, the Prime Minister’s top aide, but the police again failed to investigate.

Read: FIAU had found 'sufficient evidence' to conclude 'reasonable suspicion of money laundering'

“Let me make something clear: in my position as [Police] Commissioner, it’s not that I don’t want to comment. The law prevents me from doing so,” he insisted.

The media, he continued, was “spinning” that stand to suggest that Mr Cutajar was refusing to comment or avoiding questions, which he deemed “unfair”.

The Sunday Times of Malta reported that the FIAU had “reasonable suspicion” that Mr Schembri was involved in money laundering after he transferred hundreds of thousands of euros to the former managing director of Allied Newspapers, Adrian Hillman.

The FIAU also raised suspicions in another report that Mr Schembri had received kickbacks from the sale of Maltese citizenship.