The Opposition is not excluding taking further action “at a later stage” to ensure something is done on the contents of two leaked reports from the government anti-money laundering agency (FIAU), PN shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi said yesterday.

The FIAU reports, presented to the courts in May by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, highlighted the agency's suspicions that the Prime Minister’s chief of staff was involved in criminal activity.

Under Maltese law, money laundering is punishable by up to 18 years in jail.

In one of the reports, the FIAU flagged its suspicions to the police that Mr Schembri had taken a €100,000 “kickback” on passport sales from accountant Brian Tonna.

Inquiring magistrates are being assisted by the police

The other FIAU report found “sufficient evidence to conclude a reasonable suspicion of money laundering and proceeds of crime” over the transfer of more than €650,000 from Mr Schembri to Adrian Hillman, Allied Newspapers’ former managing director, in varying amounts and to different bank accounts.

Both FIAU reports are now the subject of two separate magisterial inquiries.

Asked by Times of Malta if any further action would be taken by the Opposition, Dr Azzopardi said that the Opposition leader did the most honourable thing he could have done by presenting the evidence available to him to the investigating magistrates.

Questioned why the Nationalist Party had not filed a court challenge requesting the police investigate the FIAU reports, Dr Azzopardi said the inquiring magistrates were being assisted by the police.

“Let us remember that the police force has had, for the past months, copies of the FIAU reports, which, scandalously, remained uninvestigated,” Dr Azzopardi said.

In order to file a court challenge requesting a police investigation, the Opposition would first have to file police reports about the corruption allegations.

Dr Azzopardi said the PN did not exclude anything at a later stage.

Both the Prime Minister's chief of staff and Konrad Mizzi, were re-appointed after the June 3 election.

In justifying Dr Mizzi's appointment as tourism minister, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he had been judged by the people at the election.

Apart from the two magisterial inquiries looking into the FIAU reports, a third inquiry is also under way looking into claims that Panama company Egrant is owned by Dr Muscat’s wife.

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