It is up to the police to decide how to proceed once reports detailing suspicions of money laundering were sent to them by the FIAU, a spokesman for the government’s anti-money laundering agency told this paper.

In an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta last week, former FIAU investigator and police inspector Jonathan Ferris said the police went against normal procedures by not even registering the Panama Papers reports submitted by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.

“If they are not registered, it is like they do not exist,” Mr Ferris said.

The police have denied Mr Ferris’ claim but refused a request by this paper to be given the registration numbers of the FIAU reports.

The FIAU’s spokesman was asked if the agency was surprised that the Police Commissioner concluded there was no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity by Keith Schembri, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, and by Konrad Mizzi, a Cabinet minister.

According to the FIAU’s 2016 annual report, 39 reports were sent to the police for further investigation on suspicions of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Two of those reports last year concluded there was scope for further investigation into what the FIAU suspected to be money laundering activities carried out by Mr Schembri.

Prior to his resignation last year, former FIAU director Manfred Galdes had during a public event questioned why the police only seemed to prosecute domestic financial crime.

One recent example of this is the imprisonment of a former Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet manager, who was found guilty of laundering funds not recorded on the restaurant’s cash register. Several months prior to Dr Galdes’ resignation, Police Commissioner Michael Cassar walked away from the force after receiving a preliminary FIAU report about its Panama Papers investigations. 

The FIAU has never dismissed employees for digging too deep

Despite the conclusions of these two reports, which were leaked several months ago, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat defended his “best friend” Mr Schembri, reappointing him after the election as the government’s most powerful official.

Questioned if there has ever been any direct or indirect government pressure on the agency, the spokesman said the FIAU had always operated and would continue to operate autonomously, free from any government or other political influence.

The FIAU has been through a tumultuous period over the past year-and-a-half. The agency has once again hit the headlines after sacking Mr Ferris, together with the head of their compliance section Charles Cronin.

Information given in Parliament shows that the agency has lost half of its staff complement since 2013.

Asked why two experienced officials had been sacked, despite the agency’s staffing problem, the spokesman said all those who resigned from the agency did so voluntarily, and the vast majority had accepted job officers in the private sector or opted to carry on with their studies.

Mr Ferris told this newspaper that the FIAU had sidelined him and tried to silence him soon after allegations about the ownership of the Panama company Egrant emerged.

The FIAU’s spokesman said Mr Ferris’ and Mr Cronin’s dismissals during their probation period were considered to be in the agency’s best interest.

“We also wish to add that the FIAU has certainly never dismissed any of its employees for digging too deep or for doing their job too well,” the spokesman added in reference to Mr Ferris’ interview.

The two sacked FIAU officials were informed they were being dismissed on the basis of a decision taken by the FIAU’s board, which is chaired by the Attorney General.

Asked if a board decision had been taken to cool off the FIAU’s investigations into government officials, the spokesman denied any such interference.

Up until a few months ago, the FIAU used to send out press releases through its director or deputy director.

The independent agency has now taken to issuing statements through the government’s Department of Information (DOI), usually in response to media articles about its investigations into top government officials.

Questioned why the FIAU had chosen to communicate through the DOI, the spokesman said the DOI offered its services to all government entities.

“The DOI does not in any manner interfere with the content of FIAU statements.  There is no political pressure to respond to certain claims, and all decisions of the FIAU to reply to claims made from time to time are taken autonomously by the FIAU,” the spokesman said.

jacob.borg@timesofmalta.com