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L-Arrest ta' Ali Sadr Hasheminejad




Din il-ġimgħa faqqgħet l-aħbar li s-sid u chairman tal-Pilatus Bank, Ali Sadr Hasheminejad, ġie arrestat fi New York, fl-Istati Uniti. L-aħbar ġiet imxandra fuq diversi siti internazzjonali, fosthom Reuters (ara hawn).

L-Iranjan ta’ 38 sena hu akkużat li għadda mal-$115-il miljun lil individwi u kumpaniji Iranjani permezz ta’ network kumpless ta’ kumpaniji offshore inkorporati fl-Istati Uniti stess, fl-Iżvizzera, fit-Turkija u fil-British Virgin Islands, u dan bi ksur ta’ sanzjonijiet li l-Istati Uniti ilha żmien li imponiet fuq l-Iran u kumpaniji li joperaw mal-Gvern Iranjan. Dawn il-flus għaddew b’rabta ma’ proġetti ta’ housing li saru fil-Venezwala bi ftehim mal-Gvern Iranjan.

Hasheminejad hu akkużat fuq sitt kapi ta’ akkuża, fosthom ħasil ta’ flus, frodi bankarju u ksur ta’ sanzjonijiet internazzjonali, li kollha flimkien jistgħu jammontaw sa 125 sena ħabs.

Ejja niftakru ftit min hu dan Hasheminejad. Dan hu l-istess bniedem li fl-20 ta’ April 2017 deher ħiereġ fis-satra tal-lejl mill-Bank Pilatus, iġorr bagalja mimlija dokumenti flimkien mar-Risk Manager tal-istess bank, Antoniella Gauci. Dan wara li l-ġurnalista Daphne Caruana Galizia, li nqatlet b’bomba ftit tax-xhur ilu, kienet żvelat li sors mill-bank infurmaha illi fis-safe ta’ dan il-bank hemm dokumenti li jixhdu li l-kumpanija Egrant, reġistrata l-Panama, hija ta’ Michelle Muscat (illum nafu li Caruana Galizia ħarġet l-istorja wara li kkonfermat dan ma żewġ sorsi differenti).

Dan il-Bank Pilatus huwa l-istess bank li r-rapporti tal-FIAU, sa mill-2015, kienu qed jgħidu li għandu nuqqasijiet serji fl-operat tiegħu, u li mhux josserva d-direttivi dwar il-ħasil tal-flus. Rapporti oħra tal-FIAU juru kif dan il-bank intuża biex jingħaddew transazzjonijiet ta’ miljuni mill-familja Aliyev tal-Azerbaijan, fosthom allegatament transazzjoni ta’ miljun dollaru Amerikan lejn il-kumpanija Egrant ta’ mart il-Prim Ministru. Rapport ieħor tal-FIAU juri kif dan il-bank intuża biex għaddew commissions lejn Keith Schembri u Konrad Mizzi mill-kumpanija li provdiet it-tanker tal-gass fil-port ta’ Marsaxlokk. Provi oħra li Simon Busuttil kien għadda lill-Qorti juru kif dan il-bank intuża biex inħaslu transazzjonijiet ta’ kickbacks lejn Keith Schembri mill-bejgħ tal-passaporti.

Kumbinazzjoni wkoll, fl-akkużi li għandu kontrieh Hasheminejad fl-Istati Uniti, jissemma’ passaport ta’ St Kitts & Nevis li hu xtara permezz ta’ skema tal-bejgħ tal-passaporti li dan il-pajjiż jipprovdi permezz ta’ Henley & Partners. L-istess Henley & Partners li jbiegħu l-iskema f’Malta. L-istess Henley & Partners li Joseph Muscat marbut li jdur id-dinja jbiegħilhom il-passaporti. L-istess Henley & Partners li flimkien ma’ Hasheminejad pruvaw ifittxu lil Caruana Galizia għal miljuni ta’ dollari, b’kawża abbużiva fl-Istati Uniti referuta bħala SLAPP.

Kumbinazzjoni wkoll dil-ġimgħa ħareġ kif il-kumpanija Cambridge Analytica, li hi qrib ħafna ta’ Henley & Partners, użat illegatament data tan-nies minn Facebook biex għenet partiti qrib Henley & Partners jirbħu l-elezzjonijiet.

Jidher li l-għanqbuta hi kbira sew, u l-brimba għadha moħbija. Imma bil-mod il-mod, iż-żejt jitla’ f’wiċċ l-ilma. Kif qalu ulied Daphne Caruana Galizia fi tweet: “one down”. L-ewwel wieħed niżel. Imma baqa’ ħafna oħrajn x’jinżlu.

Anke’ l-ex-Spettur Jonathan Ferris, intervistat mit-Times of Malta, qal li dan hu biss il-bidu tat-tindifa: “l-aqwa żmien tassew għadu ġej.” (ara hawn)

Sadattant, l-MFSA ħabbret li se tissospendi lil Hasheminejad milli jkun involut fit-tmexxija tal-bank u se tiffriża l-moviment tal-assi ta’ dan il-bank sakemm mhux bil-permess tagħha. Imma jqumu diversi mistoqsijiet dwar kemm nistgħu nafdaw lill-MFSA. Għax kienet din l-istess MFSA li fl-2014 u l-2015 tat liċenzja lil Hasheminejad biex jiftaħ dan il-Bank minkejja s-sanzjonijiet fuq l-Iran, liċenzja li l-ebda pajjiż ieħor fl-Unjoni Ewropea ma tah. Kienet din l-MFSA li flimkien mal-FIAU tat ċertifikati tajbin lil dan il-bank f’Settembru 2016, minkejja li r-rapporti li saru mill-investigaturi tal-FIAU fl-2015 kienu diġa’ qed jixegħlu l-bozoz ħomor fuq l-operat u l-abbużi ta’ dan il-bank. Min se jwieġeb u jerfa’ r-responsabbilità ta’ dan, jekk mhux il-Prim Ministru u l-Ministru tal-Finanzi li huma responsabbli għal dawn l-awtoritajiet, li flok isaħħu s-servizzi finanzjarji f’pajjiżna, illum bir-reputazzjoni tagħhom saru mażżra għalihom?

Jidher li għal Hasheminejad is-sorpriża kienet waħda: li fl-Istati Uniti, meta jkun hemm suspetti, il-Pulizija jaġixxu minflok jibqgħu jieklu l-fniek.

Nawguralkom ilkoll Għid hieni - għalkemm dis-sena ser ikun Għid b’differenza. Għax dis-sena hu Pilatu li hu arrestat, waqt li l-Imperatur qed jaħsel idu u Barabba mwerwer li m’għandux aktar min jeħlishielu.


Dan l-artiklu deher fir-rubrika Cyberspace tal-Mument tal-Ħadd 25 ta' Marzu 2018

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