Updated | Gonzi: gaming authority carried out due diligence, ‘no reason to suspect Italians’

David Gonzi, the son of former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi, has defended his participation in a structure of companies owned by Italian nationals who last week were arrested for their role in organised criminality.

Italian police from Reggio Calabria busted the ‘Ndrangheta’s base in Malta from where companies they set up ran a network of remote gaming companies involved in money laundering. The gaming licences were since revoked, and six men and women detained under European Arrest Warrants to be deported back to Italy.

Amongst them was Ndrangheta point-man Mario Gennaro, believed by the police investigators in Operation Gambling of having run one end of an illicit gaming ‘alliance’ with the Sicilian Mafia and the Neapolitan Camorra.

Gonzi was identified in Operation Gambling’s 750-page dossier as having been a one-third shareholder and director in GVM Holdings, a company that provides fiduciary services

GVM Limited rendered serves to the BetUniq brand in Malta, meaning that the ultimate beneficial owner of the client company was not known to the public.

However, in a statement, Gonzi said that the full details of all the beneficiaries were available upon request to the Maltese authorities. In the case of gaming companies, all these details must be disclosed to the Malta Gaming Authority before a licence is issued.

Gonzi said that additionally, for gaming companies it is the Maltese authorities that carry out “extensive and rigorous due diligence processes” to verify that the ultimate beneficiaries are of good standing.

“In the case of all such GVM clients, including the ones being investigated, the Maltese Gaming Authority and the company’s banks successfully completed this due diligence process,” Gonzi said.

“GVM itself carried out its own due diligence process to ascertain that the individuals concerned were of good standing. This was done by requesting certified copies of the ultimate shareholders’ passports, proof of residential address, as well as copies of their police conduct records.”

Gonzi said that since his first contact in October 2013, he had never had any reason to suspect that the companies mentioned in the investigation were involved in any unlawful activity whether in Malta or elsewhere.

“It was only on this basis that the companies involved were accepted as clients of GVM. So far, the Italian authorities have not approached me. I have already taken action to provide all the necessary information to the Maltese authorities, including the Malta Financial Services Authority and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit. I shall also be directly contacting, over the coming days, Italian and Maltese police authorities to clarify my position,” Gonzi said.

In their dossier, the Reggio Calabria prosecutor said Gonzi’s actions “were to be strongly condemned”.

“The role of David Gonzi, son of former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, has to be strongly condemned, since this involvement occurred more than once, though it requires further investigation.

“David Gonzi would be located at the summit of the pyramid structure of the multinational companies of the area operating in the territory and with a Maltese license, acting as a cover for the criminal activities for which he went on trial. Pending further necessary investigation, it would be plausible to situate the subject right at the centre of an international criminal business triangulation network.”

Gonzi however told MaltaToday that the dossier was factually incorrect since it failed to recognise that GVM was a licensed fiduciary company. “It would be expected that a statement that I am involved ‘at the centre’ of the network should have been backed up by some sort of evidence of which obviously there is none. In all fairness, the report itself states that the conclusion ‘requires further investigation’ and is ‘pending necessary further investigation’.”