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Money laundering cases involving Keith Schembri and Nexia BT partners continue

The compilation of evidence against former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and others accused of money laundering and other financial crimes continues

3 June 2021, 9:26am
by Matthew Agius

1 min read

Keith Schembri (centre), the former chief of staff to prime minister Joseph Muscat, being driven to prison after a magistrate denied bail. Along with 10 others he was charged with corruption, fraud and money laundering

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11:38 The court praises the manner in which the sitting was conducted. That’s it for today. Thank you for following. A summary of proceedings will appear shortly. Kurt Sansone

11:36 The next sitting is on 13 July between 9am and 11am. Kurt Sansone

11:35 The court says it will decide the matter in chambers. Kurt Sansone

11:35 Tonna Lowell: “You have very stringent conditions and guarantees... there is no risk.” Kurt Sansone

11:34 The prosecution declares that there are no further witnesses today. Defence lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell says he filed an application concerning the curfew imposed as part of bail conditions on Brian Tonna and Karl Cini, as well as their being denied access to the sea shore. “There is no risk of them escaping,” argues Tonna Lowell. Kurt Sansone

11:24 Darmanin says he was always present when the police were there. He identified the creditors and debtors of the companies and paid FSS and the workers’ salaries. He clarifies that the companies were not doing business at the time. Kurt Sansone

11:23 Paul Darmanin, appointed as administrator for the companies by the court, testifies next. He is asked about his administration but defence lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell objects. He cannot be asked about anything after his appointment, argues the lawyer. The prosecution clarifies that he is only to provide an update on his work to the court. Kurt Sansone

11:14 She had been asked to exhibit licences issued to the accused. She exhibits BT and BTI Ltd licences as company service providers. She also exhibits Manuel Castagna's certificate as an approved auditor. Kurt Sansone

11:13 An MFSA representative takes the stand next. Kurt Sansone

11:13 He recognises Brian Tonna, Cini, Castagna as his accountants. “I've worked with them for 30 years,” he says. Micallef says he doesn't believe he had made any business with Nexia or the defendants. “This year I did 40, 50 sales, I don't remember all of them,” he says. The court remarks that the witness should have been told what to prepare. He will testify again once he finds the data requested. Kurt Sansone

11:12 John Micallef takes the stand next. He owns J. Micallef Builders. He's a contractor and has petrol stations. The prosecution declares that there are no investigations into the witness. Kurt Sansone

11:04 She exhibits similar information relating to the defendants' accounts. She steps off the witness stand and a representative from Lombard Bank is next. The procedure is repeated. Kurt Sansone

11:00 He steps off the witness stand and an APS Bank representative takes the stand next. Kurt Sansone

11:00 He exhibits copies of IDs, sanction letters, account opening forms, statements from 2015-2019 for a number of companies, including Nexia BT. SPA Services Ltd and Willerby Trade Inc were never clients of the bank, the BOV representative says. Kurt Sansone

10:51 The witness says that Brian Tonna has several accounts and credit cards with the bank, as well as a life insurance plan. Tonna gave power of attorney to Katrin Bondin Carter, Karl Cini and Manuel Castagna on some of the accounts, the BOV representative says. Kurt Sansone

10:50 A Bank of Valletta representative takes the stand next. Kurt Sansone

10:50 A representative of HSBC Bank takes the stand. He is asked to present information on BTI Ltd. “We never had accounts for BTI Holdings,” he says. He is also asked to present information on the accused's accounts from 2005 onwards. He presents the documentation.

The court observes that there is a list of items not presented in court. “These are mostly account closure forms,” the witness says. He steps off the stand. Kurt Sansone

10:43 There was a mistake in a date. After correcting the error, he steps off the stand. Kurt Sansone

10:42 Emmanuel Schembri takes the stand. He is summoned to make a clarification on his previous testimony. Kurt Sansone

10:42 The magistrate re-emerges from chambers and the sitting begins. A court-appointed transcriber presents 24 statements made by the accused. Kurt Sansone

10:20 The next sitting involving similar charges of money laundering and financial crime against Nexia BT partners will start shortly. Kurt Sansone

10:07 The case is deferred to 12 July between 10:30am and 12:30pm. Kurt Sansone

10:06 The court is informed that there are no more witnesses today. Gatt informs the court that he has filed an application before the acts of the case are sent to the Attorney General. Kurt Sansone

10:05 The next witness is a police officer, who the court notices had not been validly notified. The witness does not turn up. Kurt Sansone

10:03 Defence lawyer Edward Gatt asks the witness if the police spoke to him before his testimony. “Yes, a couple of weeks ago. They called me and asked me about the clicks and other things. I spoke to a Xerri... Joseph Xerri,” Mifsud testifies. Kurt Sansone

10:01 Defence lawyer Mark Vassallo asks to see the case file since the witness is being asked about the ordering mechanism for consumables. Kurt Sansone

10:00 Witness Ron Mifsud from Impressions Ltd is being questioned by AG lawyer Sean Scerri De Caro. “Where did you buy the machines?”asks the lawyer. “We didn't buy them from Kasco,” Mifsud replies. Kurt Sansone

09:58 The questioning continues. Kurt Sansone

09:58 Lawyer Edward Gatt dictates a note to the court. “The defence, in view of what the previous and present witnesses testified, is reserving its position about a potential breach of rights, which the accused are suffering as a result of the fact that the police witnesses were spoken to after the issuing of the charges. My clients are suffering an all-round breach. My clients had not been granted bail because ‘other people’ were abroad [reference is to Adrian Hillman] while that person was granted bail immediately upon arraignment.” Kurt Sansone

09:53 The court orders the prosecution to go straight to the nitty gritty and the charges. Kurt Sansone

09:53 Gatt: “What is inadmissible is that, these witnesses must be related to the allegations about Allied and Progress, not about clicks and paper. Stick to the facts in issue.” Kurt Sansone

09:52 Defence lawyer Edward Gatt raises a point of law. “Troppa bontà, bestialità,” he remarks. Gatt says that unfortunately after his clients were arraigned, the police are speaking to other people. “It is evident that these people are being spoken to. Although it is legal, it is deplorable because once the decision was taken to prosecute, the police didn't have the proof they said they had,” he says. Kurt Sansone

09:49 We are back in session. Another witness, Ron Mifsud, takes the stand. He works for Impressions Ltd in Marsa, a digital printing and signage company. He is managing director. Kurt Sansone

09:47 He is being asked to exhibit copies of quotations for the machines. He is leafing through papers. Meanwhile, the court takes a short break as we are waiting for some files to arrive. Kurt Sansone

09:41 Under cross-examination Debono is asked about the consumables, which he had said were “free”. He immediately clarifies: “They are not free, you pay according to how much use you make.” Kurt Sansone

09:34 He is now explaining the printing process, with pictures of the various stages. Kurt Sansone

09:33 Eric Debono, a Gozo printing press director, testifies next. He says they would buy paper and machines and ink supplies from Kasco Group. They would deal with Malcolm Scerri on machines. One machine was installed in July 2020. Kurt Sansone

09:32 Witness Daniel Azzopardi exhibits cheque deposit images for Alfio and Keith Schembri. Eight cheques could not be found in the system. They are BOV cheques. They were either not scanned or corrupted in the system or returned to the issuing bank. Kurt Sansone

09:31 Court IT expert Keith Cutajar testifies first. He analysed several devices and extracted data from them. He presented a report and a 2TB drive containing all this data. He analysed 18 mobile phones, 6 laptops and 26 USBs, SIM and SD cards. The 120-page report is presented to the court. A number of mobiles were not unlocked. They may be unlocked with the help of future updates, he says. Kurt Sansone

09:30 We're inside the courtroom. After sorting some internet trouble, our senior court reporter Matthew Agius will be providing us updates on the money laundering cases involving Keith Schembri and Nexia BT partners. Kurt Sansone

09:29 Good morning. Kurt Sansone

The compilation of evidence against former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and associates continues this morning.

Schembri was charged together with his elderly father Alfio Schembri, a director of several of the Kasco companies, and business partner Malcolm Scerri and financial controller Robert Zammit.

Schembri was charged with corruption and giving false testimony. He was also accused of forgery.

Nexia BT partners and associates in court

The compilation of evidence against Nexia BT partners Brian Tonna, Karl Cini, Manuel Castagna and their financial controller Katrin Bondin Carter is also expected to take place this morning.

In September 2020, Tonna and Cini lost their warrants to practice as accountants after the regulatory authority initiated disciplinary proceedings against them. The board also suspended the registration of Nexia BT, BTI Management Limited and Nexia BT Advisory Services Limited.

Both cases will be heard by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech.

Matthew Agius is Senior Reporter on Law and Court Affairs at MaltaToday. He is also a Leg...