Repubblika case over AG's Pilatus bank inaction to start in September

Repubblika is challenging what it claims is the Attorney General's reluctance to charge several high-ranking Pilatus Bank officials despite the conclusions of an inquiry recommending that they be taken to court

A magisterial inquiry had recommended criminal action against several officials of the now shuttered Pilatus Bank
A magisterial inquiry had recommended criminal action against several officials of the now shuttered Pilatus Bank

A judge will start hearing the case filed by rule of law advocacy group Repubblika, over the Attorney General's apparent reluctance to charge several high-ranking Pilatus Bank individuals, at the end of next month.

In a judicial letter filed last month, Repubblika’s lawyer Jason Azzopardi had said that Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg’s consistent refusal to press charges was unreasonable and showed bad faith on the part of the public prosecutor. “The defendant’s decision, in effect, not to charge or prosecute… as they had been ordered by the inquiring magistrate in March 2021 is exactly the opposite to a ‘reasonable’ decision,” read the judicial letter.

The case has been assigned to Mr Justice Christian Falzon Scerri who, in a decree handed down yesterday, fixed a 20 day period in which the Office of the Attorney General can file its reply. 

The judge also ordered the AG to exhibit by means of a note “every relevant document which is still to be inserted in the acts of the case, together with every certificate or [expert] report…” 

Lawyer Jason Azzopardi is representing the NGO in the proceedings.

In September last year, the police charged Pilatus Bank and Claude-Ann Sant Fournier, one of its senior officials, with money laundering. The case is ongoing. However, the inquiry had recommended criminal action against eight other officials.