Prime Minister confirms process to extradite Adrian Hillman from UK has started

Prime Minister Robert Abela has confirmed that Malta has asked the UK to extradite Adrian Hillman, the former Allied Newspapers managing director.

Hillman is wanted on charges of money laundering and graft and has been living in a suburb of London with his family in the vicinity of Goldsmiths University, where he is studying.

“The process has started to repatriate Hillman and start the judicial process in his regard as it has already started in other cases,” Abela said on Wednesday.

Sources close to the investigation told MaltaToday that the police and the office of the Attorney General sent a detailed request to their UK counterparts seeking Hillman’s extradition to face justice in Malta.

When contacted, the police in Malta said it was “not in a position to confirm or otherwise” the information.

Hillman is wanted on charges of money laundering and graft linked to the purchase of printing machines by the Allied Group when he was managing director.

An investigation has revealed how Hillman received €650,000 from former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s chief of staff Keith Schembri, who owns the company Kasco that supplied the printing press. But testimony given by police suggests that Hillman could have received some €1 million in unexplained payments through offshore companies.

A fortnight ago, the police charged 11 people, including Vince Buhagiar, another former managing director at Allied Newspapers, on multiple counts of money laundering, forgery, fraud and corruption.

Charges were also filed against Schembri’s business partners and his accountants, Brian Tonna and Karl Cini from Nexia BT.

The owners of MFSP, renamed Zenith Finance, were also charged for handling the investment accounts of Hillman and Buhagiar through which the alleged graft money flowed.

All 11 accused have been granted bail after spending almost three weeks in prison. The cases against them are ongoing.