[WATCH] Police Commissioner dumbfounded by calls for his resignation over Pilatus chairman's US arrest

Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar on Pilatus Bank

Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar would not say whether the Malta police is investigating the operations of Pilatus Bank but insisted American investigators have been offered assistance.

Cutajar skirted MaltaToday’s question as to whether the police would be investigating Pilatus Bank in the wake of the US arrest of its former chairman Ali Sadr Hasheminejad over sanctions busting.

The Police Commissioner reiterated that the Malta police contacted US investigators and offered to help in the case, which so far had no connection to Malta.

“We have confirmation that in this case that was being investigated [by the Americans] for some time did not involve anybody resident in Malta, or institutions and banks registered in Malta,” Cutajar said, adding that he could not reveal more information.

An American delegation was expected in Malta but Cutajar would not elaborate on the nature of cooperation that was being offered.

The Malta Financial Services Authority has removed Hasheminejad from the bank’s chairmanship and appointed an administrator instead. All of Pilatus Bank’s assets, including client monies, have been frozen. The decisions came after Hasheminejad was charged in the US of conspiracy to evade sanctions against Iran.

Asked by journalists whether he would heed calls for his resignation by activists from civil society, Cutajar refrained from commenting on the matter but noted that the latest case was outside the Malta police’s jurisdiction.

“I will not comment on the calls for my resignation because everybody has a right to hold an opinion… but while I can understand somebody pointing a finger at me for something that happens in Malta, I honestly cannot understand such a call over something that is outside our jurisdiction,” Cutajar said.

Anti-corruption activists protested outside the police headquarters in Floriana on Wednesday night demanding Cutajar’s resignation in the wake of Hasheminejad’s US arrest.

Similar calls were made last year after the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Activists have lambasted Cutajar for failing to act on reports by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit of alleged money laundering by politically exposed persons that also involved Pilatus Bank.

The Police Commissioner said his track record spoke for itself and noted that the police last year had registered a record haul of drugs and managed to solve serious crimes, the like that had never been seen in more than 200 years of police work.