March 21 2018
Maltese authorities have seized control of a bank at the centre of a corruption scandal that was exposed by the murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Malta’s banking regulator said on Wednesday that it took control of Pilatus Bank after the arrest and indictment in the US of its Washington-based Iranian owner, Ali Sadr, who was charged on Tuesday with money laundering and evading sanctions.
Pilatus has been the subject of intense controversy in Malta and was known to have held accounts for a top official in the government of the prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and members of Azerbaijan’s ruling family.
