Update 2 | Joe Sammut charged with money laundering, granted bail

A court has imposed an asset freeze on auditor Joe Sammut, after he was arraigned this afternoon on a host of charges relating to money laundering, fraud, misappropriation and forgery.

Police Inspectors Jonathan Ferris, Lara Butters and William Scicluna charged Sammut with 11 offences in all, including breaching his professional duties as an accountant, misappropriation, fraud, falsification of documents, non-observance of due diligence procedures and money laundering.

Sammut had previously been granted police bail after being held for questioning over allegations of aiding Libyan nationals obtain a residency permit by creating fake companies. He was questioned at length by the Economic Crimes Unit over the registration of hundreds of Libyan companies in Malta.

Today, three Libyan witnesses testified for the prosecution in return for a promise of immunity from criminal action related to this case.

Hesham Salaheddin Ahmed, general manager of MES Ltd, a medical equipment import/export company in Libya told Magistrate Doreen Clarke that he had also applied for a residency permit through Sammut. He asked for his help to set up a company in Malta. “I paid €2000 and his office handed all the applications.”

He explained, however, that the company was not yet operating because his residency application had been blocked. The police had shown him a copy of the application for residency and he had not recognised the signature, he said. "The details on the front page are mine but the signature is not," said Ahmed.

He pointed to the accused when asked for the identity of the person they had dealt with, told the court that they had paid a €2000 fee for his services and that the company had €100,000 shares as share capital, held as stock.

Asked to elaborate, he said the fee was for the set up of the company but not the capital, which was €100,000. Inspector Ferris asked him whether he had paid in cash, in kind, paid up share capital or some other arrangement. “Cash” came the eventual reply.

Two other witnesses, Fousi Ghait Elzeletni of Al Remal Ltd and Abdallah Meftah Bakeer, owner of Trusted Teams Ltd told a similar tale.

Elzeletni explained that he needed to apply for a company to be setup in Malta to benefit from the advantages of the jurisdiction. He had handed the documents to a girl working in Sammut's office.

Al Remal Ltd sold clothes, said the Libyan, who said he had been advised to set up a Maltese company and had handed Sammut copies of his passport, insurance and a small photo for the registration formalities.  

He told the court that there were three shareholders in Al Remal Ltd and each shareholder had paid €1700 to Sammut. No receipt was given and the company was not operating, added the witness. “I am sorry the company is in crisis,” he said.

Bakeer, owner of Trusted Teams Ltd, testified last. He informed the court that the company is a construction materials supplier and that he also owns an electronics business and a car import company in Libya.

He said he had come to Malta to open a car import-export company after the war in Libya rendered business impossible. “There is an office in Tripoli which cooperated with Malta. There is a person who works there who can incorporate Maltese companies. A certain Hassan runs this and his name is on the documents.”

The three shareholders had paid a total of €6500 to the Tripoli office. He told the court that he had received a receipt on mobile messaging application, Viber.

The court imposed a freezing order on Sammut's assets. Defence lawyer Michael Sciriha requested that €13,976 be made available to the accused and argued that a personal guarantee would be more effective in this case, as the freezing order was a guarantee in and of itself.

The prosecution did not object, noting that police bail had previously been granted and the accused had complied with the conditions.

Sammut was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €15,000 and ordered to sign a bail book three times a week. In view of the fact that Sammut works in the same office as some witnesses, the court ordered they be summoned for the next sitting.

The case continues on the 3rd September.

Lawyers Michael Fenech and Simon Micallef Stafrace are also defending Sammut.

Gaddafi connection

Sammut had been a close associate of the Gaddafi family for several years. It comes as little surprise, therefore, that Sammut had set up Capital Resources Ltd in June 2010 to hold all assets under Muammar Gaddafi’s son Mutassim’s assumed name Muatasimbllah Muammar Abuminyar. Gaddafi was the sole shareholder in this company.

Sammut had also been connected to the operations of Sealandair Energy International, an oil trading company owned by Tunisian brothers Ghazi Mellouli and Maher Mellouli, a company which was highly active in Libya’s oil market. Other Libyan firms which have found refuge in Sammut’s office include Mabco Holding, which operates in the real estate and tourism sectors, run by businessman Jalal Baayou, and Ferasa International Trading & Construction, which is owned by Zuhir Abdusalam Almuntasar who works in the oil services trade, the Lamar International Group, headed by Naser al Jawal, headed by Abdulmoneim Abulghasseim, and West Tripoli and Tripoli Stone Company.