Gaddafi cash-hunt slows down in Maltese courts

A bid by the Libyan Attorney General to take control of millions in assets believed to be held in Malta by the guardians of the Gaddafi fortune, is being dragged out in court after the ‘wrong’ witness was called in to testify. 

Pierre Mallia told the court that he was no longer director of protocol and consular affairs at the foreign ministry, after he was requested by the respondents to the case to confirm whether the Libyan AG’s appointment of lawyer Shaheryar Ghaznavi was recognised by the Maltese government.

The Libyan AG – one of the few executive offices that enjoys the recognition of both the Tobruk and Tripoli governments in strife-torn Libya – is trying to take ownership of Muatassim Gaddafi’s wealth, held by two Maltese companies.

The son of dictator Muammar Gaddafi died in 2011 when he was captured by anti-Gaddafi forces, and executed along with his father.

Libya’s claims are being opposed by Safia Farkash Gaddafi, the 63-year-old widow now living in Oman with sons Hannibal and Mohammad, and daughter Aisha.

Safia Farkash’s lawyer, Harris Oikonomopoulos, is opposing the Attorney General’s claims to the “millions” that could be held under Muatassim’s companies Capital Resources and Mezen International, which at one point were managed in Malta by Joe Sammut, the former Labour Party treasurer.

Sammut is currently facing criminal procedures for facilitating the residency permits of Libyan nationals by registering companies for them with false stock.

In the proceedings before Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff, Oikonomopoulos has also claimed that Muatassim had another heir: his hitherto unknown wife Lisa van Goinga, a Dutch glamour model, and her son. No proof of marriage or paternity have yet been presented in court. 

The lawyer has previously insisted in a Huffington Post blog he penned that Safia Farkash had entrusted him to “defend the future of her murdered son’s minor child and wife.” He also wrote of Safia Farkash’s “frustration, anger and embarrassment”, allegedly living on  “less than a thousand US dollars to spare” while still being presented as being worth billions.

Muatassim Gaddafi was the sole shareholder in Capital Resources Ltd, set up in June 2010 by auditor Joe Sammut to hold all assets under Gaddafi’s assumed name Muatasimbllah Muammar Abuminyar.

 Also registered at the same address as Capital Resources was Mezen International, the company in whose name Muatassim was issued with a Bank of Valletta Visa Platinum Card. In Malta, payments of €50,000 were effected in one single deposit to zero his maxed-out credit card.