Adrian Hillman appointed AUM trustee - media report

Former Allied Newspapers managing director, Adrian Hillman, has been appointed to the American University of Malta’s board of trustees together with former Labour Party auditor, and current Bank of Valletta chairman Taddeo Scerri, according to local media reports.  

Hillman resigned from the Allied group last year after the Panama Papers reported he owned a secret company in the British Virgin Islands, and is currently one of the subjects of a magisterial inquiry into money laundering involving Office of the Prime Minister Chief of Staff Keith Schembri. Both Hillman and Schembri have denied any wrongdoing.

The report, published in the Sunday TImes of Malta, cites sources close to the univeristy who told the newspaper that Hillman was recruited on the recommendation of senior government officials, and that him and Scerri were the only Maltese nationals sitting on the board.

Other trustees include former Jordan Prime minister Taher Masri, owner of Jordanian Sadeen group Hani Salah, and John Ryder, the provost of the new university, according to the report.

Last February, Sadeen Education Investments Ltd, the company behind the controversial project, formally presented a planning application to demolish the swimming pool complex at Marsaskala's Zonqor Point in order to start work on its campus.

The AUM received full university status by Malta’s higher education commission (NCPHE) in 2016, but the proposal for the 41,000 square metre campus in the Zonqor natural park prompted a massive national protest a year earlier.