US delegation to travel to Malta to investigate Pilatus Bank chairman

A delegation from the United States should will be arriving in Malta in the coming weeks, after the Maltese police force offered its assistance to investigators looking into the dealings of Pilatus Bank chairman Ali Sadr Hasheminejad.

The bank has been at the centre of political controversy since Daphne Caruana Galizia claimed it held an account for the Panamanian company Egrant, which Caruana Galizia also claimed belonged to Michelle Muscat, the Prime Minister’s wife.

Hasheminejad had been filmed leaving the bank carrying suitcases on the evening that Caruana Galizia made the allegations. He was arrested in Dulles, Virginia on Monday and charged with money laundering and circumventing US sanctions on Iran.

According to the police, it had contacted US authorities to ascertain whether any Maltese entities or individuals were involved in the case. It said US authorities had confirmed that there was no link Maltese entities or individuals, and that no transactions had passed through Malta.

“While the police force was not involved or informed by American authorities about the arrest, over the course of the day communication had been made with authorities, through which the police and judicial authorities offered their assistance,” said the police in a statement.

It added that it was committed to investigating any breach of the law in Malta, as well as to assisting foreign agencies in their investigations according to the law.