Central Bank deputy governor under investigation by the Police Economic Crimes Unit

The deputy governor of the Central Bank of Malta, Alfred Mifsud – who is set to become governor on 1 July when the incumbent’s term of office expires – is under investigation by the Police Economic Crimes Unit, this website has learned.

His former companion Anna Zelbst, who told this website that Mifsud had taken cash bribes equivalent to hundreds of thousands of euros from well-known businessman Ronnie Demajo, when he was chairman of Mid Med Bank in 1997 and 1998, has been asked by the police to go in for an interview. The Police confirmed that they are investigating the case.

Mrs Zelbst had already given a full statement about Alfred Mifsud’s receipt of large cash bribes from Ronnie Demajo to then Assistant Commissioner Michael Cassar in 2006, but it was not followed up. Mifsud’s close associate, John Dalli, was a cabinet minister at the time.

She told this website that she went to the police in 2006 after “Alfred did something so terrible at home – much worse than infidelity – that I left and we were separated until 2009.” This website is not reporting what the “terrible action” is.

Mrs Zelbst was present at their home on all three occasions when Ronnie Demajo delivered the cash. She was also present when Alfred Mifsud counted it.

Mifsud has reached to the news that he is under investigation by filing a formal request for the police to prosecute Mrs Zelbst for “blackmail”. Despite saying last week that he has no further comment to make to the press now that he has filed a civil suit for libel against this website, Mifsud this morning released to all media a copy of a the “blackmail” letter Mrs Zelbst sent him after their split a few months ago.

The letter is a straightforward request for maintenance, a place to live in, payment of education and health insurance fees for the son and daughter they have together, for the car she drives to be put in her name, for a sum of money that is a fraction of the 50% of his estate to which she would have been entitled at law had they been married, and for reassurance that should anything major and unforeseen happen in the future, requiring significant financial outlay beyond her means (medical treatment and so on), he would extend the necessary support.

“I gave you 24 years of my life and two kids… and I won’t even get a pension because I was forced to give up my career to take care of the family,” Mrs Zelbst wrote. Mifsud will have released the letter in the hope of making her look like a malevolent and ruthless gold-digger. But on most people who have read it, it has had the opposite effect because the “demands” are so basic compared to what Mifsud is worth.

Mrs Zelbst has been out of the job market for years while she raised their children, and is now 62. Because she does not have a marriage contract, she is in a weak position under the law and it appears from his correspondence with the media that the deputy governor of the Central Bank is taking advantage of this.

Alfred Mifsud, deputy governor of the Central Bank (archive photograph)