Surprise – there’s a fishy bank reference letter for Konrad Mizzi, too

When it was revealed that Keith Schembri and his cohort Malcolm Scerri used what look to be fraudulent HSBC reference letters to restructure their secret companies in the British Virgin Islands, we should have wondered whether Konrad Mizzi used a suspect bank reference letter too.

And what do you know – it turns out that he did. But he banks with the Bank of Valletta, which makes it so much easier, of course. With the Bank of Valletta, a (Labour) government minister doesn’t need to have his corrupt accountants forge something on a template from a long-defunct bank branch. He can simply twist a few arms.

The Times of Malta reports today that though Konrad Mizzi only has a standard personal bank account and loan account with the Bank of Valletta, he had a reference letter made out for him by the head of corporate services, who addressed the letter TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN and wrote that he has known “Dr Konrad Mizzi” for two years and considers him to be a suitable person to hold a bank account. Yes, except for the fact that he is a government minister in a European Union member state and massively politically exposed and so subject to heightened bank scrutiny. But the head of corporate services didn’t mention his PEP status.