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

By: callixtus

callixtus — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 11:21:00 +0000

Why am I not surprised?

By: Joe Genovese

Joe Genovese — Fri, 03 Jun 2016 22:18:00 +0000

This is the next best thing to a blank cheque.

By: J Sammut

J Sammut — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 18:47:00 +0000

Perhaps they are in a brotherhood.

By: J Sammut

J Sammut — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 18:45:00 +0000

Central Bank of Malta shreds thousands of bank notes daily – better be on the lookout.

By: NyxC

NyxC — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 18:39:00 +0000

Intended to cover up facts.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:08:00 +0000

No, the Bank of Valletta.

By: Mac Taylor

Mac Taylor — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 10:55:00 +0000

To Whom It May Concern

I hereby confirm that I have known Dr. Konrad Mizzi, husband of Mrs Said Mizzi, in a political capacity for the past four years.

From my experience and knowledge of Dr. Konrad Mizzi I consider him to be a liar, a cheat and a most corrupt man and most definitely not somebody fit to hold a bank account.

By: Le pauvre homme

Le pauvre homme — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 10:28:00 +0000

Since when does a serious bank encourage “ordinary” people to open “ordinary” accounts . . . WITH OTHER BANKS?

By: FP@DISQUS

FP@DISQUS — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 20:22:00 +0000

So the BOV Chief Officer Corporate Finance issued a reference letter vouching for KONrad Mizzi's suitability "to satisfactorily operate a bank account" which was passed on to Mizzi's financial intermediaries Nexia BT who then passed it on to Mossack Fonseca to … do what, exactly? Frame it and hang it together with thousands of other reference letters on their office walls? For, according to DOI Press Release 160715 dated 03/04/2016, Mizzi has "no funds and bank accounts held by these structures" and "with regards (sic) to reports that there were attempts by the service provider to open a bank account, this was part of the service that was offered to (him). Nevertheless, as a state of fact confirmed by the reports, (he) did not pursue this option and never opened any account either in Dubai, Panama or elsewhere". I'm curious. WHO exactly would ask the Chief Officer Corporate Finance at BOV to issue a reference letter vouching for KONrad Mizzi's suitability to operate a bank account? Do Nexia BT offer this seemingly extraordinary service of approaching the BOV COCF to issue this reference letter for their client just in case the client decides to "pursue the option"? Or would the request to the BOV Chief Officer Corporate Finance for a reference letter need to come from Mizzi himself? If so, then this means that KONrad Mizzi personally actively pursued the option to open an offshore bank account, which also means that this DOI press release together with this BOV reference letter document another of KONrad Mizzi's blatant lies to the authorities and to the general public.

By: Godfrey Leone Ganado

Godfrey Leone Ganado — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 19:43:00 +0000

I cannot imagine anyone in the professional world issuing a reference letter addressed ‘to whom it may concern’.

Basic risk management dictates that a reference letter is addressed to the person/institution asking for the reference and mailed direct to ensure that the recipient is the person actually requesting it.

Furthermore, the letter should identify the last known residential address of the person and also make reference to the official request for the issue of a reference.

The reference to the request is made to emphasise that the letter is being issued for the specific purpose for which it is requested and for the exclusive use of the receipient.

Finally, a caveat is always included in the letter, stating that the issuer is in no way acting as a guarantor for the subject person.