David Casa asks UAE to probe 17 Black

Nationalist MEP David Casa has written a strongly-worded letter to the head of the United Arab Emirates’ anti-money laundering unit urging an investigation into the activities of the Dubai company 17 Black. Mr Casa claimed that 17 Black’s owner was “clearly involved in criminal activity”. Leaked e-mails show that €150,000 were set to be transferred every month by 17 Black and another Dubai company called Macbridge to the Panama companies owned by the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi. Mr Casa said confirmation of the nature of 17 Black’s owner’s relationship with Mr Schembri and Dr Mizzi would further expose the scale of the “criminal activity”. He described Mr Schembri and Dr Mizzi as the masterminds behind projects that had cost taxpayers millions of euros. Their Panama companies, opened secretly through government advisers Nexia BT, were set to earn $2 million in a single year, according to an e-mail sent by Nexia’s money-laundering reporting officer Karl Cini. Both men deny receiving any such money. A leaked report by Malta’s anti-money laundering agency (FIAU) said $1.6 million was wired to 17 Black in 2015. The report that...