Company facing money laundering charges did not even exist during Vitals concession
A company accused of money laundering in connection with the Vitals hospitals concession says it had not even been set up when it was alleged to have committed crimes.
DF Corporate Advisory Ltd was hit with a €20 million freezing order and charged with money laundering as part of a raft of prosecutions linked to the 30-year, €4 billion deal to privatise three state hospitals annulled by a civil court last year.
In court filings, prosecutors from the Attorney General’s office and the police accused DF Corporate Advisory of having committed those crimes “between 2013 and 2023”.
But in a judicial protest filed on Friday, the financial services firm said it only started operating on January 1, 2024, having opened bank accounts on December 18, 2023, after having received the licence to act as a corporate service provider (CSP) on June 1 last year.
It said the company was incorporated on August 18, 2021.
Through its lawyers Ezekiel Psaila, Marion Camilleri and Franco Debono, the company said there was “absolutely no case to answer for”. It said the charges filed against it were “absurd” and “completely baseless” and were creating financial distress for the company. When the €20m freezing order comes into effect, the company will be “completely paralysed” and unable to operate.
This would also put into peril its licence to operate as a corporate service provider and therefore directly affect its very existence.
The company said the charges should not have been issued and nothing was stopping the attorney general from withdrawing the charges if these were issued in error, as it seems to be the case.
The judicial protest was filed against the attorney general, the state advocate, the police commissioner, the justice and home affairs ministers, and the court registrar.
The company held them responsible for any damages it was sustaining as a result of the charges filed against it for having committed alleged crimes when it was still non-existent.
It therefore called on the authorities to withdraw the charges or face more legal action in default.
Several high officials and companies, including former prime minister Joseph Muscat, are facing charges in connection with the hospitals debacle.
“Withdraw charges or face more legal action