The Maltese firm allegedly used by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other high-flyers to launder hundreds of millions of euros in pilfered State funds had been investigated by the FIAU several months ago.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the courts of Miami by the US Department of Homeland Security last week, staggering sums of money were syphoned from the country’s State oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela in a complex money laundering scheme.
The funds were allegedly wired, in part, to an unnamed Maltese firm between late 2014 and early 2015, the court documents say.
READ: Venezuelan president's alleged Malta money laundering 'worrying' - PN
Sources involved in policing the Maltese financial services industry said the mystery firm was Portmann Capital Management Limited, owned by Swiss financial advisors Kurt and Yves-Alaine Portmann. The US court documents allege that the Maltese firm received upwards of €20 million for laundering the money, which works out to be a four per cent service charge on the racket.
Sources told this newspaper that the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, responsible for probing money laundering matters, had started reviewing the...
