Updated 4.10pm, adds PN statement
Lands Authority chief executive James Piscopo is to step down, following reports that he is the subject of an active criminal investigation into bribery and corruption.
The authority confirmed Piscopo s imminent departure in a statement issued on Thursday morning, saying he had signalled his intentions not to seek a renewal of his contract.
Piscopo s decision to call it a day comes just weeks after
Times of Malta reported that the police were investigating a claim made by former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri that Piscopo had squirrelled away upwards of €600,000 at the Jersey-based Fairbairn Private Bank.
Malta’s Police Investigating Italian National Suspected Of Planning To Launder Billions For Mafia
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Malta’s police are investigating an Italian national on suspicion of laying the groundwork to launder billions for mafia organisation with the help of local companies.
A police spokesman confirmed with The Times of Malta that Roberto Recordare, the owner of two Maltese companies – Golem Malta Limited and Recordare Holding – is under investigation by the Financial Crimes Investigation Department
The two companies official operate as software companies. RSM Malta in Haz-Żebbuġ, who audits the companies, is their registered address.
The news comes soon after Italian media revealed wiretaps of Recordare referencing his links to Malta. In one tape, he allegedly mocks the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Lands Authority chief executive James Piscopo will not be suspended despite being the subject of an active criminal investigation into bribery and corruption.
Replying to questions, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said Piscopo had been summoned in for a meeting on Monday and denied any wrongdoing.
“Following a meeting I had with James Piscopo, he has denied these allegations and informed me that the police have not made contact with him either,” Schembri, who recently took over political responsibility for the authority, said.
The minister said that despite being politically responsible for the Lands Authority, he had not been informed or kept abreast of police investigations on this or any other matters.