The Maltese firm allegedly used by Venezuelan officials to launder hundreds of millions of euros stolen from state funds in Venezuela was investigated by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) several months ago. According to a criminal complaint filed in Miami courts by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week, staggering sums of money were allocated to the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela in a complex money laundering scheme, reported Times of Malta.
It is claimed that the funds were partially transferred to an unidentified Maltese firm between late 2014 and early 2015, according to court documents.
Sources involved in monitoring the Maltese financial services industry stated that the mysterious firm was Portmann Capital Management Limited, owned by Swiss financial advisors Kurt and Yves-Alaine Portmann.
The U.S. court documents allege that the Maltese company received over 20 million euros for laundering money, which represents a service charge of four percent.
Sources informed the Maltese media that the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, responsible for investigating money laundering cases, began reviewing the local firm last year and uncovered a series of irregularities.
While the raised issues were related to anti-money laundering compliance, the FIAU reportedly was not aware of the alleged Venezuelan scam at that time, according to a report by the Sunday Times of Malta. Since then, the firm has been issued a “unprecedented” 350,000 euro fine by the unit for a series of procedural irregularities.