Magisterial inquiry into Pilatus Bank cost €7.5 million
A magisterial inquiry into Pilatus Bank cost €7.5 million, Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said in Parliament on Tuesday. He was replying to a question by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi. Both Azzopardi and the minister did not mention the bank by name, but Times of Malta has confirmed that the question referred to Pilatus Bank. The inquiry, by Magistrate Ian Farrugia, was concluded in December last year but its conclusions were not published. Times of Malta had reported on December 14 that the voluminous inquiry report had been handed to the State Prosecutor to be assessed for possible criminal action. Sources had said that the report recommended criminal proceedings be initiated against a number of bank personnel. Police had initially been expected to file charges against Pilatus Bank officials last summer, but the sources said this was put off, partly to await the conclusions of the magistrate’s own investigation. The inquiry document included lengthy analyses by a UK-based forensic accountancy firm. The magisterial inquiry into potential criminal wrongdoing by employees at Pilatus Bank was launched just before the bank was shut down by the European Central Bank in...