Repubblika’s legal challenge seeking to compel the police and attorney general to prosecute former Pilatus Bank officials will continue in open court after the NGO successfully rebuffed the state’s attempt to have the proceedings heard behind closed doors. The case was filed by Repubblika to challenge what it describes as the authorities’ failure to act on the conclusions of a magisterial inquiry into Pilatus Bank, which cost taxpayers more than €7.5 million and recommended that arrests and prosecutions be pursued against the bank’s owner and senior executives for money laundering and criminal association. Although arrest warrants were signed off by the inquiring magistrate in February 2021 and the inquiry found sufficient grounds to reopen the Egrant inquiry into alleged bribes to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, police and the attorney general did not follow through, with one suspect even allowed to leave Malta after meeting prosecutors in court.
The state, represented by Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg and State Advocate Chris Soler, had argued that the proceedings should not be public due to ongoing arbitration at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, but the court rejected that position, allowing the challenge to proceed with public scrutiny. Repubblika president Robert Aquilina said it was “scandalous” that the attorney general and state advocate worked against Malta’s interests and helped cover up wrongdoing, noting that the bank was shut down by the European Central Bank and was one of the main reasons Malta was placed on the FATF grey list.
The NGO’s court battle has faced multiple procedural hurdles, including an earlier dispute over Magistrate Nadine Lia presiding on the case. Lia, whose father-in-law Pawlu Lia represented Joseph Muscat in the Egrant affair, initially refused to recuse herself, prompting Repubblika to seek constitutional redress. A higher court later ordered interim measures for the case to move to a different magistrate, citing concerns over the right to a fair hearing.
In its filings, Repubblika presented authenticated copies of the Pilatus inquiry conclusions and internal police emails, arguing that the evidence should lead the court to order the Commissioner of Police to execute the investigating magistrate’s directive to bring to court all those the inquiry found should face charges. The organization maintains that the decisions of the Maltese authorities to let the “Pilatus Gang” get away with it are unlawful, and that if those individuals are prosecuted they could implicate politicians who assisted them.
While a Maltese court previously rejected an earlier challenge by Repubblika to have Pilatus officials charged, citing insufficient evidence to order prosecution under Article 541 of the Criminal Code, the current proceedings focus on compelling enforcement of the inquiry’s recommendations rather than initiating charges directly. The ongoing open-court hearings represent a significant step for transparency in a case that has become emblematic of Malta’s struggle with financial crime, institutional accountability, and the rule of law following the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who had investigated the bank before her death in 2017.
