Letters to the editor - May 14, 2026

Money laundering and tax evasion

Anthony Curmi of St Julian’s writes:

John Vassallo (‘Time to vote for change’, May 11) is to be commended for making clear the distinction between the lawmakers’ original intentions (when the Prevention of Money Laundering Act was enacted in 1994) for the punishment to be meted out to those caught in money laundering activities and/or tax evasion.

The former is clearly a crime that involves funds derived from criminal activities. These normally involve also tax evasion.

The penalties contemplated by law for money laundering are severe; a fine not exceeding €2.5 million or imprisonment of up to 18 months, or both.

However, these provisions were eliminated by specific legislation – that was rushed through parliament through all its stages in the heat of August 2025 and conveniently just before the summer recess – by a government aided by its comfortable majority.

It is now clear as to who the legislators had in mind as beneficiaries of this escape route, which surely cannot be said to be in the public interest.

We now know the names of some persons against whom the process of law was in the offing after allegedly being caught committing serious instances of multi-million money laundering contraventions and who now have signed out-of-court agreements to avoid imprisonment by paying a hefty fine.

It remains to be seen if there are even higher profile persons whose names are yet to be unearthed by a vigilant press.

The Income Tax Act provides for fines being imposed in cases of tax evasion where no criminal action is involved.

However, even here, it is deplorable that, over the years, the Office of the Commissioner for Tax & Customs has tolerated the accumulation of €5.9 billion in unpaid taxes that are now deemed unrecoverable.

Had this sum been collected, the amount would have more than halved the current mountain of government debt with which future generations are burdened.

Party leaders on the campaign trail. File photos

Questionable methods

Michael Vella of Sliema writes:

As a normal voter weighing the pros and cons of what the two big political parties are offering to the electorate, I sincerely hope we have a clean election campaign and avoid any mud-slinging comments by our top personalities regarding criminals being involved in new projects listed in electoral manifestos.

A political party which employs such methods makes one think it must be in panic mode and does not promise well for its supporters.

Rabbits out of hats

Anna Micallef of Sliema writes:

As the election campaign grinds on, every day brings promises of new, grander largesse. And tax breaks, to boot! 

I may be stupid, but how is all this going to be paid for?

The usual way (as in Scandinavian countries, for example) is via taxation. Maybe we will discover how to “sneeze” (to avoid the vulgar Maltese vernacular) money?