Brian Tonna and Karl Cini have been struck off the Malta Financial Services Authority register until criminal cases they face have been concluded.
The MFSA decision means the former partners in the now-defunct accountancy firm Nexia BT cannot hold new positions in any registered firm, including being shareholders.
In separate statements announcing a decision taken last December, the MFSA said it had decided that Tonna and Cini were “not fit or proper” for any financial services position.
“The MFSA is prohibiting Tonna and Cini from accepting any new positions including as shareholders in entities or in relation to activities licensed or otherwise supervised by the MFSA and which necessitate the approval or authorisation of the Authority,” the MFSA said.
It said the prohibition will remain in place until such time as the criminal proceedings against Tonna and Cini are ongoing or until judgement delivered in the criminal proceedings against them is settled and exhausted.
“The Authority will, at that stage, consider whether to vary, alter, add to or withdraw the directive after consulting such ruling,” the MFSA said.
The MFSA’s decision may be appealed before the Financial Services Tribunal.
Tonna and Cini, who had their accountancy warrants suspended in 2020, face charges of money laundering and falsifying documents, among others, in prosecutions sparked by inquiries into alleged corruption by Keith Schembri, who served as chief of staff to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat between 2013 and late 2019.
Nexia BT, of Panama Papers fame, first hit the headlines in 2016 for setting up secretive offshore structures for former government officials Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi. Schembri and Tonna’s offshore dealings were laid bare by the Panama Papers data leak.
The companies set up by Tonna and Cini are alleged to have been meant to launder illicit proceeds from major national projects like the Electrogas power station, in partnership with Yorgen Fenech and his Dubai company 17 Black. Fenech stands accused of masterminding the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
In 2020, Nexia BT and its parent company, BT International, had a licence to sell passports to foreign investors suspended. BT International Limited is a firm owned by Nexia BT. Its directors are Tonna, Cini and a third person, Manuel Castagna, who is also facing charges in court.
Tonna and Cini had also featured heavily in the inquiry into the offshore company Egrant, which found that Cini “created” documents to back assertions that the mystery Panama company Egrant was owned by Nexia BT managing partner Tonna.
The inquiry report recommended that Cini be charged with perjury. Police have yet to do so.