Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi on Saturday said he is being sued by the former owner of Satabank over claims it should have never been given a license to operate.
Speaking in a live video uploaded onto his Facebook account, Azzopardi said he had this week learnt that he was being sued for libel in Bulgaria. The case was opened against him in December 2019.
The incident refers to a speech Azzopardi gave in parliament in November 13, 2018.
In the speech, he had said the financial watchdog had never taken action against the bank or its owners, despite intelligence reports having been drawn up back in 2013.
He had also said the bank’s owner had known links to the Russian mafia, describing what happened there as “large-scale criminal activity” and suspected money laundering.
Georgiev has already sued Times of Malta and blogger Manuel Delia in Bulgaria over alleged damage to his reputation.
Georgiev has taken exception to an article written in January by Times of Malta journalist Ivan Martin in 2019 titled ‘Billions of euros in Satabank transactions deemed highly suspicious’.
He claimed a reference to him having faced international investigations had undermined his personal and professional authority, and caused him psychological and physical discomfort.
He said it had also caused employees at three of his companies to question if they were working for “some kind of international criminal engaged in money laundering or similar activities, because that was the implication”.
Satabank was effectively shuttered by authorities in 2018 after a joint FIAU and MFSA inspection flagged serious deficiencies in the bank’s anti-money laundering controls, although it has retained a banking license.
Prior to setting up shop in Malta, Georgiev ran an e-money business in Luxembourg.
The group the bank forms part of voluntarily surrendered its electronic money institution licence issued by Luxembourg after Satabank was given its licence in Malta.
Meanwhile, speaking on Facebook, Azzopardi said he was being targeted for having said that Georgiev ought not to have passed the local due diligence required before being given a banking license adding that he had ben the subject of investigations overseas.
The MP said the legal threat was meant to have a chilling effect to stop others from speaking out too.
“I am in good company when I see that I am among the Times, Manuel Delia, Daphne Caruana Galizia her self faced SLAPP threats,” he said.
SLAPP, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, are suits filed in order to stifle free speech or intimidate journalists into silence.
In a statement, the Nationalist Party expressed its solidarity with its MP and with journalists facing similar threats.
The PN said there was an urgent need to legislate against SLAPP tactics, calling on the Prime Minister to "stop dragging his feet" and initiate a discussion on the subject.
"Azzopardi himself had tabled a Private Members Bill on how to tackle SLAPP cases, but the government has never permitted a discussion on the subject," the party said.
Responding, the Labour Party said the subject was already on the government's agenda, and would be implemented "after discussions and consultations".