Former prime minister Joseph Muscat has slammed an American financial crime blogger over claims he is being investigated by Italy’s financial intelligence unit.

Taking to Facebook, Muscat described Kenneth Rijock as a “convicted felon and fraudster” who had failed to get his basic facts right. 

Rijock claimed in a blog post that Muscat was being investigated by the unit over financial transactions that passed through Italy. 

Muscat pointed out in his post that the unit in question does not carry out criminal probes, as claimed by Rijock. 

Financial intelligence units generally carry out analysis of financial transactions which is then passed on to law enforcement bodies for criminal investigations.

“Now, such an oversight might be forgiven to an unrefined outsider, but not to someone who claims to be an expert and to have been given this information from within the same authority.

“To make it clear: this convicted felon and fraudster claims that an authority told him it is doing something that the same authority does not do,” Muscat wrote.

The former prime minister said Rijock had lost “innumerable libel suits because he simply made up stuff”.

Referring to the Egrant inquiry into whether his family owned a secret offshore company, Muscat said: “May I remind everyone that I am the only Maltese politician to have subjected oneself to a magisterial inquiry which had access to worldwide databases and judicial authorities, with this inquiry confirming what I have just said.” 

The terms of the inquiry were drawn up by Muscat himself, and certain authorities, such as the United Arab Emirates, did not provide information to the inquiry. 

Rijock has also claimed in recent weeks that Muscat is being investigated by US and European authorities over the laundering of criminal proceeds.

Muscat said none of the authorities mentioned by Rijock would dream of sharing any information with third parties, “let alone a convicted money launderer who has a track record of being found guilty of naming them when inventing such fantasies”.

The former prime minister also took a swipe at the Maltese media, saying any outlet “worth their salt” should take their time to independently verify such claims, which now even include that he aided terrorists.

In a further mention of the Egrant saga, Muscat said he and his family were subjected to the fabrications of another con artist who has to date gone scot free despite everything. 

He said the facts showed that she forged documents and signatures, while those aiding her are still hiding behind the intricacies of legal “professional secret”. 

“I still have to understand what there is of “professional” in being an accomplice to a con and a fraudster.

“For today I stop here,” he said.