An Italian national suspected of planning to launder “billions” for mafia associates is being investigated by the Financial Crimes Investigation Department, a police spokesman confirmed.

Roberto Recordare is the owner of two companies in Malta – Golem Malta Limited and Recordare Holding.

The two companies are ostensibly in the software business. Golem’s Italian website describes it as a software provider to local public administration entities in Sicily.

According to Italian media reports, wire taps captured Recordare speaking about his interests in Malta and mocking the death of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, days after she was killed by a car bomb in Bidnija, in October 2017.

Contacted by Times of Malta, a police spokesman confirmed an investigation was underway by the anti-money laundering unit but declined to provide further details.

Recordare told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that he only learned of the money-laundering allegations from Italian media reports.

He reportedly referred to the whole matter as a “farce”.

Wire taps captured Recordare mocking the death of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Recordare told ICIJ that the “hypothetical bank transactions have nothing to do with the mafia and relate to my consulting services for third parties… managed within international contexts.”

Public records show the two companies controlled by Recordare banked with Bank of Valletta, according to the last available accounts filed for Golem Malta Limited and Recordare Holding for 2017.

When contacted by Times of Malta, a BOV official said the bank was not in a position to divulge information relating to any of its customers.

The official said, however, that during the past 18 months BOV had closed accounts of many personal and company banking customers whose operations did not fit into the bank’s risk framework. 

Both companies in question have their registered addresses at RSM Malta in Żebbuġ, who also audit the companies.

Apart from his interests in Malta, Recordare is also believed to have established a web of bank accounts across the globe in jurisdictions known for their lax anti-money laundering controls.

Reports say Italian investigators suspect Recordare was prepared to move some €36 billion on behalf of mafia clans as part of a wider €136 billion laundering scheme.