Proceedings before a court in the UK for Adrian Hillman’s extradition to Malta are expected to start shortly after the authorities there processed all documents they received from their Maltese counterparts.
Sources explained that this latest development came after law enforcement officials from the UK’s National Crime Agency received all paperwork required from Malta on why they wanted to have the former Allied Group managing director sent to Malta to face charges of money laundering and corruption in the private sector.
The next step is that Hillman is summoned to appear before a UK court and British authorities to justify Malta’s request. It is unclear if local officials will be sent to the UK to make Malta’s case. It is the court which finally decides whether Hillman is to be extradited or not.
First extradition request since Brexit
The sources said this was the first extradition request that Malta filed after the UK’s departure from the EU took effect this year.
Previously, the rules governing the European Arrest Warrant system were followed but this case was “unchartered territory” as the judicial extradition process was still “hazy”. The new system is now regulated by the Brexit agreement between the UK and the EU.
This new system was the primary cause of the delay to bring Hillman back to Malta since the authorities had filed the request using the same template from the old European Arrest Warrant system, prompting the UK authorities to request further documentation on the case against Hillman before taking up the matter.
It is understood that Hillman had been contacted by the police in the UK to ascertain his location but has not been informed if he will be extradited or not at this point.
Hillman has been residing in the south-east London suburb of New Cross with his family and is pursuing studies at Goldsmiths University of London.
Police sources say they plan to press criminal charges against him following the conclusion of a magisterial inquiry into the purchase of three multi-million-euro printing machines by Progress Press from Keith Schembri’s company Kasco Ltd a decade ago.
Schembri, together with his business associates, financial advisers Nexia BT and Zenith Finance, formerly MFSP, are all facing a slew of criminal charges.
Vincent Buhagiar, chairman of Progress Press at the time of the major printing investment, has also been charged with having received backhanders from Schembri and laundering those illicit funds.
Progress Press is a subsidiary of Allied Newspapers, which is the publisher of Times of Malta.
Suspended Allied Group managing director Michel Rizzo and former Progress Press financial controller Claude Licari are also facing separate criminal proceedings over their involvement in an application for a grant from Malta Enterprise to partly cover the cost of three printing machines purchased in 2013.
The police claim that Malta Enterprise had been defrauded with the inclusion of unspecified amounts of “consumables” in their application. The court heard how Rizzo signed the application prepared by Hillman while Licari issued payments on Hillman’s instructions.
€650,000 in 30 'suspicious transactions'
According to a leaked Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit report, Schembri allegedly filtered over €650,000 to Hillman in over 30 “suspicious transactions” between 2011 and 2015.
Hillman was also found to have deposited €225,000 in cash into his HSBC account between January 2011 and February 2016.
The allegations of financial crime surrounding the two were first reported by Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2016. Hillman went on garden leave from Allied Newspapers and the company severed all ties with him shortly afterwards.
Allied Group has said it has no knowledge of the payments allegedly paid to its former managing directors while police officers have confirmed in court that Rizzo and Licari did not make any personal financial gain from the Malta Enterprise grant.