Paris, 04/10/2018 – The French and Maltese Anti-Corruption Organizations Sherpa and Il-Kenniesa request the Attorney General of Malta to open an investigation into the facts revealed by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
According to EIC, between 2008 and 2015, a 26 million oil tanker called “Agdash” has been offered to the Erdogan Family by two businessmen close to President Erdogan, Mübariz Mansimov and Sitki Ayan, through shell companies registered in Malta and the Isle of Man.
Moreover, as part of this financial package and with the help of a local law firm, the Turkish President’s brother-in-law, Ziya Ilgen, allegedly opened an offshore account in Malta without disclosing his real identity to the bank.
The investigation also mentions that, from 2008, Mr. Mübariz Mansimov’ business was flourishing in Turkey thanks to questionable contracts with the State in the field of health, energy, construction, tourism, air transport, luxury cars.
On a separate case, part of the ICIJ investigation “ Paradise Papers” revealed by the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet and the Turkish journalist Pelin Unker, shows how Serhat Albayrak, the brother of the President Erdogan’s son-in-law, was listed as a director of a Malta company named Frocks International Trading Ltd. This company used nominees, which allow to conceal the identity of real shareholders and potentially to hide money offshore and to avoid tax.
Cumhuriyet and Pelin Unker also showed that Turkey’s former Prime Minister’s sons, Erkam and Bulent were reported to be shareholders of five companies in Malta.
Now, the former Prime Minister and his two sons are suing Pelin Unker and Cumhuriyet, for an “attack on personal rights”. They are also sued by the President Erdogan’s son-in-law, who is also the Turkey’s finance minister, for “defamation”.
On July 26, 2018, Sherpa and Il-Kenniesa asked the Attorney General to publicly disclose the full report of the Egrant investigation (https://www.asso-sherpa.org/panama-papers-maltese-attorney-general-should-make-the-egrant-inquiry-report-public), in order to understand why this investigation has cleared the Maltese Prime Minister and his family of all allegations of suspicious transactions in the context of “Panama Papers”.
The two organizations are now also asking the Attorney General to open an investigation into the facts revealed by the EIC, by the ICIJ , by Cumhuriyet and Pelin Unker, as these suspicious business relations appear to have been facilitated by opaque financial arrangement going through the State of Malta.
Last modified: 17 December 2019
