“It upsets me that a sum like that… could possibly be lost,” Prime Minister Robert Abela lamented. “When there is an opportunity for funds to come to our country I don’t think we should be more puritanical than we have to be.”
Abela doesn’t care where the money comes from. Even if it’s coming from “a hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug traffickers”, Abela doesn’t care. He just wants to get his hands on that money, no matter what.
He’s not fussed that it’s coming from a company used to launder over $2.35 billion in illicit funds. He’s not bothered that the company’s founder and CEO is a convicted money launderer or that the company was fined $4.3 billion for hiding 100,000 suspicious transactions involving terrorist organisations.
That’s exactly who Abela is – a man so craven, so blinded by his obsession with money that he publicly disagreed with President Myriam Spiteri Debono for turning down a €33.5 million “bogus donation” from the notorious cryptocurrency company Binance.
In a commendable act of wisdom and foresight, President Spiteri Debono terminated an arrangement that had been reached in 2018 with Binance. During Labour’s failed mad drive to promote Malta as the “blockchain island”, Binance pledged $200,000 worth of its Binance coin to the Malta Community Chest Fund (MCCF). But those funds never reached the intended recipients – cancer patients.
Binance insisted that the funds, the value of which has since risen to around €33.5 million, be transferred directly to patients’ crypto wallets, bypassing the MCCF. That would require the MCCF to pass sensitive patient data to Binance. MCCF refused to play along with Binance’s scheme.
In a manifestation of integrity and rectitude, President Spiteri Debono refused to let the MCCF be tarnished by association with the notorious Binance. In her distinct straight-talking no-nonsense approach, the president called out Binance’s offer as a “bogus donation”.
“There was always this question mark regarding these people (Binance), regarding whether they were in good faith,” she commented. “They (Binance) do not have a good name,” President Spiteri Debono declared. And boy is she right.
The president doesn’t take any prisoners. She’s a breath of fresh air. In a country where our prime minister sells himself to the highest bidder, our president won’t be bought at any price. “It would be unfair on other donors who are in good faith, who abide by the laws,” President Spiteri Debono commented.
Those €33.5 million didn’t even register on the president’s radar. They could have been €33.5 billion for all she cares and it wouldn’t have changed a thing.
That money is dirty money for the president and she won’t touch it with a barge pole. “The MCCF is always mindful of its good name and reputation and treasures the faith in it expressed constantly and repeatedly by its bona fide donors and the general public,” the president’s spokesperson echoed.
What a relief! The president’s categorical rejection of those 30 pieces of dirty silver restores faith to our country. Amidst a culture of blind greed and astounding avarice, the president’s stand is a ray of hope that not everybody will be bought.
As recently as 2022, Reuters concluded that Binance was a “hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug traffickers” and found that over $2.35 billion in illicit funds had been laundered through Binance.
The following year, 2023, Binance was fined $4.3 billion and its founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to a four months in jail. Binance had failed to report over 100,000 suspicious transactions involving terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda and ISIS.
France is currently investigating Binance over money laundering and tax fraud.
President Spiteri Debono deserves praise and admiration for making the right decision, for showing the world that Malta is not for sale. She delivered a clear message – the Maltese will not sell their treasure island to some pirates. Criminals can keep their loot, no matter how rich they are. Malta will not touch it.
But when the money-grubbing Abela heard that President Spiteri Debono turned down €33.5 million, he just flew off his handle. His rage was palpable. He denigrated the president for being “overly strict” and commented that “the country could have made good use of those funds”.
The high priests found a Judas Iscariot to take their silver.
Changpeng found Abela to salivate over his €33.5 million.
Abela didn’t even have the good sense to hide his wrath. “It upsets me that a sum like that could possibly be lost,” he said.
We have no doubt. Nothing upsets Abela more than seeing money slip through his fingers, no matter how dirty that money is. “If there is a chance to save the situation, I appeal for mutual agreement,” he pleaded. He was actively encouraging the president to give up her principles and her values. Stop being so “puritanical”, Abela told the president – just take the money.
“Those countries critical of Malta’s dealings with Binance would be among the first to welcome the platform on their own shores,” Abela commented.
The man has absolutely no shame. He’s completely devoid of any embarrassment. Other countries will take Binance’s dirty money, is Abela’s argument, so we should take it before they do.
No wonder the country is in the state it’s in with a man like Abela at the helm. This is the same man who made a dodgy deal with Christian Borg to make a €45,000 profit.
He rented his uninhabitable Żejtun property to prospective Russian passport buyers to help them cheat the system.
His blind avarice has now driven him to publicly criticise the respected President of the Republic, simply for setting the example, sticking to her values and showing him up for the mercenary that he is.
