The EU’s smallest member state, Malta, has become the Mafia’s El Dorado. This was the shocking conclusion of a study commissioned by the European Parliament’s Martin Schirdewan.
The report shows how Italian mafia clans laundered billions of euros through online gaming platforms in Malta between 2015 and 2022.
Four billion euros of assets were confiscated through investigations into online gaming related to Malta. The study found that “criminals, including those from Calabria’s ‘Ndrangheta and Sicily’s Cosa Nostra, have become part of the Maltese gaming sector through companies they set up and which they used to launder huge sums of money”.
Why is Malta so attractive to criminal organisations? Why are Mafia bosses so keen on Malta? What makes Malta such a haven for some of the most feared tough guys in the criminal world?
The answer was spelt out by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri. He was compelled to admit that there wasn’t a single applicant for the vacant post of Deputy Police Commissioner.