Casa calls on the EU to be more forceful on UAE to provide information on money laundering

Member of the European Parliament David Casa has insisted that the EU must be more forceful with jurisdictions, such as the United Arab Emirates, in ensuring that these countries cooperate with the EU on money-laundering investigations. Casa made this appeal in a speech during a plenary debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, in light of recent developments which revealed that the UAE has refused to cooperate in investigations related to 17 Black.

Last November, when it became clear that the secret company 17 Black was at the centre of the motive behind the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, David Casa insisted that UAE should cooperate with Maltese and European law enforcement. MEP Casa has now called on the European Commission not to allow this situation to persist. He has called for severe consequences for non-cooperative jurisdictions that should act as a deterrent.

“The refusal of the UAE to transfer information, means that justice cannot take its course. It means that the crimes over which a European journalist was murdered, might go unpunished. This is intolerable,” stated David Casa.

17 Black was revealed to be connected to politicians at the highest levels of power. Casa said that in view of the developments related to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the transfer of information from the UAE is even more crucial, and this is due to criminal activities which Daphne Caruana Galizia was in the process of uncovering when she was killed, including those involving Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.

David Casa is the EPP Group spokesperson on Anti-Money Laundering within the Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs, and also forms part of the European Parliament Delegation to the Arab Peninsula that includes the UAE.