One of the three remaining Maltese nationals sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control in connection with the smuggling of oil from Libya, Terence Micallef, has been taken off the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals sanctions list
One of the three remaining Maltese nationals sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in connection with the smuggling of oil from Libya, Terence Micallef, has been taken off the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals sanctions list.
He was added in 2018 together with Darren Debono, Gordon Debono, Rodrick Grech, Fahmi Ben Khalifa and Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan Ahmed Arafa in connection with a fuel smuggling operation linking Libya, Malta and Italy.
A UN probe implicated Micallef in a Malta-based shell company that sold smuggled petroleum products in Europe.
The six men, with 24 companies and seven vessels, were sanctioned over “illicit production, refining, brokering, sale, purchase or export of Libyan oil.” OFAC sanctions prohibit Americans from engaging with the targeted entities and freeze any related property found within US jurisdiction.
The UN investigation reported that Darren Debono used fishing vessels to transport the smuggled fuel out of Libya so that it could be sold in Italian ports.
The crime syndicate is also alleged to have involved Maltese businessman Gordon Debono and Sicilian mafia associate, Nicola Orazio Romeo.
The Debonos were subsequently charged with money laundering in Malta over wealth allegedly derived from fuel smuggling.
Adapted from Malta Today