Cheated investors hurt by Gonzi’s BOV endorsement

Hundreds of small investors cheated by the Bank of Valletta (BOV) investment schemes designed for professional investors fell hurt that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has endorsed BOV's shabby treatment of them by attending the opening of a BOV EU Representative Office in Brussels aimed at assisting Maltese enterprises tapping into EU centralised funds.

Gonzi was accompanied by Malta’s EU Permanent Representative Richard Cachia Caruana. Small investors who had been lured by BOV to invest in schemes where they lost millions of euros feel hurt that Gonzi has not moved a finger to protect their interests. Gonzi has said nothing about BOV's muzzling of the local press that reported the La Valette Multi Manager Property Fund saga in a way which the bank did not like. He has also not taken any stand on how BOV hit back at Paul Bonello of FINCO for protecting the interests of the small investors.

Present for the launch were BOV Chief Executive Officer Charles Borg and representatives from the Bank's management and Board of Directors among distinguished guests from the European entities, Maltese MEPs and representatives from the Maltese Embassy in Belgium and Malta's permanent representation to the EU. Most of the BOV VIPs present are responsible for the unethical and irregular way in which BOV promoted and sold its schemes among small, vulnerable pensioners made up mostly of pensioners.

Since 12 May 2011 the Bank of Valletta (BOV) under Chairman Roderick Chalmers has been sanctioned by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) at least six times and fined a total amount of €726,140 for letting down pensioners and small inexperienced investors by luring them into investing in schemes designed for professional investors.