No reason for Cassar and Portelli to be involved in the oil purchase investigations

Criminal investigations on entrepreneurs Francis Portelli and Anthony Cassar had nothing to do with George Farrugia's involvement in Enemalta's oil kickbacks scandal, Saviour Balzan told court.

MediaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan today told the court that the head of the Security Services, the infrastructure ministry headed by Austin Gatt and the tax compliance unit all knew about the alleged kickbacks in Enemalta's oil purchases, at least two years before the story was broken by MaltaToday in January 2013.

Balzan was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Francis Portelli and Anthony Cassar. The two entrepreneurs, owners of the private company Island Bunker Oils Ltd (IBOL), are being charged with money laundering and trading in influence, as part of the major corruption case in the payment of commissions to Enemalta officials for the sale of oil to the energy corporation.

"I discussed at length with the police giving them hints for their investigation. The meeting was held off the record and I had never met the two accused," Balzan said.

He added that he had told the police that they were following the wrong path.

"My story was about a series of unrecorded commissions from oil purchases. The man behind this was George Farrugia and I always told this to the police. Authorities had this information since August 2011, so I could not understand why nothing happened in two whole years. so I published the story," he said.

Balzan pointed out that the head of the Security Service Godfrey Scicluna, Austin Gatt's ministry and the tax compliance unit all knew about Farrugia's involvement in the case.

He also told the court that the police had investigated Portelli and Cassar but he had told investigators that they were confusing the cases.

"There was an element of political expediency which was clearly evident during the former administration. The real culpable people behind this were George Farrugia and Frank Sammut. I only had proof against these two and no one else. My story had no relation with the bunkering industry," Balzan said, noting that he had said as much to the former police commissioner John Rizzo in phone conversations.

Former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone and his consultant Frank Sammut, who are charged with corruption, were both silent partners in IBOL when both men were also in charge of MOBC, Enemalta's oil bunkering arm.

In February, former finance minister Tonio Fenech declared that it was the Malta Security Services that passed on information related to George Farrugia's oil trading company Aikon to his secretariat, in an investigation on tax evasion and money laundering that they were conducting.

The information was passed on by MSS head Godfrey Scicluna to his head of secretariat Alan Caruana.

Fenech today said that the Tax Compliance Unit's investigation - which started in August 2011 - dealt with invoices covering the period 2004-2010, and as such the investigation covered those shareholders and directors of Aikon during this time, as well as after this period.