Silvio Zammit summoned to police HQ over possible re-examination of witnesses

The alleged middleman facing charges of corruption and bribery in the so called Dalligate case, may well be looking at a possible reduction in the gravity of the charges he faces.

Silvio Zammit was summoned at the police headquarters together with defence lawyer Edward Gatt, over a new twist in the Dalligate investigation as police appear to be re-examining aspects of the case and looking at new evidence.

MaltaToday is informed that police will be looking into the findings by EU anti-fraud agency OLAF which suggested that Gayle Kimberley, a lawyer appointed by Swedish firm Swedish Match to gain access to EU Commissioner John Dalli, was an accomplice in the alleged bribe.

Zammit was charged with the bribery of a Swedish Match official, over the findings of an OLAF investigation that claimed he had asked for €60 million in a bid to obtain the reversal of an EU ban on snus, in a revision of tobacco laws that John Dalli was spearheading.

Zammit's lawyers have suggested in court that it was Kimberley who aided Zammit in asking Swedish Match and snus lobby ESTOC officials for a bribe.

Emails seen by MaltaToday show that Silvio Zammit was forwarded a proposal from Matthew Kimberley, with his wife Gayle Kimberley copied in the email, which was to be sent to Inge Delfosse, secretary-general of the European Smokeless Tobacco Council (ESTOC).

Some of the emails were sent from mobile phones, and copies were not saved in the hard discs that were forensically analysed by police investigators and presented in court in the compilation of evidence against Zammit.

The emails throw a new light on Gayle Kimberley, who was identified by the EU's anti-fraud agency, OLAF, as a possible accomplice in the alleged bribery.

A bank statement belonging to Silvio Zammit shows Matthew Kimberley's firm, You Rock Ltd, paid Zammit the sum of €3,540 on 2 March 2012, two weeks after Gayle Kimberley was asked by Swedish Match to sever all contact with Zammit.

In the meantime, Kimberley and Zammit were in constant telephonic and email contact.

But a 29 February 2012 email seen by MaltaToday shows Matthew and Gayle Kimberley sending Zammit the same contents of a lobbying proposal, which had been sent first to Swedish Match back in November 2011.

The email contains a list of services offered by You Rock Ltd and Gayle Kimberley's curriculum vitae. It is an exact replica of the one sent by Kimberley to Swedish Match on 17 November 2011, in which she offered her services to set up meetings with Commissioner John Dalli for a €5,000 fee payable to You Rock Ltd.

In the email, Matthew Kimberley tells Zammit, "Silvio, suggest you forward this to Inge. Gayle is in copy. You may like to wait for her input before sending."

Kimberley has denied in court having aided Zammit. She had also told OLAF investigators that Zammit's email to Delfosse was a misrepresentation of her services.

Kimberley told OLAF that Swedish Match Public Affairs Director Johan Gabrielsson had informed her that Zammit was using You Rock Ltd to promote his services with ESTOC. "I was told by Johan that Silvio was using to Inge my proposal of services to Swedish Match for himself and misrepresenting it, I was very upset... the next morning, coincidentally, I saw him at the reception of the Lotteries and Gaming Authority and told him that my services were no longer available, 'make it clear to whoever you are dealing with'. Silvio assured me that he would do this," Kimberley told OLAF in her second interrogation, on 9 September 2012.