Tonio Fenech accuses Labour financial administrator of being behind oil scandal

The Nationalist Party has accused one of the director-shareholders of a fiduciary services company, that oil trader George Farrugia used to shield his ownership of Aikon Ltd, of "being behind the oil scandal" that has engulfed state utility Enemalta.

Fenech accused Joe Cordina (pictured, right), the financial administrator of the Labour Party, of responsibility in any alleged illegal activity Aikon was involved in, because Intershore Fiduciary Services was solely responsible for the firm before 2011.

Cordina is also a Labour candidate on the Gozo (13th) district.

But the minister omitted to name that another director-shareholder of Intershore was former Nationalist candidate Martin Fenech, who is also a paid-up member of the same party.

Fenech claimed that as the person "most closely linked to a political party", Cordina was "behind the oil scandal", although he stopped short of pinpointing exactly what wrongdoing Cordina was alleged to have done.

Fenech is saying that Intershore must be held responsible as the beneficial owner of Aikon: the latter company was the trading front for Farrugia before 2011, when he was sued by his own brothers for millions in oil revenues he siphoned away from family business Powerplan, into Aikon. Powerplan was then the representative for Total and Trafigura before they accepted to be represented by Farrugia's company Aikon.

"I have submitted all financial documentation pertaining to the ownership of Aikon to the Commissioner of Police," Fenech said, alleging that all payments from Trafigura into a New York bank account to Aikon, went ultimately to Intershore.

Fenech insisted that by virtue of his ownership of Intershore, Cordina was responsible for the activities of Aikon before the company was officially transferred to George Farrugia in January 2011.

Farrugia turned State's evidence after he was granted a pardon in return for evidence on kickbacks Trafigura paid a former Enemalta consultant Frank Sammut in 2004. Four businessmen have been charged in connection with the oil scandal.

Fenech claimed that Intershore was the "the ultimate beneficiary" of Aikon before 2011, when any alleged illegal activity took place. "This company was taking ultimate responsibility for this company's activities," Fenech said.

But when it was pointed out that Intershore's other shareholder was Martin Fenech, a former PN candidate in three elections, Fenech appeared unable to answer. Instead, PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier replied that "had Fenech been a candidate, we would take the steps necessary."

It transpires that Fenech is still a paid-up member of the PN. "All I can say is what we would do were he still a candidate," Borg Olivier said. "Martin Fenech should answer himself."

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech appeared to open himself up to some very pointed questions from the press, few of which were given a direct reply:

-       When asked whether Martin Fenech himself was guilty of any corruption, the minister reiterated that Intershore served as Aikon's front, and was legally responsible for the activities of Aikon at the time the kickbacks were paid;

-       He did not answer directly a question as to whether Intershore Fiduciary Services had involved itself in illegal activity, limiting himself to saying that he had submitted all documentation of Aikon's previous ownership had been forwarded to the Commissioner of Police.

-       It was pointed out to him that Lawrence Gonzi's own son David, had also been a company secretary of a holding company that received €15 million in laundered cash from the scandal-ridden Maugeri Foundation. But Fenech said he was "not updated on the story and could not comment on it" when asked whether Gonzi, by the same yardstick, was responsible for the company's wrongdoing.

-       He was asked about Aikon's own auditor, Ray Stafrace, who is today procurement officer of transport regulator Transport Malta, but he had no information about this connection.

Fenech also defended a decision to take a tax fraud investigation commenced by the Malta Security Services, which was passed on to the finance ministry, into the hands of the Tax Compliance Unit.

"If the MSS believed this was a criminal investigation it would have been passed on to the economic crimes unit, but in this case it was felt it could be passed on to the TCU - showing that the institutions this government created to fight tax evasion and other acts of corruption, are working," Fenech said.

Fenech also said that if there was any information on gifts allegedly given to Enemalta officials by George Farrugia, the Commissioner of Police should investigate the allegations.

The press conference was brought to an end despite the protestations of two journalists who had not yet asked their questions to Tonio Fenech.