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Oil trader gave minister €5,000 clock, Labour claims
Labour MPs reiterate allegation that oil trader told police he gave finance minister gift upon assuming responsibility of Enemalta.
22 February 2013, 12:00am
Miriam Dalli
Miriam Dalli
2 min read
Finance minister Tonio Fenech - Photo: Ray Attard/Mediatoday
Labour MP Evarist Bartolo has implicated Finance Minister Tonio Fenech "in the process of corruption", for having allegedly received a traditional Maltese clock (tal-lira) valued at some €5,000 by oil trader George Farrugia.
The information was allegedly gleaned from Farrugia's deposition to the police as part of his evidence after turning State's evidence on the criminal investigation into kickbacks paid by commodities firm Trafigura to Frank Sammut, a former Enemalta and MOBC consultant, in 2004 for the supply of oil to state utility Enemalta.
At the time, Farrugia represented Trafigura and Total through the company Powerplan, and later through Aikon Ltd.
Yesterday, Fenech denied having received the alleged gift and said that if the information had really came from Farrugia's deposition, then the oil trader was "lying". He also said he would take steps for defamation against Labour MPs Evarist Bartolo and Chris Cardona for the allegation.
"Who must we believe?" Cardona asked today in a press conference. "What motivation would Farrugia have in lying at this moment, when he knows he is aware of the conditions of the presidential pardon?"
Farrugia has received a presidential pardon to turn State's evidence: so far Sammut and former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone have been charged for corruption in fuel procurement; while two business partners of Tabone's company Island Bunker Oils, Francis Portelli and Anthony Cassar, were charged for corruption of Tabone as a public official.
Labour's allegation that Farrugia told police he gifted Fenech a "gift worth €5,000" upon assuming the responsibility for Enemalta in 2010, came yesterday after Fenech accused Labour's financial controller Joe Cordina of involvement in George Farrugia's illegal activities.
Fenech accused Cordina, as the director of a nominee company (Intershore Fiduciary Services) that assumed the ownership of Farrugia's Aikon Ltd before passing it on officially to Farrugia in January 2011, of being responsible for the front company Farrugia used for Aikon's activities
Cordina has since resigned his position as Labour financial controller, and said he would not run as a Labour candidate on the Gozo district.
Miriam Dalli joined MaltaToday.com.mt in 2010 becoming assistant editor f...
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Observing all this from a distance and what is mind boggling is how did the PL know what George Farrugia told the Police? It is rather scary that what private citizens tell the Police ends up in the hands of third parties who have no right to use it against any other citizens themselves but ONLY THE POLICE CAN. What do the Police have to say all about this leak of information?
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@ briffy@maltanet, oh I see. Now that is really bright! So that is the solution,is it? Attack the messenger rather than the message!
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@ briffy@maltanet, oh I see. Now that is really bright! So that is the solution,is it? Attack the messenger rather than the message!
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Oops! It happened again.
The PN 's weapons of choice prior to an election are behaving like boomerangs.
Gosh I wonder if by some miracle the electorate will know the truth behind this whole scandal even before election date.
After, could prove too late, for all of us who have no fault in this mess, or on second thoughts, who are mostly at fault, since we are the ones who vote these people in office.
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TIK TOK TIK TOK Dalwaqt id 9 ta marzu umbghad il polpu jghid lil minn hemmen
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Mid dehra jhobb jiehu affarijiet free Tonio , ha free ticket biex imur jara l-Arsenal u free air fare, ghamlulu jew irrangaw id dar tieghu xi kuntrattuti mil ahwa Montebello free, issa arlogg free u tiskanta ma jammettiex , li jghaggibni hu li la giet mghotijja il proklama x'ghandu x'jiltef Farrugia? Farrugia biex semma lil Tonio Fenech li ha rigal sinjal li hu minnu ghax la gie mghoti l-proklama biex jghid il verita kolla fejn meta kienet qeghda tinghata l-proklama Tonio kien qal li mar ghal programm tax Xarabank , forsi li kien hemm Tonio Fenech fost il Ministri l-ohra kastilja kien isir altru pero min taht idejn il President ma ghadda xejn hlief li Farrugia iried jghid il verita kolla u xejn izjed u xejn anqas, u li ha jigri hu li ma niehduhiex bi kbira li hemm izjed ministri li hadu rigali, u ha jigu msemmijja.
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Tick Tock ....... Tick Tock ........ Tick Tock....... Tonio's clock is ticking ........ soon it will all be game over ..... and then the mystery about the clock will be resolved ........
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Tick tick tick tock
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while he's getting a 5000 euro clock and god knows how many millions in commissions, we got a mere 1.16 euro raise. We want change!
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R Lewis - this gift was given some years ago, surely more than 2 years. Probably neither the receipt nor the guarantee are still available.
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Where is my comment, please?
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There are questions here; how did a copy of a statement allegedly made by Farrugia to the police end up in labour's hands? Does his lawyer have any comments on this? And why are Labour so against the granting of a presidential pardon to Farrugia?
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Ms Dalli can you pls tell me why you failed to publish my comment on this article? Is it because my comments were against the PL which you seem to be biased to?
Christopher Briffa •
Interessanti jispjegalna l-Ministru Fenech ezattament x'tahseb fuq din il-bicca xoghol il-Madonna.
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The President of Malta Dr George Abela should immediately withdraw the Presidential Pardon given to Mr Farrugia as according to Min Tonio Fenech Mr Farrugia is lying. Very easy for the police to check where the clock came from if it still exists. Ask for a receipt or a guarantee.
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what a shambles malta is at present,how on earth can i vote when you hear stories like these every day.we i mean the poor people are paying high electricity and water bills,most of us are on a miserable low pension and still they expect our votes.sorry noone is getting my vote this is a complete corrupt little island and we have showed it offshores as well.
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Commissions on a million Euros worth of oil purchases a day - and all Tonio got was a clock. Miskin.
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No wonder the Cabinet had recommended an unconditional pardon to George Farrugia. It was wise of the President to impose conditions of stating the truth and nothing but the truth on Farrugia. I think the worst is yet to emerge from this saga, and perhaps GonziPN would learn that people in glasshouses should not throw stones.
