Fenech wants to know about Labour leader's relationship with financial controller

Tonio Fenech held a press conference today in which he raised a series of questions about Muscat's relationship to Joe Cordina, the financial controller of the Labour Party, and director of Intershore Fiduciary Services (IFS) which acted as nominee director for Aikon Ltd, the company used by George Farrugia for his oil business.

"Muscat has a lot to answer for Cordina," Fenech said, as he explained that Cordina was handpicked and not elected to the post of financial controller.

"Why did he appoint him as finance administrator in 2009? Did he know him before? Did he ever conduct any business or share an office with him? Did he ever give him any advice on investing any money abroad?"

Fenech however could not answer to a question from the press of what wrongdoing was Muscat suspected of having done through his association with Cordina.

While confirming that the PN had reliable information which indicated that Muscat and Cordina did work together in financial services, Fenech said: "I would rather wait for Muscat to answer to the question I posed today before commenting any further."

Asked to comment on the fact that lawyer and former police inspector David Gatt, accused of criminal conspiracy and money laundering, was a director of FST Consulting Ltd, who carried out the management audit of George Farrugia's company, Fenech said he could not comment on the report's credibility and such a question should be addressed to Labour, which he said had given a warm welcome to Gatt.

Fenech denies breach of ethics

Fenech has admitted to having received George Farrugia and his brother Ray at his home, to accept a Maltese clock made by Ray Farrugia's wife, an amateur clockmaker, "as a token of her admiration".

But the minister denied having breached the ministerial code of ethics: "Ministers have a right to keep gifts that are mementos of an occasion or which are not of a substantial value - this is in the code of ethics. The gift was not from George Farrugia," Fenech said.

The gift was mentioned in George Farrugia's deposition to the police, after he turned State's evidence on a criminal investigation into kickbacks paid by Trafigura in 2004 to a former Enemalta consultant for the supply of oil to the state utility. Farrugia was the oil trader representing Trafigura and Total - first through family business Powerplan, and then through his own business Aikon.

"The case is closed, because I have made it very clear that I never received a gift from George Farrugia," Fenech said, adding that the clock he received was not expensive and never had any doubts whether he should have accepted it, since it had no bearing on his decisions.

Pressed to say whether he would accept another gift of that kind, Fenech simply said: "I am not a clock collectionist." He also denied ever receiving a gift which cost between €500 and 5,000.   

Asked whether he also considered his ll-fated trip aboard businessman George Fenech's private jet in 2009 as inexpensive, Fenech said that he had already made it clear that he would not do that again.

Fenech also insisted that he was in regular contact with the Prime Minister over the oil scandal and said that he fully enjoyed the Prime Minister's confidence.

The kickbacks are part of an ongoing criminal investigation that so far as seen former Enemalta consultant Frank Sammut and chairman Tancred Tabone, and businessmen Francis Sammut and Anthony Cassar on charges of corruption.