Nazzareno Vassallo loaned €250,000 to PN – Borg Olivier confirms

PN secretary-general who sued MaltaToday over report of €250,000 donation from Vassallo subsidiary, confirms the PN donor ‘loaned’ the amount.

PN donor Nazzareno Vassallo at the counting hall in the 2008 elections. Photo: Gilbert Calleja/Mediatoday
PN donor Nazzareno Vassallo at the counting hall in the 2008 elections. Photo: Gilbert Calleja/Mediatoday

Nationalist secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier has confirmed that a €250,000 donation from PN donor Nazzareno Vassallo's construction firm was a "loan" he made to the party company Media.Link to assist its cash flow problems back in July 2012.

MaltaToday has been sued for libel by Borg Olivier over a report in January which stated that Vassallo, once a Nationalist mayor for Mosta, had approved a budgeted sum of €350,000 for expenses incurred for the PN's electoral campaign through MFCC Ltd (Malta Fairs Convention Centre).

But MaltaToday can confirm, and it sent questions to Borg Olivier on this matter, that the magnate transferred €250,000 from his company Vassallo Builders Group Ltd in June 2012, to the Nationalist Party company Media.Link.

While Borg Olivier took legal action, directors of Vassallo's subsidiary MFCC - a joint venture between his catering company Catermax and the Corinthia Group - denied the report in a signed statement. MFCC was originally run by Nexos Lighting and Sign-It Ltd and rendered a reported €1 million in services to the Nationalist Party, before Vassallo bought into 65% of the company.

Nazzareno Vassallo served as a Nationalist mayor for Mosta. His healthcare company today employs former PN secretary-general Joe Saliba, a close friend of his.

Both Labour and the Nationalist Party traditionally refuse to answer questions about their companies, citing commercial secrecy as an excuse. But it is a well-known fact that electoral campaigns are financed by donors from the business class.

And political financing was thrown on the electoral agenda after Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi surmised on the million-euro campaign the PL had launched. Both parties claim they are committed to financing laws, but differ on the level of transparency that should be employed.

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So Dr Lawrence Gonzi Mr Vasallo a private contractor and a private citizen mind you, loans you or donates to the PN €250,000 and you expect us to believe that you feel under no obligation toward Mr Nazzareno Vassallo? Please do not and I mean DO NOT treat the Maltese people as imbeciles or Cwiec. This is just as good as the oil scandal going on right now. This is Malta and we are Maltese and we are very familiar about how Maltese politics work. This is not a loan or contribution of maybe a €1000.00 euros Mr Gonzi, This is a loan or contribution at the tone of €250,000 euros from a private party if you will. Even a loan from the bank would have left you with an obligation. I cannot believe that you are trying to dupe the Maltese people in this manner. Even your most dedicated supporter has a hard time believing you story. I think you should have let PBO come up with such a lame excuse, at least the people are used to his statements being absurd. No one borrows such a large amount of money without any repayment or compensation, no one. If the PN wanted a loan they should have gone to a bank like most of us second class citizens do. Maybe there is a special exception when it comes to Political Parties. Please don't undermine and insult the people's intelligence.
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Dan min meta Zaren Vassallo ingħatalu il-permess biex jagħamilha ta' Bank u jibda jislef il-flus ? Jista il-Partit Nazzjonalista jippubblika il-kuntratt tas-self sabiex il-poplu jkun jaf x'kundizzjonijiet hemm marbutin miegħu ? Kemm ser ikun l-imgħax li ser ikollu jħallas il-partit Nazzjonalista ta' dan is-self ? Jekk mhux ser jitħallas imgħax , x'ser jingħata lura Zaren Vassallo ? Issa sa fejn naf jien , hadd ma jista jagħmilha ta' Bank u jislef il-flus jekk ma jkollux permess biex jagħmel dan . Jista PBO jirrispondi ftit dawn il-mistoqsijiet ?
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There is more than enough material in this campaign for a comedy production !!!
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If I'm not mistaken, only financial institutions can loan money. Thus it would seem that this transaction goes against Maltese law....
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If I'm not mistaken, only financial institutions can loan money. Thus it would seem that this transaction goes against Maltese law....
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If I'm not mistaken, only financial institutions can loan money. Thus it would seem that this transaction goes against Maltese law....
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If I'm not mistaken, only financial institutions can loan money. Thus it would seem that this transaction goes against Maltese law....
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If I'm not mistaken, only financial institutions can loan money. Thus it would seem that this transaction goes against Maltese law....
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Perhaps, Tonio Fenech and/or Gonzi would enlighten us as to who provided the PN machine, not only occasional time devices, but also transportation services for the 2008 elections???!!! Could there have been other reasons why certain people visited certain Ministers? If these services were bartered for by the PN (WHAT WERE THE SERVICES WHICH WERE BARTERED FROM THE PN's Government side)? If paid for, fiscal receipts please!
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Il-Godfather u l-Joker tal-PN - it-tnejn jahsbu li l-poplu ghandu subghajh b'halqu. Jiena moralment konvint li l-flus li nghataw mill-Gofather m'huma dejn xejn imma huma parti mill-hlas "for services rendered". X'ma jmurx fuq il-yacht PBO! U x'ma jimpjegax lil Joe l-Bennej u lil Charlo' l-Qried.
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If this is not corruption then what is ? PBO RESIGN !
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what a liar paul borg Olivier is, he should be ashamed of himself in saying 'that Zaren Vassallo lent the PN 350,000 euros, Zaren never lends money!! not even to Gonzi, what is Zaren trying to say or tell us, Zaren should tell us how much money he makes from contracts given to him by the PN every year exp. the old peoples homes.. how much money are the PN and Zaren taking from the EU funds to finance there pockets. Is Gonzi hiding something that should be investigated by the police!!
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Anyway, Zaren can waive off the loan as bad-debts without getting a penny back into his company's account. Flimkien killix possibli hux?
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Anette B Cassar
Zaren has allegedly already been paid for 25 years.
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What a generous heart!
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Mela issa għandna konferma li dak li gie irraportat qabel kien verita' . Issa jiena naf li jekk xi ħadd jislef xi flus lill xi ħaddieħor , min jislef ikun irid xi forma ta' garanzija mingħand dak li jkun ser jisilfu il-flus . Izda naħseb li f'dan il-kas Zaren Vassallo ma talabx din il-garanzija għax jaf li bil-gvern Nazzjonalista ikollu garanzija li dawk il proġetti kollha tal-gvern tieħodhom il-kumpannija tiegħu . Wara kollox Zaren Vassallo jaf li il-passat hu garanzija għall futur . Provi hemm bizzejjed biex wieħed jasal għall din il-konkluzzjoni .
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Fabian Psaila
How will this €250,000 loan to the PN be paid ???? Are there any strings attached???
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Mhux ta b xejn jiehu dawn il kuntratti kollha tal gvern. U xi inhuma li kondizzjonijeit al loan... fuq kemm perjodu ta zmien ghandha tithallas, kemm huma rati tal interesst. U din il oan kif affettwat il cash flow ta Nazzareno Vassallo Group? Jew issellef min xi Bank lokali b rati ta imghax baxxi.
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THIS IS NOT A LIE ...PBO ?? MA TISTHIX TITKELLEM ..MIN GHALIKOM ANGLI TAS SEMA U FAQQARTU PAJJIZ U SRAQTU PAJJIZ ...IMBAD TMORRU IL KNISJA KULJUM ....SHAME ON YOU ...NAZZISTI PURI ..possibli hawn nies jemnukhom ...wara dawn is snin ta disastru ...bwsc ,enemalta, airmalta , kuntratti kbar , oil scandal , no maggoranza fil parlament ,kontra id divorzju, transport fiasco , sea malta , water & elec high bills , taxxi ....hig cost of living ,,,dik hija lie ..jpo & friends
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Any more stupid quotes Paul? Please refrain!
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Mela veru għaddew l-eluf ta' ewro mingħand Zaren Vassallo lill-partit Nazzjonalista ? Issa bħall ma jaf kullhadd meta xi hadd jisellef xi somma ta' flus , dak li jkun ser jislef jitlob xi forma ta' garanzija mingħand dak li jkun qed jisellef . Pero f'dan il-kas , naħseb li Zaren Vassallo ma talabiex din il-garanzija , u dan għax għandu rasu mistrieħa li jekk jerġa jkun hemm fil-gvern il-partit Nazzjonalista , ikollu garanzija li ħafna mill- proġetti li jsiru tieħodhom il-kumpannija tiegħu . Kellna diversi exempji fil-passat , u bħall min jaf x'jgħid il-malti , il-passat hu garanzija tal-futur .
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SIELEF JEW TAHOM. MELA ISSA ANKI L-PN HABIB MAL-KUNTRATTURI? IPOKREZIJA FL-AQWA TAGHHA. OQBRA MBAJDA.
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"€250,000 donation" is a lot of money. Money that most citizens will never see in a life time. If this was a loan, I wonder how much interest was was charged on this loan and for how long. I get the feeling that there is a lot of hanky panky going on with these political parties and their benefactors. Like I always said, when you sell your soul to the devil, the devil will be back to collect. Thank you Maltatoday for your excellent investigative reporting. Other media should follow your example.
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I wonder.. Is PBO going to start clamouring for his own personal resignation now? That would be the day! LOL
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Any ideas on how would this PN donor would get his repayment back?
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What about the barter agreement? Can we poor mortals know what exactly was bartered and for what amount? Franco had stated there was an oligarcy and a web of deceit(hazen)he was spot on.
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Fabian Psaila
....eee ISSA "LOAN" ???? Bhal ta' l'Arologg din, ma kienx misluf ukll l'Arlogg tal-Lira.... L'ammiratrici silvet l'Arlogg lill Ministru Tonio Fenech u dan nesgha u zammu? SKUZA TAJBA DIN GHAL DARBA OHRA ! ;)
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Shame on GONZI PN,they ruined Malta's name all around the world,corrupion upon corruptions.
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One could easily get the impression that Zaren actually OWNS GonziPN, lock, stock and barrel.
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One could easily get the impression that Zaren actually OWNS GonziPN, lock, stock and barrel.