Keith Schembri to appear before MPs probing Electrogas tender

Former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri is expected to testify before parliament's Public Accounts Committee later this month on the Electrogas tender.

Schembri's testimony was requested by the Opposition MPs at the end of Tuesday's PAC meeting during which former tax commissioner Marvin Gaerty testified.

The request to summon Schembri, former prime minister Joseph Muscat's right hand man, was not opposed by government MPs on the committee. Schembri was at the centre of the most important projects pushed by the Muscat administration.

Schembri is facing ongoing criminal proceedings over charges of money laundering unrelated to the Electrogas tender. He has maintained his innocence.

Gaerty's testimony was characterised by several occasions in which he struggled to recall details...

Chaired by Opposition MP Darren Carabott, the PAC is probing the findings of the National Audit Office’s investigation on the Electrogas contract, concluded in 2018. Schembri has never been grilled by the PAC.

Testifying today, Gaerty said that he was designated as a team leader for the committee investigating the bidders' commercial, technical, and financial merits.

When asked if he was appointed in his personal capacity or as the tax commissioner, a role he had only recently taken on, Gaerty sounded unsure, stating he thought it was in his personal capacity.

Gaerty's testimony was peppered by difficulties to remember certain details on the tendering process which happened 10 years ago. 

He failed to recall the other members of the selection committee, who assigned him to the committee, and if the Electrogas offer named any Maltese owners.