Dalli says Bahamas trip planned before OLAF interrogation of main suspect

John Dalli, the former European Commissioner who has found himself in the eye of a storm concerning a July 2012 flight to the Bahamas on an alleged money transfer, has declared to MaltaToday that arrangements for his flight to the Caribbean island were contracted on 3 July 2012 - two days before the EU's anti-fraud agency interrogated Silvio Zammit on an alleged bribe.

The emails seen by MaltaToday - but which are not being published - showed that a booking request was made on 3 July and again on 5 July for flights to Nassau.

The emails appear to confirm that Dalli's trip to the Bahamas on 7-8 July - ostensibly at the request of a philanthropic initiative to set up a trust - would have been arranged before the interrogation by OLAF of his canvasser, Silvio Zammit, over allegations that he had asked for a €60 million bribe from a Swedish tobacco company to reverse anti-smoking laws Dalli was pushing as health commissioner.

The dates coincide with crucial events in the OLAF investigation: on 5 July, Zammit was interrogated for the first time by OLAF director Giovanni Kessler and subsequently on 6 July. Dalli called Zammit on his mobile phone at 6:07pm that same day, where they spoke for 14 minutes. Dalli also told OLAF he had not been informed of the investigation until 11 July, when he was notified by the anti-fraud office that he was a "person concerned".

The Times yesterday reported unnamed police sources saying that Dalli admitted to police in December 2012 that contrary to what he told OLAF investigators, Zammit had alerted him to the EU probe when they spoke on 6 July. Dalli told MaltaToday that this was absolutely not true and that he never told the police that he was alerted to the OLAF investigation by Zammit.

According to the OLAF report, a log exists of a telephone conversation between Dalli and Zammit on 17 June, when allegedly another suspect, Gayle Kimberley, would have alerted Zammit about the OLAF probe.

OLAF connection

Dalli's Bahamas trip became front-page news on the International Herald Tribune on Monday, when it quoted Barry Connor - who rented Dalli a family villa on a subsequent trip to the islands - saying that the then-commissioner had mentioned that he was arranging the transfer of "large amounts" of money - $100 million according to the Herald.

With his private Bahamas trip ensconced between Zammit's and his own interrogation by OLAF, the revelation fuelled speculation of connections with the OLAF investigation.

But Dalli has denied allegations of a money transfer, and yesterday wrote to MEPs telling them he was ready to give a trusted individual a power of attorney to verify that he does not hold any accounts in the Bahamas, except for his Brussels and Malta bank accounts.

Dalli, forced to resign in October 2012 after OLAF claimed he had been aware of Zammit's bribe request to Swedish Match, told MEPs that the Herald story was replete with insinuations that he was trying to move millions of dollars to the Bahamas.

"These millions of dollars did not exist. On the 8 July I discussed the objectives of the proposed philanthropic project to get an understanding of what its pertinence [was]. No funding was discussed. In August I again visited. I met Mr Barry Connor for the first time as he was visiting the house every day. Discussions were very open and in front of everyone present. When potential funds and their management were mentioned, Mr Connor stated that he was the beneficiary of a trust in the Bahamas and that that fund can be used. I asked how trusts in the Bahamas work."

Dalli insists he was giving voluntary advice on a philanthropic initiative with Africa as its target continent, and said that in the Bahamas he talked about "an innovative cheap power generation that would be very useful to be used in the project".

Dalli also said a villa in which his family stayed during this stay, rented by Barry Connor, was used "as a base for meeting people coming from the US".

Dalli said his assistance in the philanthropic project was "totally on a voluntary basis. I am currently dedicating more time, still on a voluntary basis, to conclude the projects that are being set up so that when funds become available this initiative can be launched. These funds are promised from private sources".

Dalli blames instigators

In the course of events, the former commissioner pointed his fingers at accomplices whom he says colluded in setting him up back in 2012, in a bid to see him arraigned on charges of corruption.

"Those who colluded in the set-up that led to my termination from the Commission tried very hard to achieve this aim, forcing my arraignment by the police in Malta. Evidence of ferocious political interference by the administration that was voted out of office last March, is coming out.

When this did not succeed, the same people are resorting to concocted stories like the one appearing in the International Herald Tribune."

Dalli also said that the Herald journalist told him that it was Commission staff that was "spreading a story" of the Bahamas trip.

Dalli has not revealed what the philanthropic project was or whom it belonged to. "I am bound by professional secrecy. The project is ongoing and I am still involved in it, and I haven't been paid one single cent for my advice."

The former commissioner also said he failed to "understand the relevance of the inquiry to the termination of his post by EC president José Manuel Barroso".

"In the report sent by OLAF to the president, the anti-fraud agency asserted that no money had ever changed hands between the participants in the snus affair, except for the €5,000 paid by Swedish Match to their Maltese consultant [Gayle Kimberley]," Dalli said.

"As to not declaring the trip, this was a private trip and my Cabinet was informed that the trip was made," Dalli said.

Dalli is claiming the origin of the story published by the International Herald Tribune today, is part of an attack meant to influence MEPs ahead of a vote on Wednesday on a report by German member Inge Graessle, on the operations of OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud agency that claimed Dalli was aware of a €60 million bribe to reverse a ban on snus, the chewing tobacco produced by Swedish Match.

"I will not be intimidated from pursuing Giovanni Kessler, the European Commission and the tobacco lobby.

"This new batch of conjectures and allegations are nothing but an attempt to damage my reputation. Those who colluded in the set-up that led to my termination from the Commission had tried very hard to achieve this aim though forcing my arraignment by the police in Malta. Evidence of ferocious political interference in this regard, by the administration that was voted out of office last March, is now coming out," Dalli said, referring to elements within the former Nationalist administration whom he accused of having acted as accomplices in the investigation by OLAF that led to his resignation.

On its part, OLAF has stated that "as is usual practice, OLAF will duly consider any relevant new evidence, within its remit of competence".

AD calls for full disclosure

The chairperson of the green party Alternattiva Demokratika, Arnold Cassola, called on Dalli to disclose the reason for his July 2012 trip to the Bahamas.

"John Dalli must come clean and stop hiding behind confidentiality. In whose name was he acting in Bahamas? Why did his family rent an $8,000 a month villa there for three months? We need quick answers to this since Malta's reputation is at stake. John Dalli has the duty of full disclosure of the facts in the interest of Malta's reputation, irrespective of the course of action of OLAF," Cassola said in a statement.

"Malta's name and reputation were smeared last October when the snus issue came up.

OLAF and Giovanni Kessler's bungling-up in the process have not helped at all. Now Malta's name is being smeared again and splashed the world over with the International Herald Tribune allegations.

"We need to know the real facts and to clear our country's name, even more so now that John Dalli is a special consultant for Malta's Prime Minister," Cassola said.