Former commissioner says Bahamas trip exploited ‘for political hype’

Former EU commissioner John Dalli told journalists at a press conference convened at his Portomaso office today, that plans for his private flight to the Bahamas in July 2012 were hammered out as early as 12 June, before any witnesses connected to the OLAF investigation that lost his job in October 2012 were interviewed or could have alerted him to the investigation.

It was Dalli's first meeting with journalists, just a week after the International Herald Tribune reported claims by Barry Connor, a Bahamanian resident from whom Dalli rented his Nassau villa, that the commissioner was there to move millions of dollars to the tax haven back in July.

The claims fuelled suspicions that Dalli interrupted a commissioners' dinner in Cyprus upon being alerted by one of OLAF's suspects, to fly to the Bahamas and arrange the transfer.

But today Dalli - who denies the allegation - said that he never set foot in the Bahamas when he flew from Malta by private jet to the Caribbean island, saying he departed on 7 July, carried out talks related to a philanthropic project while on the jet, and then landed in Nassau to catch a plane back to Malta.

Dalli was officially informed he was a person of interest in an OLAF investigation into an alleged €60 million bribe to reverse anti-smoking laws he was pushing, on 11 July.

Today he said he returned to the Bahamas in August for five days, and another three days in September.

Dalli's Bahamas trip happened a day after on 6 June, he called Silvio Zammit - who is charged with soliciting the €60 million bribe from Swedish Match - at 6pm in the evening. At that point, Dalli was at a private dinner with Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou.

Dalli claims his cabinet were informed of his private trip, but not before it took place, specifically because he erroneously included his Bahamas ticket stub with all his travel receipts for the EC's verification. Since the private flight could not be refunded, Dalli was handed the stub back.

Today he made no secret that he suspected his former head of cabinet, Joanna Darmanin, was informing the press of these kind of the details.

Dalli says the Bahamas was chosen as a base for a network of Christian philanthropists who are seeking billions of dollars in finance to set up farming, mining and energy businesses in Africa, which can be sustainable, develop indigenous communities and give them access to markets.

"Originally the project was to be based in Malta, which is why I consulted a member from the Big Four accounting firms on this possibility," Dalli said.

The project lagter moved to the Bahamas, where Dalli's daughter Claire Gauci Borda used Tyre Ltd - a company she is a secretary of, which trades in precious metals amongst other things - to book Barry Connor's villa for these meetings.

Dalli said claims that the house was rented for his family were "completely false", and that Connor insisted that his villa be rented for an entire year, not for three months as initially requested. An amount of overdue rent had been since paid to Connor, Dalli said.

Connor was a fixture during the Bahamas meetings, Dalli said. "He was always there, even cooking food. He suggested that we use his trust for the project's finances."

Upon the termination of Dalli's post in October 2012, Connor contacted OLAF on 23 November, to tell the anti-fraud agency that the former commissioner owed him rent for his villa. The matter was not pursued, when OLAF decided on 18 December that the case was a civil matter.

Dalli thinks that Connor later posted an anonymous comment on the blog of the Electronic Cigarettes Industry Trade Association under the soubriquet of 'Edward Butters', and was tracked down by other bloggers who pointed him in the direction of the International Herald Tribune.

So far, claims of a $100 million transfer carried out by Dalli have not been substantiated. The former commissioner also says he has no bank accounts in the tax haven of the Bahamas, and says he sees no connection between his trip in Bahamas and the OLAF investigation.

"I have done nothing wrong. My voluntary participation in this philanthropic venture was not precluded by the commissioners' rules... this is all political hype fuelled by OLAF's claims that it could re-open its investigation."

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