Farrugia’s silence with investigators was key for presidential pardon

Oil trader George Farrugia learnt that he could be pardoned for the bribery of Enemalta officials on fuel contracts, a day after prime minister Lawrence Gonzi first pronounced himself on granting a presidential pardon for whoever could give police information on the Enemalta oil scandal.

It is unclear whether Farrugia availed himself of the right to stay silent during a 48-hour arrest in order to be eligible for a presidential pardon.

Yesterday, MaltaToday asked Lawrence Gonzi whether his announcement that he would recommend a pardon for anyone to shed light on the Enemalta oil scandal, had been premature and served only to placate public opinion in the middle of the March 2013 general elections.

In his reply, Gonzi simply said he was acting on a recommendation by then Police Commissioner John Rizzo.

"I am sure you will appreciate that a recommendation by the chief investigating officer (who was the Commissioner of Police) to grant the presidential proclamation was in itself sufficient reason especially in view of the fact that he was called to justify this request to the Cabinet of Ministers," Gonzi told MaltaToday.

Farrugia had been under arrest at the police lock-up for just over 24 hours, when in the evening of Thursday, 31 January 2013 - in the thick of last year's general elections - Gonzi was reacting to MaltaToday reports on the Enemalta bribes and declared that he would consider a pardon in return for information on the scandal.

Farrugia had then been under arrest for just 24 hours, after having been called for questioning for the first time on Wednesday, 30 January - three days after MaltaToday connected him to the bribery of Frank Sammut, and ten days after this newspaper first broke the story of the Trafigura bribes.

Refusing legal assistance, Farrugia opted to spend the maximum 48 hours under arrest, and crucially availed himself of the right to stay silent during his interrogation by senior police officers.

Then on Friday 1 February, some time between 9:30am and 10am, Assistant Commissioner Michael Cassar first informed Farrugia that Gonzi had offered a presidential pardon to anyone who had any evidence on the oil scandal.

Farrugia's silence served as a pretext to be granted a presidential pardon a week after being released from arrest.

Upon being released, accompanied by his lawyer Siegfried Borg Cole, the oil trader sought the advice of criminal lawyer Franco Debono's office, who took on Farrugia's case.

Seven days later, on Friday 8 February, Lawrence Gonzi convened an urgent Cabinet meeting late in the evening as soon as he landed in Malta from Brussels. At around 10pm, Gonzi addressed journalists gathered on the steps of Castille to announce that the Cabinet had agreed on the conditions for a presidential pardon for George Farrugia.

It turns out that the presidential pardon Farrugia, suspected of having bribed senior Enemalta officials to clinch lucrative fuel contracts, was recommended without the man having offered the slightest bit of information on the case before a Cabinet decision to grant him a conditional pardon.

Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee scrutinising the Auditor General's report on Enemalta's fuel procurement on Monday evening, George Farrugia said the first time he heard about the presidential pardon was while he was under arrest at the police depot.

On Sunday 20 January 2013, MaltaToday published irrefutable evidence of kickbacks paid for purchases of oil for the state's energy corporation, first linking a Trafigura bribe paid into an offshore account held by Frank Sammut, who in 2003 was serving as a consultant for Enemalta.

On Sunday 27 January, MaltaToday published documentation confirming George Farrugia's involvement, as the oil trader representing Trafigura and TOTSA. Three days later, on Wednesday 30 January, Farrugia was called in questioning.

10 days had elapsed since then, and during the period in between, police summoned both Frank Sammut and former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone for questioning.

Farrugia told the PAC that Sammut and his unnamed business partner had visited him at his office when the story first broke out. Farrugia denied seeing Sammut again after that meeting.

The pardoned oil trader told the PAC that when he was called in for questioning on Wednesday morning, he tried to reach his wife and his lawyer, Borg Cole, on their mobile phones but to no avail. "I then called Ronnie Agius (a trusted friend) so he informs my lawyer that I had been called in," Farrugia said.

Prompted by parliamentary secretary for justice Owen Bonnici, Farrugia confirmed that he chose to spend 48 hours in the lock-up and did not ask for legal assistance.

"So you went in with the intent of saying nothing, when one fine hour a police officer informed you of their offer," Bonnici told Farrugia.

"Not exactly," Farrugia replied. "This [news of a presidential pardon] came out in the evening while I was in the lock-up. They informed me about it on Friday morning when I was called up to make a final statement. Michael Cassar told me what the prime minister had said. At this point I requested to call my lawyer," Farrugia said.

He added that while he knew what a presidential pardon, he did not understand what it implied and he therefore needed to consult his lawyer first.

Farrugia's testimony before the PAC continues this evening.