Falzon resigns PN executive over €465,000 Swiss account

Former Nationalist minister Michael Falzon has publicly admitted to having held an account containing some €465,000 (Lm200,000) at HSBC private bank in Geneva, Switzerland.

His comments pre-empted revelations by The Malta Independent on former ministers who held undeclared monies in Swiss bank accounts.

“I had no problem in confirming that this information was correct,” said Falzon, today a political columnist and a member of the government’s oil procurement committee, a position he has now given up.

A member of the PN executive committee, Falzon has also decided to suspend himself from this role.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil was quick to come out in full force to declare that Falzon’s position had become untenable on both committees, and that he would suspend any PN official found to have held undeclared monies in Swiss bank accounts – ostensibly for the purpose of tax avoidance.

Swiss bank account holders have been the focus of intense media investigation since a leaked clients’ list of Geneva’s HSBC Banque Privée that was given to French police in 2008 by whistleblower Hervé Falciani, was published by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists.

Falzon issued a statement on Saturday at 2:46pm, before the Malta Independent published its story. The newspaper followed up by publishing a recording of its first telephonic conversation with Falzon, which recording was not carried out with Falzon’s expressed consent, MaltaToday was told.

Falzon said that between 1975 and 1985, he was involved with other Maltese professionals in an architectural and civil engineering consultancy providing services abroad. The services were provided under the aegis of a Maltese-registered company, of which he was a shareholder and director.

“The first big job that this company worked on had been entrusted to it in partnership with a Swiss architectural firm. This necessitated frequent visits to Switzerland and the opening of bank accounts to which funds were effected by the Swiss partners and eventually to the Maltese company,” Falzon said.

“When the company was liquidated, and considering the political situation in Malta in 1985-87, I decided to retain a Swiss account in my name,” Falzon added, who later went on to be elected on the Nationalist ticket and be appointed a minister.

Falzon was a minister up until 1996. He told MaltaToday he repatriated the money some time before 2008. 

“I want to make it clear that the money came from payments for professional activities abroad for foreign clients that were carried out before I became a minister in 1987 and that no moneys originating from Malta or from third parties were ever deposited in this account. In fact, I had no other foreign accounts.”

Falzon said that in 2002 he decided to transfer the account to HSBC Genève and some six years later the money was again transferred to another bank.

“Eventually all the money in the account was repatriated to Malta and today I have no money deposited in any Swiss bank or any other foreign bank whatsoever. My fiscal position in Malta has long ago been regularised.

“Although it is evident that the said account has no connection whatsoever with my past political activities, I have decided to suspend myself for the time being from all the political activities within the structure of the PN.  For the time being, I am also withdrawing from my position as observer on the Oil Procurement Committee.”