Updated | Keith Schembri sues Independent over BVI money transfer story

The Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri instructed his lawyers to file libel proceedings against The Malta Independent and its editors.

He has also complained of not having been given enough time to respond to the newspaper’s questions, having been contacted for a comment on Saturday night, shortly after 10pm.

The libel suit comes in the wake of a report claiming that Schembri injected $750,000 (€662,400) into his British Virgin Islands company, Colson Services Ltd in 2014.

Schembri yesterday denied the reports. Questioned by MaltaToday, he insisted that the funds were accumulated “over time and all derive from legitimate business activity”.

“Despite having issued a statement, yesterday morning,  categorically denying the allegations made by the Independent in yesterday’s publication and despite having requested The Independent to correct this false reporting, The Independent has failed to make amends for its error,” Schembri said in a press statement today.

“Therefore I have instructed my lawyers to file libel proceedings against the Independent and its editors.

“The malicious intent to cause harm to my reputation by the Independent is evidenced not only by its false reporting but also by the fact that I was contacted for comment for the first time at 10.09pm Saturday night, thus not providing adequate time for me to respond and ascertain facts with my financial advisors.”

PN questions Prime Minister’s ‘silence’

The Nationalist Party also questioned the Prime Minister’s silence over the Malta Independent’s story and a separate report by The Sunday Times of Malta.

Schembri yesterday denied there was ever an intention for a joint venture with Minister Konrad Mizzi. He also said that he was unaware of email exchanges between Nexia BT and Mossack Fonseca New Zealand, in which senior partner Karl Cini said the clients “would like to avoid informing their banks” of the setup.

“24 hours later, the Prime Minister is still silent,” the PN said. “He was last quoted as saying that Schembri enjoys his trust. Does the Prime Minister still trust Keith Schembri? Or is he going to sack him now?”