[WATCH] Justice minister ramps up pressure on PN over Zaren Vassallo loan

Justice minister Owen Bonnici has urged the Nationalist Party to provide clear evidence that it had repaid a €250,000 loan to construction magnate and party benefactor Nazzareno (Zaren Vassallo).

Addressing the media in front of the PN’s Pieta headquarters, Bonnici referred to an email sent by Ann Fenech to newspaper L-Orizzont on Thursday, in which the PN executive president said that the party is still finalizing repayments to its lenders, including Vassallo.

He noted that this contrasted sharply with a separate report in the Malta Independent, which had quoted unnamed PN officials as stating that the loan had been paid in full in August of last year. The same newspaper had initially reported that only €100,000 of the loan had been repaid, but then clarified its report to state that the loan had been repaid in full.

The Labour Party is claiming that the PN received a loan from Vassallo, at the same time that the previous PN administration allowed the construction magnate to acquire a 21,000 square-metre tract of government land, freehold.

This follows a report by the Auditor General, which said that under the watch of former lands minister Jason Azzopardi the land in Qormi formerly leased to the Marsovin winery, was “devalued” just before Marsovin sold it to Vassallo Builders in 2009. Specifically, the Lands Department removed a costly condition that the land be used only as a brewery, allowing Marsovin to redeem the ground rent for some €400,000 before selling just a month later to Vassallo.

“The contrasting stories lay bare the confusion within the PN,” Bonnici said. "We once again call on [Opposition leader] Simon Busuttil to clarify the situation and to immediately fire Jason Azzopardi, who has been pointed out by the Auditor General for irresponsible behaviour."

The Nationalist Party had anticipated Owen Bonnici's early press conference by hurling a banner over its headquarters, depicting the faces of Joseph Muscat, Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri and the slogan 'Shame On You' in a reference to the Panama Papers scandal. 

MaltaToday has sent questions to the Nationalist Party to clarify matters on whether the Vassallo loan had been repaid or not.

In a reaction, the PN hit out at Bonnici accusing him of being “fake and isolated”, adding that he should focus on the Maltese justice sector. A terse two-liner from the Labour Party, describing the PN as “Salvu Mallia’s party”, said the PN should stop offending others and start answering questions.

“It is evident that Simon Busuttil has something to hide on the Lowenbrau scandal,” Labour said.