Cassola dismisses Muscat’s ‘evidence’ on Egrant ownership

Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola has rubbished the declaration made by the Mossack Fonseca president that Egrant is owned by Nexia BT owner Brian Tonnia, claiming the letter “is not worth the paper it is written on.”

Cassola’s remarks were made after Tonna, whose firm has enjoyed a close relationship with the Labour government, told MaltaToday that he remains the sole owner of Egrant, the mysterious offshore company created at the same time as minister Konrad Mizzi’s and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri’s Panamanian offshore companies.

A letter Tonna supplied from Mossack Fonseca president Ricardo Samaniego, dated 16 February 2017, reiterates the claim that Tonna acquired Egrant through his own firm BTI Management on 9 August, 2013, remaining its sole ultimate beneficial owner. No powers of attorney were issued to anyone except to Tonna and Cini,

Samaniego is himself implicated in various scandals related to tax avoidance on various offshore structures created by Mossack Fonseca for people such as footballing ace Lionel Messi]. Egrant is currently in dissolution.

And on Sunday, Cassola, the Green Party chairman, insisted that Samaniego’s declaration does not hold much water, and that Joseph Muscat should use his letter as evidence to discredit claims that he is the beneficiary owner of Egrant.

“The real evidence he [Joseph Muscat] refers to is the declaration made by Ricardo Samaniego to Brian Tonna,” Cassalo said in a Facebook post entitled ‘Panama: Joseph Muscat relies on suspected crook?’

“What the Prime Minister probably did not know before giving his speech is that Samaniego is accused of having forged documents given to the Bank of St Lucia International Ltd (BOSLIL) and of having aided footballer Lionel Messi to evade taxes,” he said.