Skype call was ‘never about Egrant’, Nexia BT insists

Nexia BT managing partner Brian Tonna has once again reiterated his claim, that the company Egrant Inc, does not have an ultimate beneficial owner (UBO).

Furhtermore, he stressed that the skype call referred to in leaked emails between Mossack Fonseca’s Panama office and Nexia partner Karl Cini was not about Egrant. In the email, from March 2013, Cini wrote that “the ultimate beneficial owner will be an individual” and that he will “speak to Luis on Skype to give him more details.”

“As we have stated publicly on a number of occasions, Egrant Inc., which was purchased by Nexia BT in July 2013, is a shelf company, that is to say a ready-made company that is available for a client to acquire. It has never had, and does not currently have, any client as ultimate beneficial owner, and it has never been active,” said Tonna.

Moreover, he said that the “email in question was sent in connection with an enquiry by a client, which enquiry fell through.”

“It was unrelated to Egrant Inc. In fact, the email makes no mention of Egrant Inc. Besides, we had no client as UBO for Egrant, Inc.  and so there was no information about a UBO to be disclosed, whether via Skype or indeed by anny other means of communication,” said Tonna.

He added that this had been communicated to the press on a number of occasions, including a reply sent to the Malta Independent on the 4 May 2016 in which it was stated that “Egrant Inc. is a company that was incorporated for our firm as a shelf company, and [that] the shares are still beneficially ours. No other person is interested, either legally or beneficially, in Egrant Inc.”

In addition, Tonna pointed to replies to questions sent by MaltaToday on two separate occasions. He stressed that Nexia BT have always been open about facts surrounding the ownership of Egrant Inc.

“Contrary to allegations being made in the press, we have never claimed professional secrecy in connection with Egrant Inc. Our replies to this same question have been, and remain, consistent and factual,” concluded Tonna. 

The owner of Egrant is a liar - PN

In a reaction to Tonna's comments, the PN stated that the owner of Egrant is a liar, however stopped short of saying who the owner of Egrant is. "The owner of Egrant is a liar and a proven one at that"

"The corrupt clique in Castille has tried hard to fabricated one lie after the other regarding the third Panamanian company however this has once again failed," read the statement, adding that "nobody in the country believes it."

"The true owner of Egrant haw been caught lying once again," it continued. 

Simon Busuttil is the biggest liar in politics - PL

"The Labour Party has no problem referring to liars by name," said the Labour Party in a reaction to the PN's statement. "Simon Busuttil is the biggest liar in the history of our country's politics."

The PL said that today it was revealed that the email that was published last year, had nothing to do with Egrant, nor did it have anything to do with any case mentioned in the Panama Scandal. 

"Simon Busuttil, when asked to substantiate its claims, does what it did in front of the law courts and says that it knows nothing," said the PL.