Zammit Lewis challenges PN leader to publish DB Group invoices

The leader of the opposition should immediately publish the invoices he said the Nationalist Party issued to DB Group for €70,800 booked for advertising, especially since the company had denied receiving such services and insisted it had paid the money to cover the salaries of two top PN executives, tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis said on Saturday. 

The minister said the Labour Party did not believe Simon Busuttil's claims that the money received from DB Group was to cover services rendered, even if they did were, in reality, not the salaries of the PN's secretary general Rosette Thake and Media.link's CEO Brian St John. 

Busuttil revealed on Sunday that DB Group had asked for the money back after the party's criticism of the government's concession of the Institute for Tourism Studies in St Julian's to the group for development. DB Group later that day claimed that the PN had asked for the money, specifically to cover the two executives' salaries.  

On Xarabank on Friday, PN spokesperson Marthese Portelli confirmed invoices had been issued to DB Group for services rendered and - answering questions put to her by the minister - she said the company was free to publish any of its invoices. 

Zammit Lewis insisted that the PN had failed to claim the money received from DB Group as donations and that it was therefore in breach of Article 39 of the party financing legislation. 

Parliamentary secretary Deborah Schembri recalled the statement published by DB Group in which it categorically denied it had paid for any adverts on PN media or received any services from the PN or any of its subsidiary companies. 

DB Group had already challenged to publish any invoices or evidence it had to show the money was payment for services received. 

"In this case we find ourselves asking the leader of the opposition himself what he will do next, especially after people close to him have already come out to deny knowledge of the scheme or to disprove claims made by Busuttil," Schembri said.