‘Repeated requests’ for fee, but no direct involvement of Dalli – OLAF

The European Union's anti-fraud office OLAF has reiterated that even though there was no conclusive evidence that European Commissioner John Dalli took direct part in an operation requesting money from lobbyists representing the Swedish snus industry, it had concluded that Dalli "was aware of the activities of the Maltese entrepreneur and of the fact that this person was using his name and position to gain financial advantages".

In a press statement issued this evening to clarify comments made in the media, OLAF said: "We found that Commissioner Dalli had taken no action to prevent or dissociate himself from the facts or to reports the circumstances."

"The OLAF investigation found evidence that a Maltese entrepreneur, who had organised meetings between Commissioner Dalli and representatives and lobbyists of snus producers, repeatedly requested a considerable sum of money from the snus industry in exchange for the adoption of a proposal for the lifting of the ban on snus, trading on the name of the Commissioner. This request was declined by the snus industry and no payment or financial transactions have taken place.

"The OLAF investigation found no conclusive evidence of the direct participation of Commissioner Dalli in the operation for requesting money... OLAF has also concluded that there are a number of unambiguous circumstantial pieces of evidence gathered in the course of the investigation, indicating that Commissioner DALLI was aware of the activities of the Maltese entrepreneur and of the fact that this person was using the Commissioner's name and position to gain financial advantages," the anti-fraud office said.

OLAF said its investigation found the entrepreneur, Sliema restaurateur and former deputy mayor Silvio Zammit, "repeatedly requested a considerable sum of money from the snus industry in exchange for the adoption of a proposal for the lifting of the ban on snus, trading on the name of the Comissioner".

OLAF said that in line with the regulations it had referred the case to the President of the Commission Jose Manuel Barroso for his consideration. This in view of the provisions laid down by the Code of Conduct for the Commissioners.

OLAF added that it was aware of the evidence reported in recent press articles which formed part of the overall findings of the investigation on the basis of which it had drawn its conclusions. "OLAF regrets that partial evidence of the case has been provided to the press by interested parties and will not comment on details of the investigation as the matter is now under consideration by judicial authorities," OLAF said.

Malta's Attorney General Peter Grech today announced that he was to receive the OLAF report on Friday afternoon.

OLAF said that all rights of the persons concerned by the investigation were respected: "Prior to the adoption of the final report a comprehensive review of the investigation process was conducted to ensure compliance with all legal requirement including the rights and procedural guarantees of the persons concerned."

OLAF confirmed that Dalli was interviewed twice during the investigations. "On these occasions he was provided with the allegations and the facts concerning him and given the opportunity to comment on them.

"Dalli was informed and availed of his right to be assisted by a person of his choice during the interview."