The Malta Independent on Sunday
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Konrad Mizzi audit, John Dalli and shady company Tyre Ltd
When the Prime Minister answered questions put by the press last March about the identity of the firm appointed to audit the affairs of the Panama Papers-embroiled Minister Konrad Mizzi, he did not exactly lie when he said: “It is a big company. It is independent and, as far as I know, it is not based in Malta, so it is an international audit firm”.
The name of the audit firm, despite repeated questioning by the media and even in the Law Courts since then, had been kept under wraps until Dr Mizzi’s audit was presented to the PANA Committee on Monday.
It transpired that the firm, Crowe Horwath was indeed a “big company” and an “international audit firm”. But when it came to the statement that “as far as I know, it is not based in Malta”, the Prime Minister may have been playing with words.
The firm that carried out Dr Mizzi’s audit, Crowe Horwath New Zealand Audit Partnership, is a member of Crowe Horwath International, as is the firm Horwath Malta. As such, the firm itself may not be based in Malta but it does have a ‘base’ in Malta.
And it was the very same Malta outfit, Horwath Malta, led by a certain John Abela that had signed off on the last audited accounts of Tyre Limited, the shady John Dalli-linked company. Tyre Ltd has been under investigation by the FBI over allegations that it had been involved in the defrauding of American investors who claim that they have been swindled out of their life savings, a collective US$600,000.
The company last filed its accounts in 2013, for the 2011 financial year. The company is still registered at John Dalli’s corporate address in Portomaso, and his two daughters had served as the company’s directors until the claims by the American investors, which have been extensively reported by this newspaper, began making headlines.
It was also Tyre Limited that had rented John Dalli’s villa in the Bahamas in the summer of 2012 and it was revealed by the International Herald Tribune – a sister paper of The New York Times – that he had gone on a number of undeclared trips to the Bahamas while he was still an EU commissioner.
Mr Abela had also worked with Mr Dalli when the latter was taken on as a consultant leading to a reform at Mater Dei Hospital, and he is said to be a long-time associate of Mr Dalli.
While the link may appear tenuous, when put into the wider context of the blanket of secrecy that surrounded Dr Mizzi’s audit as a whole, things begin to make more sense.
Since the audit was commissioned, no one, despite constant questioning by the press was willing to reveal neither the name of the auditor commissioned nor the prospective date of the audit’s release, despite the sensitivity of and public outcry over Dr Mizzi involvement in the Panama Papers leak.
Dr Mizzi had refused in court to name the firm because he did not want to put it under undue pressure. But then again the name could also have been retained until the last minute so as to prevent the press from drawing the link between the New Zealand firm and its Maltese counterpart.
The audit, which was signed off on 21 September 2016, had been ready for the last five months before it was released last Monday, despite the continued barrage of media questions about the promised audit’s status.
This newspaper had reported in early January that Dr Mizzi’s audit had been signed, sealed and delivered and that its release had been carefully planned to coincide with this week’s fact-finding mission by the European Parliament’s PANA Committee.
And the Prime Minister, on 7 October, had even said that the audit was “still a work in progress” even though it surely must have been delivered to Dr Mizzi well before then. He told the press that day that, “What I can say is that it is a firm of international repute [that is carrying out the audit].
“While the audit is still work in progress, the studies have been completed. I think it’s best that everything is announced together.”
In January, Dr Mizzi also told the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee he was sure that “the truth will come out soon”, without re- ferring to the fact that he must have already had the audit.
And on 28 September, when the audit had already been signed off, Dr Muscat had been quizzed about its status. Asked when the audit would be published Dr Muscat did not commit to a timeframe but said the report would be published soon. “These things take time,” he said, referring to audit process. “What I am sure of is that the report will be published once it is completed. If anything, the fact that it is taking time shows that things are being taken seriously.”
About a week later, 6 October, Dr Mizzi had even refused to name the firm when questioned in court, saying that doing so would subject the firm contracted to carry out the job to unnecessary pressure – even though, it now transpires – the job had already been completed.
Testifying in a libel case Dr Mizzi had instituted against PN Deputy Leader Beppe Fenech Adami, Dr Mizzi was asked to name the company, but he simply replied by telling Dr Fenech Adami’s lawyer to “ask the Prime Minister”. He then said he did not wish to name the company because he did not want to put the firm under any undue pressure.
Dr Fenech Adami’s lawyer, Joe Zammit Maempel, insisted that he would not put any pressure on the company and said he wanted to know the name simply to ascertain that an audit was, in actual fact, truly taking place. Still Dr Mizzi had refused to answer the question.