PN’s ‘false invoices’ are ‘fraud and money laundering’ –PM

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat lashed out at the PN yesterday, over claims by the db Group that it was paying for the salaries of two top PN officials, and said that PN leader Simon Busuttil did not inherit the situation, but rather it is of his own doing.

The Prime Minister was answering questions from the public through a Facebook Live Q&A session.

“We are not perfect, but we never tried to preach perfection. The Maltese people understand that the basic element of trust was betrayed by the PN. Dr Busuttil, with all due respect, said he wants a reform, and is speaking after being caught with his hand in the bag, in the same way the previous government was with the €500 increase for ministers, which we never took.”

He said that the PN gave false invoices for the funds it received. Dr Muscat continued that Dr Busuttil had four years to fix the situation in the PN, but “instead of fixing it, we discovered he had made it.”

He also criticised the Opposition for creating the ċedoli system “which is a way around the party financing laws.” He explained that while the ċedoli system is not illegal, false invoices are.

“He knew about this and he was the one who asked businessmen to pay. Are there others? I still have not been told if there are,” he said.

He said that this is a situation about false invoices for false services. “This is fraud and money laundering. Dr Busuttil was the person who would meet with these businessmen and ask for the money.

“The PL has no form of system that isn’t in conformity with the law,” Dr Muscat insisted.