Konrad Mizzi ‘brought shame on our country’ - Adrian Delia

Opposition leader Adrian Delia said Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi’s position was no longer tenable, and reiterated that he needs to resign immediately.

This follows a report exposing the ownership of the oncesecret offshore company 17 Black, which was named as the target client of Panamanian companies owned by Minister Mizzi and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Delia also quoted several local and foreign media outlets discussing the condemnation of money laundering in Malta and the negative reputation that has resulted. “Everyone is talking about us,” he said.

He discussed reports made in newspapers about the Pilatus Bank and Satabank controversies.

Several local and EU authorities were chiding Malta for its failure to control the laundering of dirty money, Delia noted.

The leader of the opposition said that the “victims of Mizzi’s criminalities” were the Maltese “from whom he had stolen millions.”

Also referring to the IIP scheme, Delia said that the Labour government had run out ideas so it sold the one thing that made us Maltese.

Making reference to a parliamentary discussion on a bill discussing terrorism, Delia compared the penalties of such a crime to those of money laundering, saying they are comparable because money laundering is a serious crime.

Again referring to the law concerning money laundering, Delia pointed out several articles which provide the attorney general with ultimate power. “This is the same person who will not give us the Egrant report,” he pointed out.

Delia also made reference to the testimony of government head of communications Kurt Farrugia, which was heard in court on Monday morning. Farrugia said that a hard copy of the full Egrant inquiry sits “under lock and key” inside his office.

Farrugia insisted that he had never discussed the contents with anyone else, but Delia said that since Farrugia was paid to deal with the government’s propaganda, this information was being used for political purposes, creating a political unbalance.

Delia also pointed out that if the Opposition had not asked specifically if there was an inquiry into 17 Black, no one would have known about it.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici had only told Parliament that a magistrate is holding a specific inquiry into the 17 Black allegations after replying to a question he had tabled, Delia said.

He also said that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had originally said that he would not know who the inquiry into 17 Black was against but, on the other hand, he had known it was not against Schembri.

Delia also mocked Muscat for saying that the inquiry into 17 Black was into the company and nothing else, asking who will be sitting in the seat to testify and who will be answering questions in court about 17 Black.

Referring to Delia’s speech, PL MP Edward Zammit Lewis said that it had conveniently mentioned Pilatus Bank and Satabank but ignored completely Nemea Bank and the directors behind it.

Zammit Lewis said that he had full faith in the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and the financial institutions the regulate Malta’s banks.

“If there was a government that tackled money laundering it was this government,” he said. Zammit Lewis was referring to the prescription law and the regulation of party finances which both introduced during government’s legislature.

Referring to Kurt Farrugia’s post as government’s head of communication, Zammit Lewis said it was intrinsic that Farrugia would propagate the government’s agenda since it is part of his job description.

Praising the attorney general, Zammit Lewis said he had complete trust in him and reminded Parliament that he was the same person appointed during the PN administration before 2013.

Turning to the IIP scheme, Zammit Lewis questioned the official position of the PN. He said that a number of people close to the PN has legal law firms that sold this scheme. These schemes brought in a large sum of money which the government then used to build social housing among other projects, he added.