Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1008890
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 JULY 2018 NEWS Egrant Inquiry 18 Feb 2017 20 Apr 2017 night 21 Apr 2017 22 July 2018 evening 20 Apr 2017 night 21 Apr 2017 evening 22 July 2018 afternoon 20 Apr 2017 evening 23 Apr 2017 26 May 2017 evening 20 Apr 2017 afternoon 1 May 2017 26 May 2017 20 Apr 2017 noon 19 May 2017 23 May 2017 19 Feb 2017 15 Apr 2017 18 Apr 2017 19 Apr 2017 Nexia BT owner Brian Tonna tells MaltaToday that he is the sole owner of Egrant. "I have already made it very clear that Egrant, purchased by my firm in July 2013, is a shelf company, that is a ready-made company that is available for a client to acquire. It has never had, and does not currently have, any client as ultimate beneficial owner, and it has never been active," he said. Caruana Galizia claims that $1.017 million in a single transaction had been transferred from Leyla Aliyeva's Al Sahra FZCO to Egrant and that the transaction was a loan payment. She says other loan payments of $100,000 each were made twice a week over several weeks in January, February and March 2016 and says that Egrant has an account at Pilatus Bank. In reply to questions by the press during the electoral campaign Busuttil is very categorical: "I have no doubt that Egrant belongs to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat." Reading out a decree by magistrate Aaron Bugeja, Busuttil says that the Egrant inquiry has proven to be an incredibly complex one. "The decree shows how seriously the magistrate is conducting the investigation," he says. "The magistrate's decision confirms that when I say I have proof in my hands I truly mean it." Caruana Galizia claims that a safe in the kitchen of Pilatus Bank holds declarations of trust showing that shares in Egrant are held by Mossack Fonseca nominees for "Mrs Michelle Muscat". She says the documents were scanned and uploaded to the cloud. Muscat vows that if the Egrant inquiry finds any evidence or suspicion linking him or his wife Michelle to secret Panama company Egrant, he would resign immediately. "But on the other hand, if the inquiry finds no such evidence, I equally expect Opposition leader Simon Busuttil to assume his political responsibility and leave." In a press conference during which he criticises Muscat for putting pressure on magistrate Aaron Bugeja, Busuttil says: "I will respect the magistrate's decision and won't try to influence him, and I can promise you that a PN government will bring normality and serenity back to this country." Muscat announces he will take legal steps against Caruana Galizia. "A lie like this cannot be ignored, especially when it is being substantiated in the most irresponsible and unethical way by the Opposition leader and his party's media." Muscat dubs the claims as "the biggest ever political lie to ever take place in the history of the country". Addressing an anti-corruption demonstration Busuttil says: "We have a commissioner who refused to seal the bank, choosing instead to go to a fenkata. The PM has now appointed a sham inquiry, and he expects us to provide the proof. Prime Minister, this is why the proof is in your behaviour." In a final Xarabank debate Busuttil says: "We're going for an election and Joseph Muscat is under investigation. It's obvious that the magistrate will confirm it because there is a whistleblower and an FIAU report that [supports] what she said. Why didn't he wait? He could have waited it out and called an election as a winner. You, Dr Muscat, are scared of the inquiry." Simon Busuttil calls on Muscat to resign. "The least I would have expected today was for the Prime Minister to appoint an independent inquiry to carry out a serious investigation on the allegations made. Muscat put himself in this situation when he kept Mizzi and Schembri with him at Castille. Because of this, no one can believe him." Joseph Muscat and Simon Busuttil go head-to-head in a live TV debate on Xarabank. Busuttil says he can't comment on documents he's barely seen, adding: "Whether Egrant is his or his wife's has almost become a secondary matter." But the Prime Minister's body language and his actions were enough to go by. Muscat accuses Caruana Galizia of having reproduced falsified information. Following publication of Egrant inquiry conclusions, Busuttil, on his Facebook wall, calls for the whole inquiry report to be published. He describes as ridiculous Muscat's call for his resignation. "The Prime Minister is the last person to speak about political responsibility when he never shouldered it himself despite a series of corruption scandals." Frank Psaila on Net TV calls the Prime MInister's denial "the mother of a lies" as a Net TV crew films Pilatus Bank chairman Ali Sadr Hasheminejad and risk manager Antoniella Gauci walking out of the bank's side entrance carrying travel bags. Later, the Prime Minister reveals his lawyers asked the Police Commissioner to ask the duty magistrate to investigate the allegations made. The magisterial inquiry, led by Magistrate Aaron M. Bugeja, kicks off with police officers of the Economic Crimes Unit seen entering Whitehall Mansions, where Pilatus Bank is located. The bank issues a statement, saying that no member of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's family ever held an account with Pilatus Bank, nor did Hearnville Inc, Tillgate Inc and Egrant Inc. On Facebook, Busuttil says he sees no reason to step down. "Delia [asked me to resign] before he read the whole Egrant inquiry report, which hasn't yet been published," he says. "It is also a contradiction that Delia wants to have me removed from the party, while at the same time saying he wants me to continue to work on the ongoing inquiries regarding Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi." Simon Busuttil describes as an "outright lie" Nexia BT owner Brian Tonna's claim of ownership of Egrant. "We are not fools, the people are not believing you [Brian Tonna]. The government has lied to us," he said at a party activity in Ghaxaq. Busuttil says Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is a "compulsive liar", insisting there is evidence which proves that Tonna's comments are all lies. Daphne Caruana Galizia claims in a blog to have discovered who owns Egrant and posts a photo of Michelle Muscat with Leyla Aliyeva, daughter of Azeri President Ilham Aliev. Caruana Galizia says that "very large sums of money" have been deposited to bank accounts held by Egrant Inc, and implies the Maltese bank used for these transactions is Pilatus, based in Ta' Xbiex. At the start of the Labour Party annual general conference, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat denies that either he, his wife or any of his family members own any company or foreign bank accounts. Caruana Galizia claims that a company owned by Leyla Aliyeva made loan payments to Hearnville, Egrant and Tillgate, paid from Aliyeva's Dubai company, Al Sahra FZCO and transferred through the company's account at Pilatus Bank. comments are all lies. of the country". him." of the country". reproduced falsified information. an account at Pilatus Bank. Pilatus, based in Ta' Xbiex. him." allegations made. him." Egrant Inc. Busuttil's path to making Egrant his mission