Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1041944
MATTHEW VELLA A former aide to Nationalist MEP David Casa who blew the whistle in a sworn affidavit on the politician's cocaine prob- lem, has lodged a request to the EU's anti-fraud agency OLAF requesting an interview to share information on his former em- ployer. The aide has upped the ante by writing to Maltese Attorney General Peter Grech, as well as OLAF director-general Ville Itälä, saying he wished to furnish investigators with details related to his claims against Casa. In his letter, the aide says he wants to report financial irregu- larities "that will shed light on the way Casa operated over the years." He said that as a long-time sen- ior employee of the parliamen- tarian, he "looked forward to co- operating" by shedding light on the MEP's finances and the way money from the EU's budget for members was being utilised. Last Sunday the former aide revealed in a sworn affidavit de- tails of the euro-parliamentar- ian's cocaine habit between the years 2009 and 2017. Newspaper post DAVID CASA PAGE 6 YOUR FIRST READ AND CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY • 21 OCTOBER 2018 • ISSUE 989 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Witness said he lied on minister's sighting 21 OCTOBER 2018 • ISSUE 989 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY maltatoday 21 OCTOBER 2018 • ISSUE 989 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY today today • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY today • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY €1.95 SPECIAL EDITION OUT ON TUESDAY LIVE BLOG MONDAY ONLINE PAGE 3 SAVIOUR BALZAN THE witness who had told the Daphne Project that he had seen minister Chris Cardona in conversation with mur- der suspect Alfred Degiorgio sometime in November 2017 after the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, had admitted to the police under interrogation of not having said the truth. Crucial details of the sensi- tive murder investigation have come to light since reports last week contradicted reports by Italian newspaper La Repub- blica on calls made by a fishing boat owner consecutively to Caruana Galizia, Cardona and Degiorgio – one of three men accused of carrying out the car bomb that killed Caruana Gal- izia on 16 October, 2017. Perhaps the most extraordi- nary twist in proceedings has been the admission of the 'eye- witness' at Ferdinand's Bar in Siggiewi, who told the police he had not seen Cardona and Degiorgio together, and that he had actually only seen them visiting the bar sepa- rately and on different occa- sions. The witness, a regular at Ferdinand's, had been reported by Radio France saying he had seen Alfred Degiorgio 'il-Fulu' chatting with Cardona at the bar one day in November. But under i nt e r r o g at i o n soon after the Daphne Project published a record- ing of the witness – who was presented to the journalists' con- sortium by a Nation- alist MP – he would have told police that when the French journalists returned to seek further in- formation he had asked them to leave him alone. Already CCTV footage taken from a private r e s i - dence in the main square of Siggiewi had been collected by court expert Martin Bajada for Magistrate Anthony Vella back in December 2017 – on the strength of a tip-off on the al- leged sighting. But while that footage had proved inconclusive, the re- sulting conclusion disproving the allegation was not included in Magistrate Vella's inquiry, nor were police informed of the findings of the CCTV foot- age. It was only in April 2018, when the Daphne Project re- leased its report on the eyewit- ness's claim, that police inves- tigators went on site to collect the footage from the private residence, only to be told that the footage had already been collected by the magistrate. FROM VIGIL TO PARTY? JAMES DEBONO asks a very important question about 'the Daphne crowd' PG 12-13 2 Whistleblower writes to OLAF over MEP's finances today www.maltatoday.com.mt S P E C I A L E d I t I o n €1.00 PAGE 9 • Editorial tUESdAY • 10 OCTOBER 2017 • issuE 559 • puBlishEd EvERy wEdnEsday and sunday BUDGET 2018 2019 SUNDAY • 21 OCTOBER 2018 • ISSUE 989 malta SUNDAY • 21 OCTOBER 2018 • ISSUE 989 €1.95 2 It's Hooli! Malta's OG hip hop king takes our Q&A MaltaToday2 EXCLUSIVE • Witness who told Daphne Project of Cardona meeting with Degiorgio told police he lied • Investigators fed misleading information in a bid to weed out leaks from within the inquiry Chris Cardona's alleged association with the Degiorgio brothers has been the focal point of Daphne Project reports