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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 14 NOVEMBER 2018 7 to stop the inquiry from even starting through his appeal. Yet the results of the egrant inquiry which cleared the PM of himself opening a panama company are now conveni- ently used to wash away the whole Panama scandal. On Sunday the PM even raised parallels between the egrant allegations and the story investigated by Reuters and the Times of Malta saying that he is not taking at face value the revelation that the mysterious Dubai company 17 Black belongs to Tumas Group CEO Yorgen Fenech, arguing that the egrant story was rubbished by a magiste- rial inquiry. Yet the PM ignores another fundamental difference be- tween the egrant story and the one on 17 Black. While the egrant story was based exclusively on the reli- ability of a whistle-blower who ultimately failed to produce any documentation to back up her claims, the story on 17 Black is corroborated by an email, which clearly indicates 17 Black as one of two clients of the two Panama companies. The documented evidence in itself raises questions re- lated to political ethics and standards. The emails state that Schembri and Mizzi were set to receive "€150,000" monthly through their Panama com- panies, via 17 Black and Mac- bridge, according to details provided by Nexia BT partner Karl Cini in the same email. And very differently from pre-election stories on egrant published on Caruana Gali- zia's blog, the latest 17 Black story – endorsed by the rep- utable news agency Reuters – relies on different levels of corroboration; not just the leak from the FIAU but also on sources in the United Arab Emirates. Furthermore, while the PM had always been consistent in his denial of the egrant alle- gations, Mizzi and Schembri have been evasive or econom- ical with the truth in their terse replies. When 17 Black was first floated in the press as a com- pany designed to pay money into Schembri's and Mizzi's offshore companies, the two men described the report as "a blatant lie", failing to confirm the very existence of the com- pany while denying any allega- tion of money laundering. While still denying these al- legations Mizzi acknowledged the existence of 17 Black in April 2018 after the first rev- elations by the Daphne Pro- ject. Mizzi's declaration that he does not know the iden- tity of the owner of 17 Black, which was mentioned as tar- get client of his Panama com- pany, remains mind-boggling. Equally mind-boggling is the PM's claim that he learned that Yorgen Fenech is the owner of 17 Black from the media. Indeed, it is hard to believe that the PM did not ask his own chief of staff to reveal to him the identity of the owner of a company described as "a target client" of his Panama company in April. Moreover, initially Mizzi had suggested that the com- plicated offshore structure linked to a trust in New Zea- land was meant for family planning. He even suggested that the Panama company was worth €92. But the emails published so far suggest that the com- panies were meant to receive money from other sources like remote gaming and recy- cling amongst other activities. 4. The courts cannot deter- mine political responsibil- ity Ultimately the whole is- sue revolves on the inappro- priateness of public officials opening secret companies in Panama while in office. Muscat may well argue that this issue has already been addressed when Mizzi was demoted to minister without a portfolio in 2016. But on that occasion he also retained Schembri in his same role. Mizzi also remained respon- sible for major decisions re- lated to public-private part- nerships and land transfers. But the issue is now further compounded by revelations that the companies were set up with the intention of re- ceiving money from two oth- er offshore companies. While corruption has not been proved, the triangulation be- tween an Energy Minister, a chief of staff in Castille and a shareholder in the winning bid for the new power station is very suggestive. The fact that Electrogas shareholder Yorgen Fenech has not categorically denied owning 17 Black means that a shadow has been cast on a major energy project, which was intimately tied to the La- bour Party's pre-2013 pledge to reduce electricity bills. Fenech has vehemenently denied any wrongdoing and any link to the Panama com- panies. Even if no illegalities have taken place, the very exist- ence of a commercial rela- tionship linking a former en- ergy minister, the PM's own chief of staff and one of the owners of Malta's main ener- gy providers would be highly inappropriate. The fact that this relation- ship may have been conduct- ed through secret companies opened in secretive jurisdic- tions makes the political po- sition of Schembri and Mizzi even more politically unten- able. 5. The PM is setting a dangerous precedent for future cases of unethical political behaviour The PM is inevitably setting a yardstick for future cases of political inappropriate- ness. In the past Muscat had no qualms in forcing politi- cians like Anglu Farrugia, Michael Falzon and Manuel Mallia to resign even though none of them were faced by any criminal investigation. In 2013 Muscat claimed that Farrugia's resignation (for criticising a magistrate's deci- sion) reflected the difference in standards between the two parties, "with those within the PL bearing their responsibili- ties and the PN's Austin Gatt evading a no-confidence vote till the end". What will Muscat do now when faced by a case which does not warrant criminal ac- tion but which may be politi- cally inappropriate? By not sacking Schembri and Mizzi, Muscat has lowered the bar for any errant Labour politician. He is also sending a message to his supporters that political propriety is a secondary consideration. This may well increase the temptation of some to act in- appropriately in the hope that the PM will apply the same yardstick he applied to Mizzi and Schembri. NEWS ANALYSIS delaying tactic

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