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18 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella MANAGING EDITOR Saviour Balzan Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 DECEMBER 2019 23 December, 2009 PN stalls approval of Franco Debono's rival candidates APPROVAL for three prospective candidates for the Nationalist Party has been put on hold by the party's executive, in a precautionary move not to anger backbencher Franco Debono. The approval for candidates on Debono's fifth district stronghold – architect Anthony Bezzina, businessman Hermann Schiavone, and Austin Gatt's head of secretariat Manwel Delia – was "frozen" last September, and re- moved from the PN executive's agenda. While the candidates have been encouraged by the PN to continue campaigning in the fifth district – the electoral battleground which saw Debono oust heavyweight Louis Galea in 2008 – PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier has reportedly urged the candidates to be "pru- dent" and to "not upset" Franco Debono. Debono shocked the PN last week when he absented himself during a parliamentary vote, to vote down an amendment moved by the Op- position on the creation of two parliamentary select committees, one of which he is to chair. His unexpected absence forced Speaker Louis Galea to use his casting vote to defeat the amendment – which ironically proposed him as a chair for the committees. But Debono's shock move embarrassed the government, and prompted a personal meeting at his Ghaxaq residence by the Prime Minister, who was accompanied by his wife. While no member from the PN executive was forthcoming in giving details about the 'deleted' item for the approval of the three candidates, sources explained that the decision was taken a few days after a serious row at the PN's Zurrieq club, during a social event organ- ised on the occasion of the feast of St Cath- erine back in the first week of September. MaltaToday is informed that Hermann Schiavone and Anthony Bezzina were "po- litely" asked to leave the premises, after Franco Debono insisted with the local PN committee that the "unapproved candidates" should not be present for the activity. Manwel Mallia was not present on that day. The day after, Debono reportedly threw a tantrum at the PN headquarters while Bezzina and Schiavone were up in arms claiming out- right discrimination in their regard. In the end, the candidates' approval was removed from the agenda of the PN execu- tive that was expected to meet in the following days. News of this 'mitigation' measure echoes an invitation extended by the Prime Minister to Debono to accompany him to the United Na- tions General Assembly meeting in New York, in a bid to placate the backbencher. MaltaToday 10 years ago Quote of the Week A breakdown of national trust Editorial THE publication of the full Egrant inquiry by the Opposition leader – nearly a year and a half after the PM published the main conclusions exonerating him and his wife from ownership of the offshore company – coincides with a general breakdown of trust in the institutions. This erosion of trust originates in the insti- tutional paralysis caused by the failure of the police to immediately investigate the Panama Papers when the scandal broke out three years ago: a failure which has come back to haunt Muscat after the arrest of Yorgen Fenech, whose proximity to Keith Schembri has led to the latter's resignation. But while this breakdown of trust is justifi- able, the Egrant inquiry is based on a thorough forensic analysis and an in-depth examination of witnesses. As such, it must be respected in full. In this sense, the decision by the leader of the Opposition to publish it in full, after being granted access to it by the law courts, was a wise one. The publication of a redacted version would have only fuelled all kinds of conspiracy theo- ries on why some names were deleted but not others. The reality, however, is that there are two sides to the Egrant inquiry. On one hand, as expected the full report tallies with the con- clusions published in July 2018: i.e., that no evidence was produced to prove that Michelle Muscat was the owner of Egrant; or that money was transferred to her Egrant account from Leyla Aliyeva. Apart from the lack of forensic evidence, the inquiry also found contradictions between the principal witnesses making these claims. One cannot ignore the fact that it was the allegation that Egrant belonged to the Prime Minister's wife which led Joseph Muscat to submit to a magisterial inquiry, and then call an election. Ironically, the Egrant accusation was so powerful that it even obscured more evidence- based allegations related to 17 Black and the owner of the LNG tanker, as well as other ac- cusations made by Simon Busuttil with regards to Keith Schembri. On the other hand, while the inquiry indi- cates that Brian Tonna remained the Ultimate Beneficial Owner of Egrant, it does not exclude the possibility that he was holding the com- pany for someone else. In fact, apart from referring to a folder called 'Egrant' on a missing external device, the fo- rensic experts suggest that it made no sense for Nexia to hold on to the company, and pay fees for it for a two-year period; even preferring to set up a new company for a client, rather than offering the already-established Egrant instead. Moreover, the failure of the government to publish the full conclusions – including the recommendation to investigate Karl Cini of Nexia for perjury – further reinforces the im- pression of a lack of political will to investigate Nexia BT. Surely, Nexia BT should have been investi- gated three years ago, as soon as the Panama scandal broke out. Even more importantly, the forensic review concludes that transactions at Pilatus Bank involving the daughters of Azerbaijan ruler Ilham Aliyev, and the sons of his Minister for Emergency Situations Kamaleddin Heydarov, raise "commonly accepted red flags for money laundering". Moreover, the report states clearly that fur- ther investigations based on international co- operation are essential to determine whether Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) from Malta are involved in "acts of corruption, money laundering or suspicious transactions" with PEPs from Azerbaijan; adding that "there was not enough evidence that transactions did not pass through hub accounts abroad." While no evidence was ever found for trans- actions linking Leyla Aliyeva to Egrant, the inquiry report shows how the Aliyev sisters transferred €14.9 million from their Pilatus Bank account for Sahra FZCO, to Palma Man- agement Consultancy: another Dubai company described as a "payment hub" in three separate transactions between September 2015 and March 2016. One major stumbling block for the inquiry was the lack of cooperation from Dubai where the Azeri companies are based. This is some- thing which Malta should have raised at EU level. Nor is it clear whether the international in- vestigations, called for by the forensic experts, have ever been followed up. If not, this would be another major shortcoming on the part of our national institutions. On its own, the Egrant inquiry suggests that Pilatus bank was specifically set up as a clear- ing house for the ruling family of Azerbaijan: a country linked to Malta through the Electrogas contract, which includes SOCAR, the energy company owned by the government of Azer- baijan as well as the Tumas Group. This, in itself, further exposes the weakness of regulatory mechanisms on banks operating from Malta. Ultimately, the Egrant inquiry should serve both as a cautionary tale against running wild with allegations before having all the facts at hand; but also as a wake-up call for the need to strengthen regulatory mechanisms and to nip problems in the bud. Instead, we are now facing a breakdown of trust which may well serve as a fertile ground for even wilder allegations than Egrant itself. "The damage has been done but the party must send a clear signal – if not, it will be an accomplice." Minister Chris Cardona calls for Keith Schembri's suspension from the Labour Party