MaltaToday previous editions

MALTATODAY 18 July 2021

Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1393937

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 1 of 51

2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 JULY 2021 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Tarcisio Mifsud was formerly a member of the Enemalta fuel procurement committee as the State energy company's finan- cial controller. He was accused along with former Enemalta petroleum chief Alfred Mall- ia of corruption and trading in influence, largely on claims by State's evidence and busi- nessman George Farrugia that he had paid them Lm40,000 (€100,000) in cash for him to win Enemalta tenders for the supply of oil. The main suspects in the oil scandal are former Enemal- ta chairman and businessman Tancred Tabon and the petro- chemist Frank Sammut, both charged with corruption, re- vealed by MaltaToday in 2013 of having been paid sums of mon- ey through George Farrugia and Trafigure, for the alleged award of fuel procurement contracts. Tabone's business partners in bunkering firm Island Bunker Oils – the Virtù Ferries group director Francis Portelli, and Cassar Shipping boss Anthony Cassar, were then charged with corruption and money launder- ing. Tabone's sons, Portelli and Cassar remain in business to- gether through fuel bunkering company Valletta Bunkers and Valletta Petroleum Holdings. Tarcisio Mifsud, today 76, protested the extended dura- tion of the proceedings against him: he sat for 27 sittings be- tween March 2013 and October 2015 in the compilation of evi- dence against him. The Attor- ney General, Peter Grech, then issued the bill of indictment to have Mifsud tried in a crimi- nal court, but instantly delayed the possibility for a summary procedure by conditioning the court to hear the testimony of co-accused Alfred Mallia and Tancred Tabone. This led to a referral to the Constitutional court that sus- pended the criminal court hear- ing, and then dragged on for three more years. As it turned out, in December 2016 the oil scandal suspects Tancred Tab- one, Frank Sammut and Alfred Mallia declared they would not testify given the pending crimi- nal case against them. Yet for the two years that fol- lowed, despite protests from the Mifsud defence, the case dragged on. Mallia died in No- vember 2019. "This kind of behaviour has breached Tarcisio Mifsud's right to a fair hearing," the three-judge Constitutional Court presided by the Chief Jus- tice declared. "At his advanced age, he has every right to have these proceedings take place within a reasonable peirod of time, even as one of the co-ac- cused Alfred Mallia passed away over the course of these delays. So what is the prosecution wait- ing for? That all the witnesses 'Absolutely nothing' happened in two-thirds of sittings for Enemalta oil scandal suspect

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of MaltaToday previous editions - MALTATODAY 18 July 2021