Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1417022
NEWS 6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 6 OCTOBER 2021 Karol Aquilina on dangerous driving claims: 'They wanted to shut me up' KARL AZZOPARDI THE Nationalist MP Karol Aqulina has slammed the La- bour Party and its media wing ONE TV for trying to shut him up by inventing false claims of dangerous driving. "This was not a prosecution, it was a persecution," Aquilina said in parliament on Tuesday. Aquilina had been charged last May over an incident that took place in June 2019 on Triq Diċembru 13 in Marsa, when Aquilina allegedly refused to obey police instructions while driving. Footage of the incident, aired on television by the Labour pre- senter Karol Stagno Navarra on his programme 'Pjazza', showed Aquilina in his car, apparently blocking the route of the min- isterial vehicle despite the or- ders from two police officers on motorbike, accompanying the vehicle. Last Wednesday, Aquilina was absolved of any criminal charg- es in the case. The MP has said he knows the high-ranking police official be- hind the claims, stating he was "the most corrupt official in the corps." "I know who gave Stagno Navarra the manipulated foot- age, and I will be taking the nec- essary action in due time," he said. Aquilina said the story was "fabricated" so that he stops his criticism of former and current Labour officials. "Just days before the claims surfaced, I was speaking about Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri and former police commission- er Lawrence Cutajar," he said. The PN MP said he expects no apology, but asked who will be apologizing to his family. "Who will be apologizing to my wife? Who will be apologiz- ing to my children, who will be reading fake claims on their fa- ther?" he said. Karol Aquilina went on to claim that on Monday, he was followed by a ONE News car on his way to parliament from Floriana. "They were stalking me," he said. He said he will be continuing his fight against injustice and corruption. PN MP Karol Aquilina Keith Schembri's wife's interior design company part of complex scheme to transfer cash 3CITY Design Limited, a company belonging to the wife of former OPM chief Keith Schembri, saw thousands of euro transferred through it from Adrian Hillman, Allied Newspapers, and Schembri himself. During the compilation of evi- dence against Josette Vella Schem- bri, Inspector Leanne Bonello told the court that her company formed part of a complex scheme used to transfer sums of cash between var- ious entities. She noted that 3City Design was set up in 2008, the same year in which the first Kasco-Allied print- ing press deal was first drafted. Bonello said that Adrian Hillman transferred €14,000 to the 3City De- sign. Vella Schembri had told police that she had provided interior de- sign services in his home, but failed to provide any documentation as proof. Additionally, her husband Keith Schembri transferred €57,784.16 across three transactions to the company, but again no documenta- tion was provided. Eventually, Kasco business part- ners Robert Zammit and Malcolm Scerri received money payments from 3City Design. In total, Scer- ri received €44,289.75 through monthly payments. Vella Schembri had told police that the payment covered works done by Scerri for the company, but she was unable to provide documentation in relation to this. Substantial sums of money were al- so received from Allied Newspapers. Vella Schembri managed to present documentation for the transaction, but police noted significant discrep- ancies between the two. The court later issued a prima fa- cie decree against Vella Schembri. This means that there is a case to be heard against her, with enough evidence presented so far for her to face trial under indictment. Vella Schembri stands accused of laundering money between 2008 and 2020 while failing to observe all of the duties of a company director