Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/191652
18 Opinion maltatoday, SUNDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2013 Saviour Balzan T Revoking an unnecessary pardon here are stereotypes and then there are perceptions. People love stereotypes and believe in perceptions. I guess everyone thinks that in this oil scandal there are the good guys and the bad guys. And oil broker George Farrugia is trying very hard to give the impression that he is a good guy. Was he a victim of circumstance? Was he a bona fide businessman? His brothers think otherwise. I think so too. He is the fortunate beneficiary of a wrong decision taken by a prime minister: he was given a pardon. His pardon should be revoked at once, because if there is someone definitely culpable it is him. If there was no Total and there was no George Farrugia, we would not be writing this story. He is trying very hard to suggest that he never offered anyone a kickback to have the oil company he represented considered. It is a pity that many readers forget that George Farrugia continued to operate without any problem well after the departure of Tancred Tabone. I guess everyone was blackmailing Mr Farrugia. Let us for one minute stop to read carefully what he said in court. He said that he was 'blackmailed' or thought that he was 'blackmailed' by Tancred Tabone to ensure that the oil company he was representing would be given preferential treatment. Now of course he spoke under oath, which according to some guarantees something akin to the Pope's infallibility. As we all know, court oaths are not exactly a reflection of the truth and the whole truth. Having said this, I do not believe George Farrugia at all. It is of course his word against everyone else's, but how is it possible that all the kickbacks (though there is no proof that Tabone accepted a kickback) took place whenever Farrugia met Perhaps everyone has conveniently forgotten the visit, together with his brother, to former Minister Tonio Fenech and the presentation of a Maltese clock. With Farrugia's reasoning, Fenech must have been blackmailing him. No, Tonio Fenech was not blackmailing anyone. Fenech was simply being stupid and accepting a gift from individuals whom he should have held at arm's length, because he knew all too well that they were brokers and involved in the sale of fuel to Enemalta. My conclusion is that then prime minister Gonzi had no reason to issue a pardon. The question is, why was a pardon issued in the first instance, when there had been admissions to the police well before the pardon was granted? The oil trader, free to say whatever he likes about anyone and literally invent anything without an iota of evidence. If not for MaltaToday, this story would never have been published *** someone at Enemalta? He is giving the impression that as soon as he confronted an Enemalta official he would threaten him to play ball or else…! Farrugia gives the impression of someone acting under duress. His gifts varied from cash, silver trays and a Korando car. There is no proof that Tabone accepted a gift. The question to ask is, did everyone walk around with a T-shirt with 'bribe me' written on it? And has anyone noted that he was the common denominator in all the cases? What is consistent is that he spun a web of lies to his brothers, to his accountant, his administrators and his trust managers, and yet he thinks that he should be believed simply because he took an oath. He seems to have taken everyone for a ride. Or… He has stated that he was hesitant about 'offering' commissions because he had to consult with his brothers. What a bloody liar. If his brothers knew or were consulted over the commissions which Farrugia alleges were asked of him, the police should have arraigned the whole Farrugia family. I just believe that he was the right man for the moment, and of course there is political expediency. And the more interesting part of the story is that Farrugia was not only playing the part of the broker, but he was also shafting his own brothers, who were supposed to be taking a percentage of the bona fide commission – to the extent that his brothers even took him to court for cheating them. George Farrugia was given a pardon by former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi after our man of integrity, the former police commissioner John Rizzo, suggested to the Prime Minister's Secretariat (his words) that Farrugia be given a presidential pardon after his lawyer, Franco Debono, demanded it. I am not too sure that Franco Debono was the only guy who pleaded with the prime minister. I could be wrong. But then my gut feeling usually isn't. The big question which none of the reporters are pointing out is that George Farrugia can say what the f**k he likes without any repercussions. He is free to say whatever he likes about anyone and literally invent anything without an iota of hard evidence. What is also interesting is that with the same kind of reasoning, one starts to wonder why he was blackmailed, when he appeared to be such a willing partner (eating out and conversing with his monstrous interlocutors). His emails are perhaps the best example of what little pressure there was on Mr Farrugia. There are few words to describe the tragedy of Syrians drowning off Malta. Hey, they have white skin, not black. Perhaps the fact that they are white and Syrian and look just like Maltese may serve to change our attitude to the problem. I guess European leaders will think twice before coming out with yet another silly statement. Trying to picture a scene with drowning children and toddlers and their parents in the open Mediterranean Sea is just too hard. Picture your child and the whole thing simply collapses. I guess the tragedy in Africa and the civil war in Syria are things we can choose to ignore. Like all the other conflicts we only bother about when they affect us. Well, I sure hope that the sight of a dead toddler wrapped in white sheets on the wet cement at Pieta is enough to send a signal to all those who think that this problem will go away. It will not.