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€1.20 maltatoday YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT RYAN CALLUS INTERVIEW PAGE 12, 13 Download the MaltaToday App now SUNDAY • 22 DECEMBER 2013 • ISSUE 737 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our readers Whistleblower passed on Trafigura oil bribe invoice Proof of a $19,000 bribe to Frank Sammut for the supply of oil to Enemalta came into MaltaToday's possession from a source unconnected to politics A crucial piece of evidence that MaltaToday published to expose the bribery in Enemalta's procurement of oil, was not among a stash of court documents in a multi-million euro compensation case filed against oil trader George Farrugia by his brothers. The specific invoice – a $19,042 'consultancy fee' that Dutch commodities giant Trafigura had paid in 2004 into a Swiss bank account – was given to MaltaToday by the whistleblower on the Enemalta fuel procurement scandal. That company, established in Gibraltar, was Energy & Environment Consultants Ltd, whose beneficiary was Frank Sammut, at the time a con- sultant to Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone. The invoice's publication led to the arrest of Tabone, Sammut, and more importantly George Farrugia – the Trafigura agent who turned state's evidence in return for a presidential pardon. But Farrugia is now claiming that the system of bribes devised by him and Sammut was known to Manuel Mallia, the Home Affairs Minister, when in 2010 he was appointed as a lawyer by family business Powerplan to seek a resolution from Farrugia, then accused by his brothers of siphoning €40 million in oil commissions from the family business. Mallia has denied any knowledge of the bribes, but Farrugia claims that during meetings with him he was threatened that he would be reported to Frank Sammut the police unless he reaches a settlement. MaltaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan, who received the evidence of the bribe, has stated that Farrugia's comments to the PAC are leading the Opposition to surmise a political connection when MaltaToday broke the story. "In 'Saying it as it is', I write that the source of the oil scandal story had no political connection. I reiterate that the source is the most unlikely of sources, and in February, during the general elections, I confronted minister Austin Gatt during a press conference and denied that the Labour Party had passed on any documents to MaltaToday. Nobody should be obfuscating about this story. The source is unconnected to politics." At that time, it was not known that George Farrugia had donated €2,000 to Austin Gatt during the 2008 election campaign. Continues on pages 8-9 George Farrugia Aliyev applies for Cypriot citizenship Kazakh exile's name appears in mandatory newspaper ad for applicants for citizenship RAKHAT Aliyev, the former son-inlaw of Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbaev, has applied for citizenship in Cyprus, MaltaToday has learnt. The multi-millionaire exile has been living in Malta since 2010 and claims he is being hunted down by the Kazakh secret service he once headed. In August 2013, a government notice appearing in the Cypriot daily Simerini, brought to public notice that Aliyev – who lives in Malta under the surname of Shoraz – was applying for a Cypriot passport. It is the first confirmed information that Aliyev is trying to secure EU citizenship. Since Malta launched its own citizenship programme, the Individual Investor Programme (IIP), Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has gone on record stating in the House of Representatives that Rakhat Aliyev would not get a Maltese passport. It is ironic that while the IIP generated controversy for keeping secret the names of those who applied for naturalisation, Aliyev's name surfaces because under naturalisation rules in Cyprus, newspaper advertisements must be taken out in two consecutive publications to report that the applicant has filed an application for naturalisation. Lothar de Maiziere, a lawyer for two bodyguards who claim they were tortured and personally beaten by Aliyev to extract a forced confession, has told the Cypriot government to carefully consider its decision in granting citizenship to Aliyev "in the interests of European jurisprudence." "Rakhat Aliyev must face an independent court in one of the countries where investigations are already underway. He must be punished for his acts. The Republic of Cyprus must not, even unintentionally, enable the criminal proceedings and the punishment to be delayed even further," de Maiziere told the Cypriot home affairs ministry. Continues on page 5 Newspaper post MATTHEW VELLA