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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 20 AUGUST 2014 3 News Opposition demands Auditor General inquiry into Café Premier MATTHEW VELLA THE Opposition has asked Auditor General Anthony C. Mifsud to car- ry out an investigation into the €4.2 million paid out by the government to buy back a 65-year lease for the Café Premier in Valletta. In a letter signed by MPs Tonio Fenech, Claudio Grech, Kristy Debono, and Jason Azzopardi, the Nationalist Party said it wanted the Auditor General to investigate why €4.2 million was paid to Cities Entertainment for the government to acquire the lease. "The Auditor General must in- vestigate the reason for this acqui- sition and determine several facts in this case," the PN said. MaltaToday first revealed that the government had paid Cities Entertainment Ltd €4.2 million to buy back the 65-year lease for the Café Premier, when the company was facing a court action to pay €200,000 in rental arrears to the Lands Department. The money was then used, as agreed to in the deed of sale, for the company to pay back its gov- ernment dues – tax and utilities – as well as a €2.5 million bank loan and also €210,000 in a debt consti- tuted by one of Cities Entertain- ment's owners, for allegedly brok- ering the deal. "If the government wanted to genuinely acquire the premises, it could have easily asked the court for the rescission of the emphy- teutical contract and allow court procedures to carry on for the pay- ment of the arrears. It would have saved €4.2 million," the Nationalist MPs said in their letter to the Au- ditor General. The MPs have asked Mifsud to declare whether the decision to ac- quire the lease was value for money for the public; whether the princi- ples of good governance and trans- parency were followed; whether it was "ethical" to acquire the emphyteusis itself; whether gov- ernment procurement rules were followed; and whether the govern- ment procedure adopted was dis- criminatory, exposing the Lands Department to similar requests from lease-holders who would ex- pect "a bailout, as has effectively happened in this case." 'Amicable expropriation' The 'expropriation' amount also included a €210,000 payment for a company owner, who claimed the money as a 'debt' for having reached the deal. The deal was reached by Mario Camilleri, as a representative of M&A Investments – a shareholder in Cities Entertainment – and ar- chitect John Sciberras, a former director-general of the Lands Department who was medically 'boarded out' in 2008, but now serves as a consultant at the Office of the Prime Minister. Cities Entertainment were try- ing to sell off their government lease on the market due to busi- ness losses and outstanding rental arrears; but Camilleri was said to have reached an agreement with Sciberras to have the government take the premises back and cancel executive letters ordering Cities Entertainment to pay back its ar- rears. The Lands Department accepted to pay €4.2 million to Cities Enter- tainment to allow it to pay back all its dues to the State – rent, income tax, utility bills, VAT, even bank loan arrears – but also factored in a €210,000 payment for M&A In- vestments. The public deed for the compen- sation specifically outlined what the €4.2 million had to be used for: €307,346 to settle outstand- ing arrears with the government property division and €504,000 in capital gains tax owed on the land; €192,748 to the Inland Revenue De- partment to settle income tax and social security payments, €227,058 to the VAT Department on out- standing dues and legal procedures against the company, €130,963 in energy bills for ARMS; and €3,265 to creditors Golden Harvest. Finally, another €2,560,800 was to be paid to Banif Bank, in four instalments, in settlement of the outstanding bank loans that Cities Entertainment held with the bank. Gozitan priest charged with child abuse released on bail DANIEL MIZZI A young priest was yesterday al- lowed out on bail against "a hefty" personal guarantee and deposit af- ter pleading not guilty to charges of child molestation in what is under- stood to have taken place over sev- eral months and involved a number of minors. Standing before Magistrate Paul Coppini at the Gozo courts, the priest, whose name cannot be pub- lished by court order, appeared wearing casual clothes and a pair of f lip f lops after he was summonsed to court by arrest. The priest, believed to be in his early 40s, covered his face as he was taken in to court. At the start of the sitting, the priest's defence lawyer, Carmelo Gauci, requested that the case be heard behind closed doors, and al- most immediately, Magistrate Cop- pini upheld the request. Reporters and members of the media were subsequently ordered to leave the courtroom, and the court imposed the ban on publica- tion of the names of the priest and his victims. It is unclear whether the priest is being charged with rape and other sexual abuse offences. Sources close to the case told MaltaToday that a number of mi- nors, all girls, are victims of the al- leged abuse, and despite the court banning the publication of the name and details of the accused, the priest is "well known to Gozitan families." MaltaToday is informed that when the minors were approached for questioning, "they knew in- stantly on what and about whom they were being asked about", and that "the Gozitans know who he is." Moreover, sources said that due to the serious nature of the charg- es, "some witnesses, who are still young, are afraid to testify." The sitting was initially meant to be held today, but it is thought that the magistrate put the sitting forward by 24 hours after arguing that the prosecution had enough evidence to proceed. Sources told MaltaToday that the accused has been a priest for around 10 to 12 years and he was recently employed as a religion teacher at a boys' secondary state school in Hamrun. Moreover, sources alleged that "it was not the first time" that they saw the accused get into a boat together with "several Form 5 girls." At the end of the sitting, the priest was seen leaving the courtroom with his lawyer, and he did not cov- er his face in full view of journalists present. The accused then got into a white Toyota Yaris, covered his face with a sun shield, and sped off to avoid journalists and members of the me- dia. The decision to ban the publica- tion of proceedings, his name and names of the victims is in contrast to a decision taken by the Mal- tese courts last week when a court turned down a request by a Valletta man for his name not to be pub- lished. The man was accused of rap- ing and sexually abusing a minor. Inspector Sylvana Briffa is lead- ing the prosecution. This was the first arraignment of a priest on sex-related charges since November 2012 when God- win Scerri and Charles Pulis, for- merly members of the Missionary Society of St Paul, were sentenced to five and six years' imprisonment re- spectively for sexually abusing boys in their care at St Joseph Home in Sta Venera. Ironically, last week Gozo Bishop Mario Grech issued a pastoral letter on the "sexual gospel" and parents' responsibility in their children's sexual education. The Gozitan priest on his way out from court PHOTOGRAPHY BY RAY ATTARD

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