Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/404410
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2014 News 7 MATTHEW VELLA THE Madliena mansion where exiled Kazakh multi-millionaire Rakhat Ali- yev was living while staying in Malta, had been the property of the Nation- alist Party's head of finance commis- sion, Ray Bugeja. MaltaToday has learned that entre- preneur Ray Bugeja, 63, sold his villa 'L'Etoile' in Triq Fomm il-Gheliem, on High Ridge, for the sum of €3,492,000 to Ganado Trustees & Fiduciaries in Novem- ber, 2011. Two weeks ago, 'L'Etoile' was searched by police from the Eco- nomic Crimes Unit over money laundering claims implicating the Aliyevs, after the Maltese courts imposed a wide-ranging asset freeze on Aliyev's interests over here. Aliyev is currently be- ing held under arrest in Austria, where he vol- untarily turned himself in after leaving Malta. Bugeja made an outside bid for the leadership of the Nationalist Party in 2013, and then was fielded as a Euro- pean Parliament candidate in 2014: he turned out to be the biggest spend- er during the electoral campaign, with €18,442 claimed in expenses which included big parties for constituents, a video production, cakes, lunches, and the usual advertising and print- ing expenses – just €200 short of the €18,600 limit for candidate spending. At the time of the house sale, Rakhat Aliyev and his wife Elnara Shorazova were already living in Malta, hav- ing fled from Austria after a Vienna prosecutor started investigations into an alleged double-murder commis- sioned by the former deputy head of the Kazakh secret service. MaltaToday can also confirm that up until February 2014, Ganado Trus- tees & Fiduciaries had a legal relation- ship with Aliyev, having acted as a nominee shareholder for an Aliyev company, Olympia Yachting Limited. Olympia Yachting had been one of several companies owned by the Aliyevs that were the subject of an as- set freeze requested by the Attorney General earlier this year. A credit search carried out yesterday however shows that Ganado Trustees no longer appear as shareholders in Olympia Yachting. The police conducted an inventory of Aliyev's belongings found in the villa in Madliena where he was liv- ing. He is believed to own a host of properties around Malta, where some of his companies are registered, in- cluding apartments at Pendergardens in St Julian's and Fort Cambridge in Sliema. His lawyer, Joe Giglio, was recently appointed to head a Nationalist Party forum on home affairs policy. His law firm houses a company be- longing to Elnara Shorazova, which was allegedly part of a money laun- dering network in a report presented to the Attorney General by Berlin lawyers Danckert Spiller Richter Bär- lein, acting on behalf of the Kazakh ministry of justice. According to the investigation, Ali- yev's A & P Power Ltd was used by Shorazova to transfer €2.4 million from Austria to Malta. The company was renamed Zurich Asset Manage- ment, and is now seated at the ad- dress of Iuris Advocates. Iuris Fiduciary owns a 1% share- holding in Zurich Asset Management, while Iuris Management is listed as the director of the company: in both Iuris firms, Joe Giglio's wife Jeanine has a 50% shareholding. cost of keeping MPs happy PN's Bugeja sold €3.5 million villa where Aliyev lived they can still practise their profes- sion while earning two or three extra salaries. With an unprecedented major- ity of nine seats, Muscat went on to appoint a large Cabinet, with the executive currently consisting of 14 ministers and eight parliamentary secretaries. Furthermore, nine backbench- ers were appointed to government boards or as consultants, with at least two of them being better paid than Muscat himself. The Prime Minister's salary is based on 125% of Salary Scale 1 and adding the €7,000 car allowance Muscat receives, his wage packet amounts to around €58,500. Ministers have their salary set at 110% of Salary Scale 1 (€45,329) while parliamentary secretaries get €43,269. But two Labour MPs – Silvio Schembri and Carmelo Abela – out- do Muscat and the rest of the minis- ters in monetary terms. 29-year-old Schembri is the gov- ernment's youngest MP and highest earner, with his wage packet hover- ing around the €65,000 mark thanks to his role as consultant to economy minister Chris Cardona and chair of the Parliamentary Economic and Fi- nancial Affairs committee. Abela comes in second, thanks to the €30,000 salary for his role as "government spokesperson", over and above his €30,906 parliamentary honorarium as government whip. Other high earners on the govern- ment backbenches are former minis- ter Charles Buhagiar and Mosta MP Anthony Agius Decelis. Buhagiar, who served as Infrastruc- ture Minister in Alfred Sant's admin- istration, earns more than current ministers despite being excluded from the Cabinet. Apart from man- aging a private architecture firm, the MP serves as chairman of the Build- ing Industry Consultative Council, for which he earns €29,100. Moreo- ver, Muscat has appointed Buhagiar as his consultant on large projects. Buhagiar's earnings reach at least €49,705 but his wage packet has never been determined since the Of- fice of the Prime Minister has never divulged his salary as consultant, de- spite repeated questions by the op- position and the media. Agius Decelis, an electrocardi- ographer by profession, is another backbencher who earns more than government ministers after being appointed as Commissioner against Bureaucracy, a full-time post previ- ously occupied by parliamentary secretary Michal Falzon, earning an extra €30,000 a year over and above his MP and parliamentary commit- tee chairman salary. MP self-declared philanthropist Silvio Parnis' salary is a mere €1,000 less than that of a parliamentary secretary since he is paid an extra €15,000 for chairing a council for the South of Malta and the Parlia- mentary Bills Committee. Former Hamrun mayor Luciano Busuttil earns a handsome €44,880 for his role as MP, chairman of the European Affairs committee and his extra-parliamentary job as head of the Malta Sports Council. Family doctor Deo Debattista also earns an extra €13,761 for his role as Occupational Health and Safety Authority chairman over and above his salary as MP and chairman of the European Cultural Capital par- liamentary committee. 75-year-old Joe Debono Grech, who is the longest-serving MP in the current legislature, was recruit- ed as a consultant with a salary of just under €12,000. Three other backbenchers, Etienne Grech, Marlene Farru- gia and Deborah Schembri, serve as chairpersons of parliamentary committees, a role which is stipu- lated by parliamentary rules. Apart from his MP salary, back- bencher Joe Sammut receives a €2,577 remuneration for represent- ing the government on the Malta Environment and Planning Au- thority. Only four backbenchers do not have an extra-parliamentary role, including newly-elected European Commissioner Karmenu Vella, who has yet to give up his seat in parliament. The others are former Enemalta chairman Charles Man- gion, who was only elected in April to replace Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca when she became Malta's head of state, and former Cabinet members Godfrey Farrugia and Franco Mercieca who returned to the backbench and their medical professions after stepping down from the cabinet. jbalzan@mediatoday.com.mt The Building Industry Consultative Council (BICC) The selected candidate will be expected to enter a contract for twelve months as a full time Project Officer with the BICC on a European Regional Development Fund Project under Operational Programme I, Investing in Competitiveness for a Better Quality of Life, Informative Online Tool and Helpline for Green Building Technology. Applications for the above vacancy should be sent in a sealed envelope addressed to: The Executive Chairman Building Industry Consultative Council, Building Research Centre, 36, Old Mint Str, Valletta. VLT 1514 Closing date: Friday 7th November 2014 Post of Full Time Project Officer with the BICC ERDF Project Informative Online Tool and Helpline for Green Building Technology Applicants preferably need to have a first degree in architecture or engineering. MINISTRY FOR SOCIAL DIALOGUE, CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES BARRIERA WHARF, VALLETTA, MALTA Operational Programme I – Cohesion Policy 2007 – 2013 Investing in Competitiveness for a Better Quality of Life Project part-financed by the European Union European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Co-financing rate 85% EU Funds; 15% National Funds Investing in your future Silvio Schembri Silvio Parnis MP Salary House duties Govt. appointment Silvio Schembri € 65,285 MP and Committee chairman Ministerial consultant Carmelo Abela € 60,168 MP and Labour Whip Government spokesperson Joseph Muscat € 58,511 N/A Prime Minister Anthony Agius Decelis € 57,115 MP and Committee chairman Anti-bureacracy commissioner Charles Buhagiar € 49,705 MP Ministerial consultant Ministers (14) € 45,329 N/A Ministers Luciano Busuttil € 44,880 MP and Committee chairman Chair Malta Sports Council Parl. Secretaries (8) € 43,269 N/A Parliamentary Secretaries Silvio Parnis € 42,087 MP and Committee chairman Chair Council for the South Deo Debattista € 40,761 MP and Committee chairman OHSA chairman Joe Debono Grech € 32,604 MP Ministerial consultant Committee chairs (3) € 26,785 MP and Committee chairman N/A Joe Sammut € 23,181 MP Govt representative MEPA MPs (4) € 20,064 MPs with no appointments Property smart: Bugeja (left) and Aliyev (right)