Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/448091
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 JANUARY 2015 8 News GODWIN Sant, who served as Di- rector for Energy Regulation and lat- er as chief officer energy policy at the Malta Resources Authority under the previous administration, accept- ed gifts from oil giant Trafigura at oil trader George Farrugia's request. Sant was a director at the state reg- ulatory body that was responsible for overseeing that fuel specifications of imported oil were according to strict tender requirements. Throughout his tenure at the MRA, he kept a close relationship with oil trader George Farrugia and also ac- cepted a gift from Trafigura. MaltaToday is revealing that in April 2009, George Farrugia made arrangements for Godwin Sant to receive football tickets in the UK from Trafigura as a gift. Apart from the suspicious informality, the very fact that a regulator was keeping close contact with the Trafigura and TOTSA agent, raises many serious questions. Farrugia had told the Maltese po- lice in 2013 that he had no further backhand dealings to report on for the period after 2005, and that he had told them everything he knew. He was committed to reveal all that he knew after being given a presiden- tial pardon to do so. Godwin Sant, who held the very senior position of regulator, kept a very close relationship with George Farrugia, even furnishing him with details of other developments related with what was taking place under the umbrella of the energy portfolio at the Malta Resources Authority. The new information is being produced exactly two years since MaltaToday first broke the story on commissions Trafigura had paid to the former MOBC head Frank Sam- mut, which led to a police investiga- tion into former Enemalta officials and a presidential pardon granted to George Farrugia. But emails published today show that Farrugia's secretive dealing with government officials continued well after 2005, when the kickbacks he allegedly paid to Enemalta officials had stopped. Undoubtedly, the rev- elations could have implications on the conditional presidential pardon that Farrugia has enjoyed since Feb- ruary 2013. Godwin Sant's relationship with George Farrugia is revealed in a number of emails in 2009. In the email George Farrugia arranges for football tickets for Godwin Sant dur- ing a stay by the latter in London. George writes to Trafigura on 6 April, 2009: "Hi Samantha, please note that my friend Godwin Sant will be at the fol- lowing address from the 6th April. Could you please send the tickets to his hotel PLEASE. Thanks and Re- gards, George Farrugia." Previously Godwin Sant had emailed to George Farrugia: "Hi George, the above is the hotel, we will be in from the 16th till 22nd April. I would prefer if we put our mind at rest before, as we are really looking forward for the match of the 21st. :-) Thanks again, Regards, Godwin." This is the first time that proof has come to light of a gift from the oil company to a public official. Writing back, Kate Brett of Trafigura emails to Godwin Sant in his gmail account and tells him: "Dear Godwin, I need to post the tickets mentioned in the email chain to you today urgently. I've called the hotel to find out your room number to ensure the envelope gets to you and the hotel don't have reference of your name. What name will your hotel reservation be under? Thanks, Kate Brett, Trafigura Ltd." Other emails Godwin Sant's friendship with George Farrugia continues to surface in other emails. He is copied in pro- posals for meetings with suppliers, including a meeting with Tenesol and Solar Total. And in another email he keeps George Farrugia posted of what is happening in the energy sector by copying internal mail from the Malta Resources Authority. He sends his personal electronic mail to George Farrugia via gmail. No comment – Franco Debono Asked to comment on the news that George Farrugia could have still been involved in giving questionable gifts to crucial government directors, the legal counsel to George Farrugia, Franco Debono, said he could not comment at this stage. When news broke of the oil scan- dal in 2013, weeks later Farrugia was granted a controversial presidential pardon on condition that he would reveal all details of fraud, bribery and kickbacks. His testimony to the police gave the impression that any illicit dealings stopped in 2005 as soon as former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone – accused of bribery alongside con- sultant Frank Sammut – stopped serving as chairman at Enemalta. Police investigators did not look further than 2005. Their investiga- tions led to the prosecution Tabone, Sammut, and other Enemalta offi- cials. All of them deny the charges, except for Sammut. Farrugia is said to have paid Sam- mut and Tabone 'commissions' on the sale of Trafigura or TOTSA fuel consignments to state energy corpo- ration Enemalta; but after stepping down as chairman in 2005, Farrugia won 16 lucrative oil contracts up un- til 2010, compared to three before that period. Tabone was later re- placed by Alex Tranter as Enemalta chairman, up until 2010. But it was George Farrugia himself, in his testimony with the police and with the public accounts committee, who said that kickbacks stopped with Tancred Tabone's term at Enemalta. Confirming fuel specifications One of the more important ele- ments in the tendering process, which was completely ignored in po- lice investigations, was the job of the Malta Resources Authority in serv- ing as an overseer in the fuel specifi- cations of the imported oil. The MRA would subcontract a private company to take samples of the oil and report to it the findings it made. Tenderers such as Trafigura were expected to respect the speci- fications, but the final word about whether the specifications were be- ing adhered to was that of the Malta Resources Authority. When specifications were found to be too high in sulphur content, the oil company was expected to address the matter by blending the oil – a procedure that was very expensive to carry out and considered to be a huge expense by the oil companies. Godwin Sant's situation placed him in the sensitive position of oversee- ing that the fuel specifications pro- tocol was adhered to. And in many cases, Trafigura and other compa- nies depended on the verification of the specifications to make a sale. Trafigura was renowned for being off the mark in fuel specifications in many other countries. At Enemalta, Trafigura won many contracts based on the presumption that it was sup- plying a low sulphur fuel. Chats on sulphur content The importance given to specifica- tions was mostly related to sulphur content as can be seen in the chats that took place between George Far- rugia and Nicolas Vernerey from Totsa, another oil trading compa- ny, in 2010. The chats show clearly Vernerey's concern about the fuel specifications and low sulphur con- tent and at one point Vernerey tells George Farrugia: "need the low sul- phur one," and later asks him: "you don't have a guy inside." Farrugia answers "yes." It is not clear who this guy could be. Earlier in other chats he discusses the preparation of tenders and even tells Vernerey: "Going to meet the person I told you at 1 for 15 min as he had to go for a funeral." Cathy Farrugia's role What was unknown as this time was that George Farrugia was Oil, the Maltese saying goes, always comes back up to the surface – as emails exclusively obtained by MaltaToday show that George Farrugia's cosy relationships with government officials persisted after 2004. By SAVIOUR BALZAN Emails which show the correspondence between Trafigura, Godwin Sant and George Farrugia on the football tickets that were delivered to Sant's hotel room Cosy relationship between regulator and George Farrugia