Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/470920
Newspaper post PHOTOGRAPH BY RAY ATTARD PAGE 3 & EDITORIAL PG 25 YOUR FIRST READ AND FIRST CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday SUNDAY • 1 MARCH 2015 • ISSUE 799 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY British Tory MP Zac Goldsmith INTERVIEW 14-15 British Tory MP WEALTH OF THE COMMONS Your free copy with MaltaToday March 2015- Issue 63 www.vida.com.mt The elusive six-pack Is it really worth it? Wildlife in Samburu National Reserve Cafe Premier owner's lawyer was Lands' consultant mt survey PG4 SHout challenges hunters to debates: 'stop hiding behind fancy facades' PG4 Hunters promise 'war' as Yes campaign is officially launched PG 14-15 Support for spring hunting falls by 10 points MATTHEW VELLA STEFANO Filletti, the lawyer rep- resenting Café Premier shareholder Mario Camilleri, was also a consult- ant for the Government Property Division at the same time that Cities Entertainment Ltd was negotiating with both the government, as well as entrepreneur Anglu Xuereb to sell their public lease on the Valletta cafeteria. Filletti – unavailable for comment until going to print yesterday – is f lagged by the NAO report into the €4.2 million government reacqui- sition of the Café Premier lease as having played an "ambiguous" role in the affair. The report shows that although the GPD, which paid Filletti a monthly €2,500 retainer until Janu- ary 2014, said the lawyer withdrew from the process in view of his con- f lict of interest, Filletti was actually involved at an advanced stage of the reacquisition. MaltaToday has established that in late June 2013, Cities Entertain- ment's co-shareholder, Neville Cur- mi, had reached a deal to sell the en- tire company to Anglu Xuereb's AX Holdings for €3.5 million. But on the day scheduled for the signing of the contract, Mario Camilleri failed to show up. The deal fell through. In the background, unbeknown to Curmi, Camilleri was negotiating with the OPM's advisor John Scib- erras, having in June 2013 been of- fered a handsome €4.2 million, net of capital gains tax, for the Café Pre- mier lease. The chronology clearly suggests that Camilleri was confident he would get a better deal from the government, and that he made an attempt to take over the entire com- pany before securing the deal. That's because after the Anglu Xuereb deal fell through, Camill- eri's brother Paul approached Cur- mi to take over his share of Cities Entertainment: on 1 August, 2013, Paul Camilleri informed him that he had resigned his directorship of the Camilleris' M&A Investments, and that he wanted to buy out Cur- mi for €150,000, freeing him of any liability. €1.40 PG 6 TAXMAN FILES €45,000 GARNISHEE ORDER ON DAPHNE CARUANA GALIZIA No camp surges with 7-point lead Back seat for Lino Farrugia? The hunters' lobby chief executive has been advised to place himself strategically away from the 'fresh-faced' front that the hunting fraternity is using for the Yes campaign