Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/594552
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2015 6 News CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 But only last Thursday in a dra- matic speech in the House, Cassar claimed that it was Joe Gaffarena who insisted on installing a CCTV security system at his house. "He would always tell me that I lacked security cameras around my house, sending shivers down my wife's spine," Cassar said. "Months later I found somebody outside my house installing them." Cassar used his speech to hit out at the embattled parliamentary secre- tary for lands Michael Falzon, under whose tenure Gaffarena's son Marco was granted a controversial €1.65 million expropriation for a Valletta property, which is now under inves- tigation by the National Audit Of- fice. His speech was informed by news published on Wednesday by MaltaToday, in which this news- paper reported Cassar's admis- sion that he had been 'sold' a car by Joe Gaffarena in 2012, which he set off against a €1,000 dona- tion to the PN. While Labour accused Cassar of breaching ministerial ethics by not declaring the gift, Cassar asked the Speaker of the House for "pro- tection" after oddly claiming that the car he had been 'sold' was part of a "frame-up" orchestrated by Labour. Vehicle sold in wake of expropriation scandal Earlier this week, Cassar told Mal- taToday that he set off the acquisi- tion of a second-hand vehicle in 2012 against a €1,000 donation to the Na- tionalist Party. Cassar claimed the vehicle was for his daughter's 18th birthday, and that he decided to purchase it from Joe Gaffarena out of compassion for his financial troubles, which had worsened after in 2008 he was re- fused a MEPA permit to sanction an abusive extension of his J.Gaff petrol pump station in Qormi. But MaltaToday is informed that the vehicle, a 2001 Peugeot 307 XS 2.0 HDi, was registered in Cassar's wife's name on 20 March 2012. On the other hand, the receipt for the €1,000 donation Cassar gave to the PN shows that the donation was made almost a year later, on 9 Feb- ruary 2013. Cassar also refused to provide any more information on the value of the vehicle as it was insured, and whether his family was still in pos- session of the car. "I have noth- ing more to add to the detailed explanation I gave in Parliament [on Thursday], during which I explained the frame up which was done against me. 24 hours later, I am still waiting for the Labour Party to reply to my questions," Cassar told MaltaTo- day on Friday. MaltaToday has learnt however that 31 May • The Sunday Times reveals that Joe Gaffarena's son Marco Gaffarena [pictured] was paid €1.65 million in a land and cash expropriation, for just a 50% stake in the Old Mint Street building that houses government offices for the Building Industry Consultative Council. The expropriation was controversial because Gaffarena originally took ownership of 25% of the building in 2007 for just €23,294 – and was compensated €822,500 in cash and lands in January 2015. But in February 2015 he had also managed to purchase another 25% portion of the building for €139,762, and was paid another €822,500 in lands and cash in April 2015. • Prime Minister Joseph Muscat orders an inquiry by the Internal Audit and Investigations Department, while the PN request an investigation by the National Audit Office and demand the resignation of Michael Falzon. 4 August • In an affidavit, Joe Gaffarena says former health minister Joe Cassar set up a meeting for him with Simon Busuttil "to bring all papers" related to the Daewoo scandal that also implicated Nationalist persona non grata John Dalli. Busuttil denied requesting the 2012 meeting in which Gaffarena was said to have expected a permit for the Qormi petrol station could be issued in exchange for files related to the Daewoo scandal. Busuttil denies the allegations and files four libel suits against l-Orizzont newspaper. • Gaffarena also claimed that Michael Fenech Adami – former Birkirkara mayor and Beppe Fenech Adami's brother – visited him at the petrol station and asked for €1,500 in adverts on Net TV. 25 October • MaltaToday reveals that an inquiry by the OPM's internal audit and investigations department (IAID) has found that lands granted to Gaffarena as payment for the Valletta property expropriated from him, was in excess of a legal 30% ceiling which such land valuations cannot exceed. 27 October • In a press conference where they are asked over the consequences of the IAID inquiry's findings on Marco Gaffarena, Cassar tells MaltaToday that any donations he might have received from the Gaffarenas were against a receipt issued by the Nationalist Party. His answer came in reply to questions over MPs' association with Gaffarena, after MaltaToday broke news on Sunday that an IAID inquiry had found land values for the expropriation of Gaffarena's land by the Government Property Department had been "illegal". "The question you should be asking is not what I received from Gaffarena but what he received in Timeline From Old Mint Street's expropriation scandal to Gaffarena's undeclared gifts Joe Gaffarena paid €8,150 bill Joe Cassar alluded in parliament that Joe Gaffarena had 'no juridical relationship' to his house Proof of payment: A receipt from Devlands Limited shows that the company carried works on Joe Cassar's Rabat Road/High Street residence in Dingli to the total of €8,150 which were however paid by Joe Gaffarena in 2011 (pictured right at the J.Gaff petrol pump station in Qormi, which his family owns); and below, a photograph of the receipt for the €1,000 donation Cassar gave to the PN in February 2013 for having 'acquired' a Peugeot 307 a year earlier in 2012 from Joe Gaffarena. The car was sold earlier this summer. Michael Falzon