Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/647574
WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post WEDNESDAY • 2 MARCH 2016 • ISSUE 458 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY EDITORIAL PAGE 9 MPs deny holding offshore trusts, companies MIRIAM DALLI ALMOST all members of parlia- ment have declared they do not own any offshore companies or entities, of which they are the ultimate ben- eficiary. In the wake of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi's admission to hold- ing an offshore trust in New Zea- land and an offshore company in Panama – the latter set to be closed after an audit – MaltaToday re- quested an individual declaration from each MP in the House of Rep- resentatives. The questions were also sent to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Opposition leader Simon Busuttil who both denied owning such fi- nancial vehicles. MaltaToday asked the elected members to declare whether they own – as ultimate beneficiaries – an offshore company or offshore trust, or a similar private foundation and business entity registered in an overseas tax jurisdiction. The Cabinet members and almost all backbenchers denied holding any offshore companies or trusts. No replies from Labour MPs Joe Debono Grech, Joseph Farrugia, Joe Sammut and independent MP Gio- vanna Debono were forthcoming by the time this article went to print. Independent MP Marlene Farru- gia also declared holding no such trusts or companies. The same email was sent indi- vidually to the Nationalist MPs, who opted to issue a joint statement through their party's director of in- formation, Matthew Bonett. Schembri: bribery suggestions 'malicious' Prime Minister's chief of staff confirms existence of Panama company MATTHEW VELLA THE Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, issued an emphatic rebuttal of suggestions put to him by MaltaToday that an offshore Panamanian firm he owns was opening him up to suggestions that such a vehicle could be used to receive income from undisclosed sources, such as bribes. Schembri confirmed the existence of the offshore company in Panama, as well as a trust in New Zealand, but has declined from furnishing any details on the offshore set-up. Schembri had a long career in his family's private business group Kasco, before joining Joseph Mus- cat to manage Labour's electoral campaign and finally becoming chief of staff in March 2013 – one of the most important positions in the government. But as the man who has the prime minister's ear, Schembri shot down suggestions by this newspaper that his offshore vehicle also gave rise to questions on Muscat himself. "There is a marked difference be- tween speculation and facts, and your insinuations are malicious and untruthful," Schembri told Malta- Today. Energy and Health minister Konrad Mizzi has declared he will close down an offshore company in Panama, Hearnville Inc., which was set up for him by a firm related to Mossack Fonseca, a legal firm in Panama that has attracted notoriety for clients associated with money laundering and dirty cash. Panama was until recently on a European Commission blacklist for tax havens, since 1927 having amassed a redoubtable collection of banking secrecy laws that give com- pany owners confidentiality, hiding behind complex business structures and nominee directors. Mizzi's Panamanian firm is owned by another company, Orion Trust Ltd, which acts as the trustee for his New Zealand trust, Rotorua. The minister has said he will sub- mit his Panamanian firm to an au- dit before dissolving it. PAGE 7 PAGE 6 Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is facing the biggest crisis to hit his government since it took power in 2013. In this file photo, he is coincidentally seated at a meeting of EU, Latin American and Caribbean states during which Malta was seated next to Panama Tonio Fenech says Mizzi should have registered trust with Inland Revenue TIM DIACONO NATIONALIST MP Tonio Fenech has told Parliament that Konrad Mizzi was re- quired at law to inform the Commissioner for Inland Revenue of his New Zealand trust within 30 days of its set- ting up. MaltaToday filed a Free- dom of Information request last week to confirm whether Mizzi's trust was registered with the CIR as laid down in the Income Tax Management Act. Article 24(B) states that "where the settlor of a trust is a person resident in Malta, and none of the trustees of such trust is a person resi- dent in Malta; and property is settled into such trust… the said settlor shall inform the Commissioner of the prop- erty so settled together with a copy, where applicable, of the relevant trust instrument or of any other document evi- dencing the existence of such trust. This information shall be submitted to the Commis- sioner by not later than thirty days from the date of the rel- evant settlement." Speaking during his parlia- mentary adjournment, the former finance minister said that the law stated that any settlor who fails to provide such details was guilty of an offence under the act. But Fenech said that Mizzi's failure to come forward with such a seminal piece of infor- mation on his offshore trust. "Had he filed this document, Mizzi would have published it right away. PAGE 6