Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/691413
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 JUNE 2016 6 News MIRIAM DALLI SIXTYTWO men and 16 women, aged between 16 and 41, were ar- rested by the police during last weekend's Earth Garden festival at Ta' Qali. The Police Force's communi- cations and media relations unit (CMRU) confirmed that 78 per- sons were arrested by the Drug Squad, where the absolute major- ity (66) were Maltese nationals. Other nationalities included Ital- ians, Spaniards, French, Swedes and Poles. The annual festival has become a veritable showcase of art, music and ecological awareness… but also attracts a sizeable number of police officers on the lookout for revellers who hit the limit. The CMRU would not disclose information "concerning its opera- tions", when asked how many of- ficers had been deployed to Earth Garden. Information provided by the CMRU shows that approximately, 52 grammes of cannabis grass, 54 grammes of cannabis resin, 26 units of cannabis joints, two ec- stasy pills, 2.3 grammes of pow- dered ecstasy and 1.05 grammes of cocaine were confiscated by the police. No other arrests were made for other offences. Following the operation, the police will be pressing charges against one Maltese national in court whilst the other 77 will be issued with charges under Chap- ter 537 of the Laws of Malta and will appear before the drugs court tribunal. The tribunal, presided by Com- missioner Victoria Scicluna, hears cases of possession of small quan- tities for personal use. The drugs reform depenalised simple possession, but drugs re- main illegal. This means that the police will still investigate anyone found in possession of drugs, ir- respective of the quantity or type. Anyone caught for the second time would be taken before the drug rehabilitation board. COURT NOTICE The Registrar, Civil Courts and Tribunals notifies that the First Hall of the Civil Court ordered the sale by Judicial Auction of the following property to be held in the corridors of the Courts of Justice, Republic Street, Valletta. Date and Time Judicial Sale No Property 23rd June 2016 35/16 – 11.30am Malag Enterprises Limited C14884 vs Duminku Cutajar et ID 910645M AZ Field measuring superficially approximately one thousand and four hundred (1,400) square meters situated in lands known as Ta' Sqaq Sejduna in Triq Gakbu Abela in the locality of Hal Mann limits of Hal Lija including cistern and three rural rooms adjacent existing building and accessible from rural road and common path with third parties valued at one hundred and eighty-five thousand euro (€185,000). Further details can be obtained from the website: http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/courtservices/JudicialSales/search.aspx The bidders taking part in the auction must present their identity card. Rudolph Marmara' For the Registrar of Civil Courts and Tribunals Malta in group of EU states that blocks tax reform – MEP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "For me the study of documents is impor- tant before actually summoning individuals, because I've seen a lot of parliamentary hearings that have been toothless," Giegold told MaltaToday. "You can only have a tough hear- ing if you have gathered all the knowledge beforehand. For me a parliamentary inquiry is not a show where you invite the most prominent witness just to get maximum media effect. But to es- tablish the effects of wrongdoing. So this is the second step, but of course, Mizzi should consider pre- paring for an invitation." Giegold says the Panama Papers committee is specifically inter- ested in learning more of the role of letterbox companies, as well as European banks and financial in- termediaries and their services in hiding beneficial owners. "The large number of letterbox companies in Malta is interesting. We want to know why, despite the obligations in the anti-money laundering directive (AMLD) since 2005. The European Com- mission and member states have remained idle on this matter." The MEP said the committee would research this aspect "sys- tematically", demanding data from the European Commission and member states, because hiding beneficial owners was contrary to the AMLD he insisted. "I don't call into question the right of member states to deter- mine their tax rates. But there is widespread use of letterbox companies just to hide their true beneficial owners," Giegold said, who also insists that German tax authorities are particularly con- cerned about Malta and Cyprus on this matter alone. "I know from the German tax authorities that this is a recurrent problem with Cyprus and Malta when it comes to letterbox com- panies and taxation dues in Ger- many. I would like to speak to my former colleague, Edward Scicluna to explain to me how a social dem- ocrat minister justifies such a sys- tem," he said of the former Labour MEP now turned finance minister. "The socialist family in Europe is proud to say it wants a common European tax base when in Malta there are special 'tax offers' for companies," Giegold said, refer- ring to Malta's rebate on tax for foreign shareholders, which can deliver an effective 5% tax rate. "It does not fit with a socialist finance minister. And we know Malta is part of a group of coun- tries that block regular tax re- forms." The European Parliament has agreed to set up an inquiry com- mittee into the Panama Papers revelations, of detailed informa- tion on offshore companies and their ultimate beneficiaries. The committee is to investigate alleged contraventions and malad- ministration in the application by the EU Commission or member states of EU laws on money laun- dering, tax avoidance and tax eva- sion. It will have 65 members and 12 months to present its report. The committee will also inves- tigate a potential breach of the duty of "sincere cooperation", a principle enshrined in the Treaty of the EU, by any member state that failed to take the appropriate measures to prevent the operation of vehicles that allow to hide their ultimate beneficial owners from financial institutions and other intermediaries, lawyers, trust and company service providers – including looking at the role of trusts, single-member private lim- ited liability companies and virtual currencies. On 3 April, the International Consortium for Investigative Jour- nalism (ICIJ) uncovered 11.5 mil- lion documents from Mossack Fonseca, a global law firm based in Panama. The documents revealed that Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Min- ister's chief of staff, Keith Schem- bri, opened two offshore compa- nies in Panama through Mossack Fonseca's agent in Malta, as well as two offshore trusts in New Zea- land; as well as having sought to open bank accounts in Panama to deposit some €800,000 annually. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has since faced two protests front- ed by the Opposition against cor- ruption, three confidence motions in parliament, and only 'demoted' Mizzi to a minister without port- folio, under his purview, while re- taining Schembri as chief of staff. German MEP Sven Giegold Earth Garden drugs raid: 77 face new tribunal, one in court Drug Quantity Cannabis grass 52 grammes Cannabis resin 54 grammes Cannabis joints 26 units MDMA (ecstasy) 2 pills 2.3 grammes Cocaine 1.05 grammes Drugs confiscated at Earth Garden