Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/897139
maltatoday SUNDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2017 News 13 MATTHEW VELLA ONE of several men accused in a corruption scandal on fuel bunkering, has launched a €25 million bond issue for his company Vir- tu Finance plc. Francis Portelli, one of the four former di- rectors of Island Bunker Oils (IBOL), faces charges of bribery in a case connected to the Enemalta oil scandal of 2013. IBOL has since been restyled as Valletta Bunkers Limited. The Virtu Finance prospectus specifically states that Portelli, a director of the guaran- tor and 50% shareholder of Virtu Holdings – the parent company of Virtu Finance – re- mains party in the criminal inquiry in court and that his personal assets remain under at- tachment, or frozen. "No assets of the Issuer, Guarantor or other companies forming part of the Virtu Maritime Group or of the Virtu Holdings Group, for that matter, are affected by the above-mentioned order relative to Portelli's personal assets, and therefore, the order will not impinge in any way on the assets of the Issuer or of the Guarantor," the prospectus reads. The company specifies that the allegations relate "to the set-up of IBOL at the time of the privatisation of Mediterranean Offshore Bunkering Co Ltd (MOBC). It has been al- leged that the simultaneous involvement of two other persons (not Portelli) in both companies gave rise to the offences con- templated in articles 120, 124 and 125 of the Criminal Code which refer to complicity in bribery and malversation, and article 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act which refers to money laundering offences." Virtu Finance claimed that no evidence of wrongdoing has been adduced against Por- telli, who, in these proceedings, has rebutted the allegations brought against him. "The Directors of the Issuer consider such ongoing proceedings not to adversely affect the financial position and financial pros- pects of the Issuer or of the Virtu Maritime Group… such proceedings do not have any prejudicial effect on the Guarantee provided by the Guarantor, of which Portelli is a di- rector." Francis Portelli and Anthony Cassar are charged with corruption and money laun- dering through their dealings in IBOL in a separate case to the oil corruption scandal. Virtu Finance's €25 million bond is- sue will be used for the part-financing of a €75 million acquisition of a new high- speed vessel to be used by Virtu Ferries in 2019 for the Malta-Sicily catamaran route. The remaining funds required for the ac- quisition of the new vessel will be financed through bank borrowings amounting to €40 million, €7 million in shareholders' loans to- gether with a further €3.45 million from own funds. When they were partners in IBOL, Frank Sammut, Tancred Tabone, Francis Portelli and Anthony Cassar all shared joint Swiss accounts through their mutual hold- ings in two shell companies, details from the Swissleaks investigation by the ICIJ had re- vealed. Sammut, a former director of the govern- ment-owned MOBC and charged with cor- ruption in the oil procurement scandal – set up two offshore companies in 2003 for for- mer Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone, Portelli and Cassar. Investigators told the court that IBOL set up specifically to "illegally drain money" from its competitor – the state-owned MOBC – and that Sammut and Tabone were silent partners in the venture, due to their blatant conflict of interest at MOBC and Enemalta. The alleged racket involved IBOL buying vessels and leasing them to MOBC at a con- siderable profit, instead of MOBC purchas- ing and operating the tankers directly. Bunkering bribery suspect launches €25m bond issue Francis Portelli (centre) with Anthony Cassar (right) emerging from court