Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/979340
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 9 MAY 2018 News 2 THE ESSENCE OF TEA DISCOVER MORE AT NESTEA.COM NO ARTIFICIAL COLOURS & FLAVOURS NATURAL, REFRESHING & TASTY A NEW & IMPROVED FORMULA YANNICK PACE THE British Virgin Islands' Fi- nancial Investigation Agency (FIA) was investigating four companies set up by Nexia BT, through the corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca, back in 2016, according to the lat- est revelations from the Daphne Project. Correspondence between the FIA and Mossack Fonseca just after the Panama Papers were published shows the agency re- questing information on the companies Willbery Trade Inc., Colson Services Limited, Selson Holding Corp., and Lester Hold- ings Group Ltd. The companies are owned by Nexia BT manag- ing partner Brian Tonna, OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, his business associate Malcolm Scerri, and former Allied News- papers managing director Adri- an Hillman respectively. When MaltaToday contacted Tonna regarding the investiga- tion, and asked what the purpose and outcome of the investigation was, and whether other compa- nies set up by Nexia BT were in- vestigated following the Panama Papers leak, Tonna said he found out about the probe through yes- terday's media reports. "Prior to the publication of the article on the Times of Malta which you refer to in your email, I had no knowledge of investiga- tions being carried out by the BVI authorities, which should answer your first six questions," Tonna told MaltaToday. Regarding any other investiga- tions into companies set up by Nexia BT, Tonna said he was precluded at law from replying because this "would not only amount to the offence of tipping- off, but would also be in breach of my obligations of client confiden- tiality and professional secrecy". The leaked email was obtained by German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung and published yester- day in the Times of Malta. Both newspapers are partners in the Daphne Project. "The Financial Investigation Agency regards the informa- tion being requested below as relevant to the performance of its function under the Financial Investigation Act 2003 in rela- tion to the investigation of a fi- nancial offence including money laundering," Nizbeth Madur, a money laundering reporting of- ficer at the FIA wrote to Mos- sack Fonseca. The BVI agency requested in- formation on the companies' ultimate beneficial owners, reg- istered directors and sharehold- ers, due diligence records for the companies, as well as details of bank accounts or assets held by the companies, details of any connected companies, a copy of the companies' certificate of in- corporation, as well as details on any settlor or trustees. The ultimate beneficial owners of the companies became known after the Panama Papers – a cache of 11.5 million documents from corporate services provider Mossack Fonseca – were pub- lished at the start of April 2016. Keith Schembri reacts In a statement yesterday, Schembri referred to the story as "mostly recycled", adding that his company Colson had been incorporated "years" before his appointment as chief of staff. "[The story], probably inadvert- ently, confirms what I have been saying from the start regarding the commercial scope of my com- pany structures," Schembri said. "As the story itself implies, the competent authorities have looked into the structures and affairs. According to your [the Times of Malta] report, they found nothing to comment fur- ther about since then. In fact, this so-called two-year-old 'probe' was not even brought to my attention," Schembri said. He added that was the "proper function of rule of law, as com- pared to the Times' assumption of guilt by mere implication, which the same papers seem to want to desperately cling to". It remains unclear though, what the result of the BVI in- vestigation was and whether it formed part of a wider probe triggered by the Panama Papers on companies set up in the over- seas UK territory. In May 2017, then Opposi- tion leader Simon Busuttil had testified before magistrate Aar- on Bugeja, who is leading the Egrant inquiry, with informa- tion relating to the transfer of €100,000 from Willerby Trading Inc, which is owned by Tonna, to Schembri's bank account at Pila- tus Bank. A report by the Finan- cial Intelligence Analysis Unit had flagged the two transactions of €50,000 as suspicious. The implication was that the money from Tonna to Schembri was a kickback over the sale of passports to Russian individuals. The pair have denied the accusa- tion, insisting that the payments were in settlement of a private loan Schembri had given Tonna. Daphne Project: BVI investigated companies set up by Nexia BT for Maltese clients MATTHEW AGIUS A British man, visiting Malta for the recent Lost and Found dance party, has been remanded in cus- tody after 20 sachets of cannabis were found on his person and in his hotel room. Ryan Agdomar, 36, was arrested on May 5 in St Paul's Bay on sus- picion of drug trafficking and was arraigned yesterday. He denied charges of possession of cannabis resin in circumstances which de- noted it was not for his personal use. The sachets contained 65 grams of cannabis resin, which Agdomar told police he had bought to share with his friends. Nearly €2000 and £735 were also found in his posses- sion, which he said he had brought with him to help out a sick friend with spending money. Lawyer Alfred Abela requested bail, which Magistrate Marseanne Farrugia turned down due to the man's lack of ties to the island. Inspector Maurice Curmi pros- ecuted. magius@mediatoday.com.mt Lost and found visitor loses his freedom after drug find Ryan Agdomar, 36, was arrested on May 5 in St Paul's Bay on suspicion of drug trafficking Brian Tonna Keith Schembri