Former EU Commissioner John Dalli has lost an appeal before the EU courts over his removal from the role following the snus tobacco scandal. 

In 2010, Dalli was appointed to the role of EU Commissioner for Health. He was removed from the role following a report by OLAF, the EU’s anti-fraud agency, which raised concerns that Dalli had requested money from the snus tobacco lobby, which had been banned in the EU. 

OLAF claimed that Dall was aware that aide Silvio Zammit was name-dropping him in the illicit negotiations. Dalli has always denied wrongdoing – saying he never discussed money with Zammit.

Dalli had requested €1 million in compensation for the termination. However, the court ruled that Dalli failed to provide the necessary proof to evidence he was wrongfully terminated.

Peter Paul Zammit, who was Police Commissioner at the time, has claimed that he stopped a planned prosecution of Dalli by his predecessor John Rizzo because there was a lack of evidence.

Zammit has been facing criminal proceedings since 2012 over his alleged request for a bribe.

The AG has so far refused to close the compilation of evidence against Silvio Zammit, with crucial witness Inge Delfosse refusing to testify out of fears that she may incriminate herself. Delfosse was an employee with snus producer Swedish Match.

Most recently, the pair have been linked to the case involving Julian Hofstra, a Dutch national who claims to be linked to major crimes in Malta.

Hofstra allegedly first met with Zammit by the end of 2015, at the Maltaco offices in Sliema, when he was around 16 years old. Hofstra was on the run in Malta over his involvement in an email marketing affiliate scam.

Sources claimed that Zammit and Dalli could have made contact with Hofstra to make use of his expertise. Sources said that Hofstra assisted in changing timestamps of email exchanges that took place between 2013 and 2015.

When contacted by Lovin Malta, Zammit outright denied the claims, insisting he did not know the individual. However, when talking to Malta Today, Zammit confirmed that he did in fact know Hofstra.

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