Yorgen Fenech, Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri, and corruption

1. Why did you personally order Konrad Mizzi’s €80,000 consultancy after his resignation in 2019? What obligations do you have towards him?

2. Do you think it is correct for a Prime Minister to have a strong friendship with a businessman like Yorgen Fenech? Do you not believe that a Prime Minister should keep business people at arm’s length?

3. You said that whoever does not fight corruption is corrupt. You said that you would have zero tolerance for corruption. However, your government and one particular Minister continued to grant direct orders to Nexia BT, the company that set up offshore Panamanian structures for Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri. What obligation do you have towards them? How did you let them continue operating within the government?

4. Did you ever ask Keith Schembri to explain the scope of business of his Panamanian company, before the reveal? And what happened after?

5. According to documents the company was set up for the “Provision of consultancy and management services”, while the primary source of income “will be in the form of consultancy services to various entities around the world.” Did you ever ask Schembri what services he was going to offer around the globe?

6. Another document revealed that the company was also meant to cover “Recycling”; “Remote Gaming”; infrastructure projects; maritime and fisheries; tourism”. Did you ask for an explanation from Schembri?

7. Schembri had been your Chief of Staff for roughly two years when he acquired Tillgate (the Panama company). In those two years, did Schembri ever tell you that he was planning to acquire the company and what business it would involve?

8. Later it was revealed that he attempted to open a bank account in Panama. Did you ever ask him why?

9. One document says that “it is envisaged that the company will start operating immediately.” Did you have any difficulties with your Chief of Staff operating a Panamanian company?

10. Another document says that millions were going to be deposited into the company ever year. Did you ever have an explanation which convinced you that this was not coming from dirty money?

11. In another document, Tillgate revealed that it was going to receive around two million dollars from 17 Black. Did you ever ask for an explanation?

12. Did you ever ask Schembri who was the owner of 17 Black or Macbridge? If not, can you explain why?

13. Once FIAU reports were leaked and magisterial inquiries were opened. did you ever ask Schembri for an explanation? Did you ever consider his resignation? Did your friendship remain the same despite the allegations?

14. After a press conference, you said that you never stopped Schembri from attending briefings on the case. Are we to understand that he attended until the last one? Didn’t you think that his friendship and business relationships with Fenech created a conflict of interest?

15. If you knew Schembri and Fenech were friends, why did you allow Schembri to attend MSS briefings that concerned Fenech?

16. On 26th November 2019, you released a statement after the reveal that Fenech implicated you in his police interrogation. Do you deny any involvement of the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia?

17. In the same statement, you claim that the day before you had received a threat that you would be implicated if you didn’t grant Yorgen Fenech a pardon, without mentioning the two phone calls you had together. Can you indicate what the threat was? And was this threat done by a known individual or was it done anonymously?

18. You’ve made various statements since, namely following claims that you asked Fenech whether Schembri featured in secret recordings. You have details on phone calls with Fenech and the number of times you met him. Did you do this because you thought he could implicate you?

Vitals Global Healthcare concession 

1. What was your role in the project to privatise the hospitals? Was this one of your electoral promises or did you become interested after the election?

2. When did you first meet Ram Tumuluri, Mark Edward Pawley, Ashok Rattehalli or other representatives from Portpool Investments Ltd, Bluestone Special Situation 4 Ltd, AGMC Incorporated?

3. Where did the meeting to the sign the MOU take place? Did you attend? If not, were you informed that this was happening? Who had to attend?

 (The NAO is informed that then-Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri)

4. What was your office’s role in these negotiations? Where minutes or records kept of these meetings? If not, can you explain why?

(The NAO report has said that the MoU was signed at OPM and that it played a crucial role in negotiations)

5. Was the project proposed by people within the government or was the government approached?

6. The memorandum of understanding was signed on 10th October 2014. Still, the Auditor General only received the copy on 14th July 2020. Why was the MoU not given the Auditor General when he first asked for it?

7. The MOU obliged the government not to enter negations on similar projects, the only exception being the government’s negations with Bart’s Medical School. How did the government already oblige itself to work with VGH before the request for proposals was even issued?

8. It appears that the conditions of the MoU were detailed and included obligations that go far beyond other agreements and involved construction and development. Doesn’t this show that the government was committed to VGH before the request for proposals was even published?

9. Did you ever meet Mohammad Shoaib Walajahi and Chaudhry Shaukat Ali of Pivot Holding Ltd?

10. Apart from the MoU signed on 10th October, were there other amendments?

(A November MoU indicated that AGMC Incorporated, Portpool Investments Ltd and Bluestone Special Situation 4 Ltd had entered into an agreement with the Government. However, in October the MoU listed Bluestone Special Situation 4 Ltd, AGMC Incorporated and Pivot Holdings Ltd (represented by Mr Mohammad Shoaib Walajahi and Mr Chaudhry Shaukat Ali)

(The November MoU also mentioned the acquisition of St Philip’s Hospital)

11. Where you ever presented a due diligence report on Tumuluri and others who signed the MoU? If so, who gave you the report?

(The government has refused to disclose the due diligence report carried out by Malta Enterprise)

12. Did the investors fail the due diligence report? If so, why did the government persist on negotiations with VGH?

13. Do you think that that signing MoUs well before a public call creates a lack of competition in the sector and an unethical situation?

14. The NAO said it has grave concerns over the design of the RFP and that it was created with a pre-determined outcome. What’s your reaction?

15. There were constant questions VGH throughout your tenure. Did you ever initiate an internal investigation about the allegations? Did you ever ask Keith Schembri or Konrad Mizzi to assure you that everything was fine?

Concession to transfer ITS land to DB Group 

1. What was your involvement in the transfer of land of the ITS site? Did you meet with the potential concessionaires for this massive project? It’s been said that you called Debono to speak to him about the project. Why did you feel the need to hold a meeting with him rather than the related minister?

2. Who was the OPM advisor who was a member of the RFP negotiation committee? What was the scope of OPM to be involved in this process?

3. Before the RFP was issued, there were plans and negotiations with ITS about the sale of the property. Where you involved in these discussions? Why did you, as Prime Minister, ask the ITS Chairperson to not speak to anyone about relocating ITS?

(The ITS Chairman told the NAO that he was instructed by Keith Schembri, Joseph Muscat, and then-Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis not to divulge any information regarding the project. The plans at the time were still at an early stage.)

4. Why did you put forward the decision to transfer the ITS land to Cabinet in May 2016 and the not the relevant minister?

5. The NAO report says that the project and the RFP were written by OPM. Did your office get involved in other projects? Who was employed in your office to look after these projects?

(Konrad Mizzi was ‘demoted’ to Minister without portfolio within OPM following the Panama Papers reveal. Still, he remained responsible for all private-public-partnerships and government deals.)

6. How can you explain the lack of documentation at the initial stages of the project?

Do you know who decided to dispose of the ITS site? The NAO has said it cannot trace what lead to this decision.

7. You attend negotiation meetings with Seabank along with the Deputy Prime Minister (Louis Grech) and Konrad Mizzi. Were you aware of every step of the project?

Henley and Partners and the IIP scheme

1. On 31st May 2017, Daphne Caruana Galizia published a series of emails between yourself, Christian Kalin of Henley and Partners, Keith Schembri, Jonathan Cardona, and Owen Bonnici, were legal procedures against the journalist and other media houses. One of them reads:

“Owen and Jonathan,

We have as agreed looked into the matter to threaten (and if needed action) a Defamation case against Jason Azzopardi and Daphne Caruana, and conclude that Henley & Partners UK Ltd would be the entity bringing such case forward.”

“The way we would do it is to send letters to these individuals by our UK lawyers, asking them politely but clearly to retract some of the statements against Minister Bonnici, against our firm and indirect statements talking about corruption of the IIP.”

You told them that you do not object. What led you and the Minister of Justice to discuss with Henley and Partners legal challengers against Caruana Galizia? Did you ask the Attorney General?

2. Can you explain why lawyers from Henley and Partners were tasked with defending you over the IIP scheme?

3. Can you explain your involvement, as Prime Minister, with a private company looking to start legal procedures against three media houses in Malta?

On Monday, Muscat’s right-hand man, Keith Schembri, will face the same inquiry board.

Schembri has been linked to the assassination ever since the arrest of Yorgen Fenech in connection to the murder.

Fenech has said Schembri was the real mastermind of the assassination plot, while several recordings of middleman-turned-state-witness Melvin Theuma have indicated that he was a major leak from the investigation.

Meanwhile, Theuma’s evidence box held a handwritten note naming Schembri as a co-conspirator and a photograph of the pair at Castille.

Schembri is currently out on police bail for two separate criminal allegations. The first involves kickbacks for Malta’s citizenship-by-investment scheme, the other is potential trading in influence and money laundering with Fenech. Schembri was most recently investigated just yesterday.

It could be Schembri’s way out of testifying. Persons under criminal investigation are allowed to refuse to answer questions in the public inquiry. Konrad Mizzi did the same when he appeared before the board.

Do you think Muscat should have answered the questions? Comment below