WATCH: Konrad Mizzi: ‘Please Have Some Patience, Inquiry Will Clear Me And Reveal All’
Responding to questions at a press conference for the first time in several months, Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said ongoing criminal inquiries will clear him of wrongdoing, denied having any knowledge of the two companies listed as his target clients and turned his guns on PN leader Adrian Delia.
“I have already undergone more scrutiny than any other Maltese politician ever,” Mizzi said. “As I have always said, all allegations against me of corruption and money laundering are false.”
Although the Dubai companies 17 Black and Macbridge were listed by Nexia BT as target clients for his Panama company, Mizzi insisted he had absolutely no relationship with them and has no idea who owns them. He refused to verify or contradict reports that 17 Black belong to Tumas Group CEO Yorgen Fenech, only insisting that he had never received or had any intention of receiving money from the businessman.
He also refused to state why he hasn’t sued Nexia BT for misrepresentation, requesting the press to “have some patience because I’m sure the truth will emerge from the inquiry”.
“You had the same confirmation in terms of documentation with regards Egrant but the magisterial inquiry proved otherwise. Have some patience and wait for the inquiry because it will clear everything up.”
In an interesting move, Mizzi also urged the press to scrutinise Opposition leader Adrian Delia over allegations, published by murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, that he had used a Jersey bank account to launder money from a Soho prostitution ring.
“Why don’t you apply the same rigour on Adrian Delia? He occupies a crucial constitutional role and wants to become Prime Minister but he has these serious accusations hanging over his head,’ he said. “A letter has been published which shows he had received €20,000 a month for three to four years and that this money was associated with prostitutions. Instead of taking these accusations seriously, he retracted the libel cases he had opened.”
Delia had sued Caruana Galizia several times in relation to the Soho accusations but he retracted them the day after she was killed in a car bomb last year.
Mizzi called the press conference to discuss a 500-page report by the National Audit Office into the Delimara power station. The investigation found a number of compliance and procurement concerns, but Mizzi said a lot of the these shortcomings were administrative and contestable.
“The report completely rubbishes the Opposition’s allegations that this was a corrupt project,” he said. “The project was well-structured and one of good practice, bid parameters were met, criteria were clear and objective and the process was transparent throughout.”
“This project was trusted by the people, the European Commission, several banks and the private sector and this report is another feather in its cap.”
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