Police are examining links between Julian Hofstra, the Dutch national connected to alleged recordings of Melvin Theuma, and former EU Commissioner John Dalli and his former aide Silvio Zammit, Lovin Malta can reveal. 

Well-informed sources have told Lovin Malta that Hofstra’s connections to Zammit and Dalli could relate to an investigation into an alleged €60 million bribe offer from a Swedish tobacco/Snus company linked to the two men. 

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.

Zammit has been facing criminal proceedings since 2012 over his alleged request for a bribe from snus manufacturer Swedish Match and the European Smokeless Tobacco Council, a lobby group, to help lift a ban on the chewable tobacco.

John Dalli was EU Health Commissioner at the time while Zammit was a close aide and canvasser. He was made to resign after OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Agency, said that he was aware that Zammit was name-dropping him in the illicit negotiations. Dalli has always denied wrongdoing – saying he never discussed money with Zammit.

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.

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.

A court has twice confirmed that Zammit’s human rights were breached because prosecutors refused to declare evidence closed.

Hofstra is currently linked to other cases in Malta. Lovin Malta has revealed that police and Fenech’s lawyers are scrambling to get their hands on new recordings where Theuma details the potential involvement of Schembri in the murder.

His expertise was allegedly also used by Melvin Theuma – in a phishing attempt of Yorgen Fenech.

Hofstra is currently in prison in the Netherlands over email scam. It remains to be seen whether he will be brought down to Malta over the issues.

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