‘Should Developers Be The Recipient Of EU Farm Funds?’ Peter Agius Asks After Kurt Buhagiar’s Not Guilty Verdict
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has found the developer of the Corradino site that took the life of Jean-Paul Sofia not guilty of committing fraud of agricultural funds after he was reported by PN MEP Peter Agius.
Agius had claimed that Buhagiar was using €360,000 of EU agricultural funds to build a Naxxar Villa rather than a goat farm, however, the union’s funding authority refuted these claims after an investigation.
“I take note that OLAF found goats in Buhagiar’s farm with villa in ODZ AFTER my report,” Agius told Lovin Malta in a reaction to this news.
“The question we should all ask is whether a property developer with several industrial and residential projects should be the beneficiary of EU funds for farmers when hundreds of genuine applicants never get any funds?”
“A recent call for funding ended up with several farmers empty-handed while government agencies net five million in EU funding.”
The politician pointed out that Buhagiar was awarded the maximum funding in three monetary injections – €140,000, €135,000 and €65,000 – “for his private investment of a sheep farm with residence villa in an ODZ valley”.
Agius had previously claimed that ties between Buhagiar and the Maltese authority responsible for these funds allowed him to be granted that amount.
“The allegations on Buhagiar outed in the media and the Sofia inquiry months ago should have been investigated way back by Maltese authorities not only now after my initiative,” Agius continued.
In a letter addressed to Buhagiar, OLAF informed that he was found not guilty of fraud through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and no recommendations were issued.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Arthur Azzopardi assisted Buhagiar.
Do you think Buhagiar should have benefitted from this fund?
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