Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi yesterday told The Malta Independent that he paid Nexia BT for its services, which advised him to setup his New Zealand Trust and to acquire a Panama company.
"Obviously there are commercial rates which would be invoiced for such processes," he said.
Asked whether he would be willing to publish the VAT receipts, the Minister said – "Obviously when the process is completed. These are private transactions and I will conform with the law."
The whole scenario came to the fore just before Minister Mizzi was elected as PL Deputy Leader. Blogger and Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia initially revealed that the trust set up in New Zealand by Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi contained a shelf company which has been registered in Panama.
Minister Mizzi eventually began to reveal information about the Trusts involved as well as the company. The Minister later announced he will no longer keep the Panama company after an audit of his holdings is complete. This came after a week of heavy scrutiny from the press as well as the Opposition on the matter. He has also told sections of the press that he has no intentions of resigning.
He said, on a number of occasions, that the Trust did not hold any funds or assets.
No conflict of interest
The Minister however, does not believe a conflict of interest exists, given that, according to reports, Nexia BT has been given a number of consultancy contracts by Ministries.
"Nexia BT will not be my Trustees and are not my Trustees. You already know who my trustees are as they were published. Nexia BT were simply intermediaries which provided support in setting up the structure and provided advice on how the structure would be set up".
He said he does not know Mr Brian Tonna's (Nexia BT's Managing Partner) official position within the Office of the Prime Minister.
Asked whether he will open another company elsewhere, and if yes where, Minister Konrad Mizzi said he has declared everything and disclosed everything to journalists. "I've also submitted myself to a tax audit which no other member of Parliament has ever done. Even though I did everything correctly, I felt that since there are a number of people who feel that I should have a structure elsewhere and not in Panama, I decided to close down the Panama company only after the audit is complete. At that point, we will make a decision and it will be public".
It has also been alleged that the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, also owns a company in Panama. Questions were sent to Mr Schembri a few days ago, however these have not yet been answered. Questions had also been sent twice to Dr Mizzis' Office, but he answered questions when we doorstepped him outside parliament last night.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/1QKskgD
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