Claims against top Labour officials

Labour deputy leader Charles Mangion and MP Karmenu Vella last night faced accusations of making false declarations over income from rented property for several years.

During a news conference at the PN headquarters in Pietà, Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando told the media that a company in which the two MPs were involved, Mirca Properties Ltd, rented three apartments in Birżebbuġa to the Freeport for several years and made false declarations to the Malta Financial Services Authority and Inland Revenue Department.

In a statement, Dr Mangion and Mr Vella categorically denied the allegations and said they had declared and paid all tax that was due. The two MPs said they did not rule out taking action against the Nationalist MP.

During the press conference Dr Pullicino Orlando said that on January 2, 1995, Mirca Properties Ltd rented out three apartments to the Freeport Corporation for between €18,637 (Lm8,001) and €28,092 (Lm12,060) a year. The cheques that Mirca Properties Ltd received from the Freeport were signed and cashed.

Giving an example of one particular year, Dr Pullicino Orlando said that in the financial statements for 1997 registered at the MFSA, Mirca Properties declared it did not trade when the facts showed that it had received cheques for €22,054 (Lm9,468) and these were cashed. In the same period, the company declared an expense bill of €13,517 (Lm5,803).

During this period, Dr Pullicino Orlando said, both Dr Mangion and Mr Vella were ministers, and while one was now deputy leader, the other was a prominent MP. If Labour was elected, he said, both would be senior ministers in Dr Sant's Cabinet. When contacted after the news conference, Dr Mangion denied that Mirca Properties had made false declarations for tax purposes.

He said that everything was now up to date and if there had been an auditing mistake this had been corrected.

Although Dr Pullicino Orlando would not take questions after he made the press statement, he said, when contacted later, that he was willing to take the case to the Police Commissioner for investigations to be carried out.