MP not under investigation, Gonzi insists

Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo is not being investigated by the police, whom he asked to investigate an e-mail, according to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

“I think (Mr Arrigo) did the right thing and seriousness now demands that we let the Police Commissioner investigate and draw his own conclusions. Then we’ll take it from there,” Dr Gonzi said yesterday.

MaltaToday had mentioned Mr Arrigo in connection with an investigation into football bribery.

Asked whether Dr Gonzi felt Mr Arrigo should resign his post as parliamentary assistant at the Finance Ministry in light of the police investigation, Dr Gonzi said MaltaToday’s allegations were “wrong”.

“Robert Arrigo went to the Police Commissioner himself with an e-mail containing allegations, which he felt should be investigated. So he is not being investigated but he went to the police on his own volition,” Dr Gonzi said.

Mr Arrigo made the same comments when contacted. “I’m not involved in any investigation. I’m not being investigated. I only passed on some e-mails I received to the Police Commissioner,” he said.

Mr Arrigo refused to elaborate when asked for details.

He would only say he had passed on some e-mails to the Police Commissioner for “his perusal”.

“I cannot say what they contain but I saw it fit to pass them on,” Mr Arrigo said.

Mr Arrigo is a former mayor of Sliema and a former president of Sliema Wanderers FC.

According to news reports, it was Nikki Dimech, also a former Sliema mayor and Mr Arrigo’s former protégé, who gave the police details of a fund allegedly used to bribe players.

When contacted, Mr Dimech refused to comment.

Questions on the matter sent to the police remained unanswered at the time of writing.