More e-mails show Zammit chased the snus lobbyists
Former EU Commisioner John Dalli
The Wall Street Journal has published details from an e-mail exchange showing Silvio Zammit, the middleman at the centre of Dalligate, pursued the European Smokeless Tobacco Council (Estoc) and offered them his “lobbying” services.
Details from this correspond-ence between Mr Zammit and the smokeless tobacco lobbyists support what tobacco producer Swedish Match told The Times.
It is another twist in the affair, which last week saw European Commissioner John Dalli step down after an investigation by the EU anti-fraud agency OLAF linked him to a bribe request by his former canvasser and former Sliema deputy mayor Mr Zammit.
Mr Zammit allegedly asked snus manufacturer Swedish Match for €60 million in return for influence on legislation in Mr Dalli’s port-folio. OLAF claimed it had circumstantial evidence showing Mr Dalli knew about this request.
Both men deny the claims.
The e-mail exchange between Mr Zammit and the Estoc secret-ary general, Inge Delfosse, started on March 8, according to The Wall Street Journal, following an initial verbal contact.
“Following a first exploratory meeting with the relevant Maltese liaisons, I can propose the following package of services which we can discuss further with you,” Mr Zammit is reported saying in the first e-mail.
The services that were offered included “preparation and drawing up of presentation to put forward to relevant high-level Commission representatives”, “lobbying efforts and setting up of high-level meetings”, and “planning next steps to include deeper consolidation of industry position and furthering of industry interests, with top-level introductions and action strategy”.
The story seems to provide a new context to an e-mail which had been made public by Malta Today in which, among other things, Ms Delfosse asks Mr Zammit how much he would charge to set up a meeting with Mr Dalli.
Mr Dalli has repeatedly used the e-mail as evidence that the snus lobby had pursued Mr Zammit and offered money, strongly suggesting entrapment.
The details in The Wall Street Journal also appear to support comments by a Swedish Match spokeswoman who told The Times this week that Mr Zammit approached Estoc even after they had rejected his alleged request for €60 million.
The company had rejected his offer on February 21 and reported the matter to the Swedish government on the 24th. However, the complaint to the European Commission was made only in May.
“At first we weren’t sure if this was a credible offer. It looked credible but we were not certain and, in any case, we felt we had done our duty by reporting the matter to our government,” she said.
When the company found out Mr Zammit had contacted Estoc, the alarm bells started ringing, the spokeswoman said.
Attempts to contact Mr Zammit yesterday were unsuccessful.
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32 Comments
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steve Micallef
Oct 28th 2012, 00:25
Lets all face the facts . No one is in politics for the goog of the country they represent ? And it is very nieve to think otherwise !
C Muscat
Oct 27th 2012, 21:34
Please investigate if Mr Zammit is with the tobacco people that managed to stop the directive and still getting rich from attacking our health system.
With Dalli every report is stating that no money were paid.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Oct 27th 2012, 19:38
OLAF is an autocratic body with the power to destroy reputations on mere allegations and circumstantial evidence, without the need to disclose the proof in its possession, if any. It works on the principle that others should be above suspicion, like Caesar's wife, but OLAF places itself undeservedly above suspicion even when the European Parliament demands greater transparency from it.
Edward Mallia
Oct 27th 2012, 16:17
@Joseph E. Briffa OLAF is not a judicial body; it cannot prosecute ; it made use of innuendo to cut down JB by reference to "circumstantial evidence" which has morphed into "hard evidence" in a few days. And has Kessler not just said that he has no objection to the Maltese Authorities publishing the Report? Which Authority is he referring to? The Prime Minister's office, informed by Timmermann?
Sandro Pace
Oct 27th 2012, 15:33
In some other countries, the resignation standards are so high that even in the case that Mr. Dalli knew nothing on what his close 'canvasser' was demanding, he will gentlemanly absorb the benefit of the doubt and resign. Let alone with a big suspicion hanging on. Stop fighting a lost cause. Whatever a court will decide, your Chief have lost political trust in you. All other things are irrelevant
Francis Saliba M.D.
Oct 28th 2012, 06:46
Dalli has already fought and won another "lost cause" when he had to resign his post of Minister in Gonzi's cabinet on accusations that proved to be groundless but which led to his "exile" in Brussels. He is now being forced to resign again by Barroso-Kessler on as yet unproven and unconvincing allegations.
John Sultana
Oct 27th 2012, 14:05
I hope this matter will be investigated by our magistrates too, if these guys Dalli and Zammit are implicated in this mess they should be brought to justice and castigated. Everyone can cry I am innocent once caught red handed, for me it is not enough to just trust dalli when there is ample evidence that he knew about this deal.
Silvan Said
Oct 27th 2012, 13:13
The glaring question is, if ESTOC and/or Swedish Match, both of which seem to be controlled by the same person decided to cut all further correspondence and report the matter on 24th Feb, why did they request a meeting with Dalli 3 weeks later offering money to Zammit?
Freda Harris
Oct 27th 2012, 13:12
Whilst lobbying is common place and accepted as the norm in most countries lobbying for financial gain is something else. In the instance of the lobbying for the lifting of the ban on the sale of Snus on the surface it appears that greed was the motivation. Had the lobbying been conducted in a different way there would have been no real problem to write about.
J Martinelli
Oct 27th 2012, 13:42
Where is lobbying carried out without compensation being an important consideration to the lobbyists? If lobbying was done without a 'return' how would the lobbyist pay for long distance calls, airfares, hotels and other personal expenses? At one stage or another, money changes hands. It would be naive to expect otherwise. Case after case, scandal after scandal prove the point.
Charles Grixti
Oct 27th 2012, 16:19
Lobbying is always made for financial gain. There would be no point otherwise. Whether straight financial rewards or future position on boards are on offer, both the companies that lobby and the politicians that are courted and won by the lobbyists gain, the net losers are the citizens. Lobbying is nothing but legalised corruption and bribery.
Joseph Vassallo, (Bugibba)
Oct 27th 2012, 12:30
This seems to be 'a report' about an alleged email not the actual email.
Even if it exists, it comes from Zammit not Dalli.
It does not mean that Dalli knew about Zammit's purported dealings with the industry, in fact if anything, it suggests that Zammit was acting on his own initiative.
JOSEPH MUSCAT
Oct 27th 2012, 13:16
@Joseph Vassallo,{Bugibba} pull the other one and it might play gingles,these two Maltese are dealing with SUPERIOR people to them, and not other Maltese,were xejn mhu xejn.and few BACKHANDERS can solve everything specially with HBIEB TAL HBIEB!!!!!!
Charles Grixti
Oct 27th 2012, 16:20
Could it be that you are really that naive Mr. Vassallo?
joe farrugia
Oct 27th 2012, 17:32
Qedin ninsew l-aktar haga importanti li r-raport lil OLAF sar mill gvern svediz u mhux mill kumpanija swedish match li nahseb li qabel ma ghamel ir-raport investiga bis-shih dak kollu li kien involut fil kaz.
Edward Mallia
Oct 27th 2012, 12:26
Is this drip drip of 'information' doing anybody any good? The anti-Dalli camp cannot be improving its image and case by leaking e-mails to the Wall Street Journal. Now ESTOC is playing innocence; it did offer money to Zammit to arrange a metting but that has now got lost in the wash. The matter will not be cleared up satisfactorily until this great OLAF report is published.
Joseph E Briffa
Oct 27th 2012, 14:07
A report by an anti-fraud agency is not for public consumption at least until such time as the matter has gone to the Courts. The prosecution would be giving away findings that can weaken their hand and only serve to help the defence.
John Mifsud
Oct 27th 2012, 12:08
A 'Whistle Blowing Act' should come into force today before tomorrow.
It should be retroactive which means having retrospective effect.
Taxpayers' hard earned taxes should be spent wisely and any authority which handles such monies should be accountable and should be held responsible for one's conduct.
Penalties should be harsh and this includes imprisonment.
Martin Busuttil
Oct 27th 2012, 12:55
The culture here, unfortunately, is that when some one get to know some thing and mentions corruption some where, like in a project of what ever nature, in one way or the other his mouth is closed either because he threatened in any way, or by putting enough money not only to pack his mouth and his pockets, but even more and more.
Charles Micallef
Oct 27th 2012, 11:03
More e-mails show Zammit chased the snus lobbyists ... it makes one think if this is a one off incident or is this the norm amongst politicians and their hangers on and how they behave on a day to day basis and then describe their employment as being agents.......’extortion agents’ will be a better description!
Mr Victor Borg
Oct 27th 2012, 10:38
One observation that this saga shows is that the canvassers of politicians in Malta become rich and powerful not through ability or intelligence or hard-work, but through influence gained out of ingratiating themselves with politicians they serve. It's part of the culture in Malta that what matters in enrichment and advancement is who you know, not what you know. It's a perversion of meritocracy.
Joseph E Briffa
Oct 27th 2012, 11:15
@Victor....and what makes you think this only happens in Malta? As if human nature is different in other places. This perception shows insular mentality.
A Bonett
Oct 27th 2012, 11:17
Is there a "like" button here ?
Darren J. Galea
Oct 27th 2012, 12:17
How true.
@Joseph E Briffa - so what? In other countries such abuses are investigated and prosecuted. Here in Malta where it is "possibly" rife, it is not which perpetuates the problem.
Mr Victor Borg
Oct 27th 2012, 12:35
@ Briffa:
In the past 20 years, I have lived in Germany, England, Thailand, China, Australia, and Malta - so you can hardly accuse me of insularity - and the sad thing is that the lack of meritocrary and shady cohorts (otherwise called canvassers) is worse in Malta than any of the other countries where I lived. I have been more rewarded by work for what I know in other countries than Malta.
ANTHONY PAVIA
Oct 27th 2012, 12:36
Have you read the latest New York Times report exposing the US$ 2.7 BILLION fortune amassed by the Chinese Communist leader and his family? And these are communists. Now imagine capitalists!
Mr Kevin Zammit
Oct 27th 2012, 13:37
@Borg
While you are correct and I do agree with your observation I disagree that you single out Malta because.
A. Malta is minute compared to all the countries you mention therefore its easier to know what is going on and depending on what your personal profession is harder or easy "to make it"
B. You should know better than base a generalization on personal perception
Mr Victor Borg
Oct 27th 2012, 15:41
@ Zammit
My "personal perception" is based on my experience working as a writer. I spent 15 years writing abroad, and returned to Malta 20 months ago. Sadly, my personal experience as well as the insight gained through my research for writing leads me to the generalisation that there is little meritocracy in government employment & contracts in Malta, less than countries mentioned earlier.
Mr Kevin Zammit
Oct 27th 2012, 20:23
@Borg. Can you please elaborate which part was research and which part was personal experience cause what you just wrote here is putting the two together in one sentence.
As well if what you claim is based on documented research can you please provide source so I can read it up as well? I would honestly be interested to read it for myself.
Jay Oatmon
Oct 27th 2012, 10:32
To me this looks to be an example of 'snouts in the trough' for those who have influence using 'lobbyists' to distance themselves from scandal and do their dirty work.
Ronnie Callus
Oct 27th 2012, 10:24
The crux about this is whether Dalli was informed or aware of it. If it does the consequences has to be faced. The trouble is that Malta's image has been tanted.
mark borg
Oct 27th 2012, 10:05
x gharukaza fiex gibtuwa lil malta .
Please choose the reason of your report below: