Oil procurement scandal: Conditions for presidential pardon accepted, pardon signed
President George Abela has signed the documents granting a pardon to George Farrugia, the rogue oil trader at the centre of the Enemalta oil procurement scandal.
The documents were signed after Mr Farrugia accepted the terms of the pardon.
The pardon was granted on the recommendation of the government following the advice of the Attorney General and the Police Commissioner. They also had a meeting with the President.
Mr Farrugia confirmed to the police that he was prepared to disclose his information once the pardon was issued.
The government in a statement said the conditions of the pardon are the following:
- The pardon applies only to crimes linked to the allegations on oil procurement made before the pardon was issued.
- Mr Farrugia promises to disclose the whole truth and nothing but the truth on oil procurement to police investigators, any court or inquiry.
- Mr Farrugia commits to transfer to the government all funds, property or other profit derived from crimes related to the oil procurement allegations. Therefore, within five days, Mr Farrugia must transfer €250,000 on account to the government. Should more profits result from the alleged crimes, such profits must also be passed on to the government.
Should Mr Farrugia not say the whole truth or does not transfer the gains made from crimes related to oil procurement, the pardon will be automatically annulled.
Mr Farrugia accepted the terms during a meeting this evening with Police Commissioner John Rizzo and Attorney General Peter Grech.
Mr Farrugia was assisted by his lawyers Siegfried Borg Cole and Franco Debono.
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E. Azzopardi
Feb 11th, 18:38
Good. Now if as alleged there are others, these must also reimburse the government ( THE PEOPLE) with the money derived from the alleged crimes.
And let's get on with the new laws which should have been in place a long time ago.
w camilleri
Feb 11th, 15:59
jiehdu dawn il flus kollha umbad ic cittadin malti jircievi xi ittra li jrid ihallas 0.05c ta euro bix jigi equal fi taxxa....
Mr clint catania
Feb 11th, 15:06
A.g stands for authority general.Kif ma fimtuhiex.Mela ma mortux skola hbieb
Francis Saliba M.D.
Feb 11th, 13:08
@Willie Grech yesterday 22:18 (and the others)
Everything is being done to investigate swiftly but you want answers to dirty insinuations before they are investigated. Whoever AG and Aust turn out to be the emails enquire vaguely re a possible meeting about which nothing is known. So you, and others similarly inclined, fill that gap unscrupulously with your defaming malicious questions.
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Feb 11th, 15:48
Dr Saliba: you have accused Tony Zarb of being corrupt on the basis of a doctored recording. Now we know from Mr Ferry who was present that nothing of the sort was said at that meeting. But you were happy to make unscruploulsly defaming malicious accusations. Hope you will now retract. You should also know that Gafa, a Labourite, was awarded a number of contracts in 2012. Was there any connection?
Francis Saliba M.D.
Feb 11th, 17:03
@AndrewCamilleri.
It is no proof that the tape was doctored just because Ferry denied that he was the one who took the recording. You assume that because a silly thought crosses your biased mind then it is transformed into instant truth. It does not! It remains garbled thinking even though you do not keep to yourself but you rashly broadcast it to the four winds.
Eric Psaila
Feb 11th, 11:35
Is he going to be charged interest on these gains?
Are we mortals going to get any kickback on our bills?
This is what I expect.
Does anyone realise the damage caused to Air Malta because of high fuel costs? First we had the Rj's now this.
And I also ask? Will there be a fund for us who had our salaries frozen at Air Malta to make good for our losses?
And we at Air Malta were called thieves eh???
Joseph Apap
Feb 11th, 17:07
Fuel bought by AirMalta is not the same fuel bought by Enemalta.
and Enemalta does not buy the fuel for AirMalta either
Carmel Camilleri
Feb 11th, 11:27
Is this the same Franco Debono that lambasted his Government and party about corruption?
Sue De Nym
Feb 11th, 12:35
I am asking the same question. And if it is him... I'm simply SPEECHLESS!
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Feb 11th, 15:52
Why surprised? Franco is a lawyer who works in the criminal field. He is simply doing his job. Or perhaps you are worried that with Franco being involved, something not too nice might come out about GonziPN?
John Micallef
Feb 11th, 11:13
Issa daqt nisimghu lil George jghidilna li Aust kienet il karozza u mhux persuna... ta AG li kienet Amanda Grech u li ma ghadiex toqghod Malta izda marret iz Zambia u kiela iljunfant.
D. A . Agius
Feb 11th, 10:43
What if courts do not accept his evidence? Is there any other hard evidence or will any prosecutions be based on his testimony?
Remember the famous Judges' scandals? All were backed by phone taps. Have ever any phone taps been set on Politicians or other people of authority who may be the subject of bribes? Is out our Politically controlled Secret Service simply used to get rid of rogues?
John Micallef
Feb 11th, 11:08
D. A . Agius - the only people who can give the orders for phone tapping are people from the cabinet... otherwise no tapping is allowed.... do you think that they will phone tap themselves? and if they do do you think that it will be effective? lol
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Feb 11th, 12:56
Yes all the cards are in the hands of the Cabinet to be able top protect themselves, their friends and their party. It's us mere mortals who are crucified if we transgress the law. Now you know why we do not have a whistleblower law. That way Gonzi gets to control damage.
Herman Mercieca
Feb 11th, 10:37
Il-flus li hadu u li qeghedien jihdu se jigu ritornati lill popplu malti jekk dejjem jinqabdu,ghax dawn saru miljunarji min fuq dar il-popplu malti rispetivament jekk intix nazjonalist jew laburist kikku ghada tezisti il forka haqhom lilla
Pule' Carmel
Feb 11th, 10:32
Considering what has been going on in Malta during the last few years, Malta has made me look a proper fool, obeying most religious and secular laws to live stably as a family man with other people. I should have been a sinner and a criminal as all is forgiven and forgotten, it seems, in this one blessed now stupid Malta of ours!
ANTHONY PAVIA
Feb 11th, 10:06
May I suggest that the term "rogue oil trader" does not apply in this case.
Mario Scicluna
Feb 11th, 09:34
Although my profession is not that of an advocate, I do recall that for granting such a Presidential Pardon, with recommendation from Cabinet, the alleged corruptor must reveal absolute and extraordinary information that the Police do not have in hand in order to proceed with case or that he/she ONLY can reveal vital potential substance to establish the merit of such pardon. If not the case?
alfreda mifsud
Feb 12th, 08:13
And how will the people of Malta know if he's revealing the whole truth and not just what he thinks is enough for him to get clear and does not reveal everything who is involved and the rest......
Joe A. Borg
Feb 11th, 09:24
"Mr Farrugia commits to transfer to the government all funds, property or other profit derived from crimes related to the oil procurement allegations."
This confirms self guilt and basically he was found guilty before even being put forward before the courts of justice!!
Since when has the government (caretaker) became the judge!! Please enlighten me is legal terms!!
twanny borg
Feb 11th, 09:22
PM Gonzi serju kundizzjonijiet serji. Prosit. Gonzi tarka ghal hadd ghal ebda korrot min jizbalja huwa min huwa ihallas. Hekk ghandu jkun.
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Feb 11th, 12:59
Imma Gonzi jistenbah biss meta xi korruzjoni tinkixef mill media. Il bqija la hu u lanqas shabu tal-kabinett qatt ma indunaw b'xejn.
ray vassallo
Feb 11th, 09:21
So now that this guy got the pardon, is he going to tell us who A.G., Aust and the minister was?
Louis Pace
Feb 11th, 09:19
I would not have given him the presidential pardon but would have given him another option to choose between a long jail term or long house arrest. This guy is already admitted that he did Tax evasion of around €250,000.
Michael Hudson
Feb 11th, 08:56
€250,000.00 b'min tridu tidhku.
Joe Tabone
Feb 11th, 08:44
Let Justice take its course!!
j brincat
Feb 11th, 08:42
We had a presidential pardon not so very long ago, no?
Did this achieve the desired result?
Food for thought?
jb
Noel Mifsud
Feb 11th, 08:38
Ha nkompli fejn hallejt din il proklama hija fazula sakemm insiru nafu minn hu Aust jew AG. Jekk Alla hares qatt ikun membru mill Kabinett kif tista tinghata mahfra fuq rakommandazzjoni mill Kabinett lil bniedem li hu imdahhal fil kas u setgha ikun membru fil Kabinett. Mhux qed nitkellem politikalment, just qed nitkellem bhala cittadin li meta inqast hallast, u nispera li minn ikun hati ihallas.
Herman Mercieca
Feb 11th, 10:32
Sa kemm il-proklama ma tawilux biex ma jikxifx lill xi ministru.Ghax il-puluzija kienet qalet li kella provi bizejed biex tmexi.Kif ghandek ministu ki interogat u mar jihu decizjoni biex jati il-proklama.Din tinten bhal ma jedu li huta min rasa tinten
John Micallef
Feb 11th, 11:10
Correct both! This whole thing sounds too fishy...
A Farrugia
Feb 11th, 08:35
Should Mr Farrugia not say the whole truth or does not transfer the gains made from crimes related to oil procurement, the pardon will be automatically annulled........... But how should we know that he is saying the whole truth and nothing but the truth........... God help us common people, to get our full refund back......
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Feb 11th, 13:01
THis is pure nonsense. When Zeppi was given his pardon, the Judge discarded has evidence. Zeppi still got to keep his pardon for that crime and for other unrelated crimes as a gift.
Noel Mifsud
Feb 11th, 08:34
Filwaqt li ma naqbilx mal Eccelenza tieghu nispera li dan Farrugia jghidilna minn hu Aust u AG. Zgur li mhux xi clerk jew wiehed li jaghmel it te. Lanqas xi security. Nispera li jghid il verita mhux bhal ma gara meta inghatat mahfra presidenzjali u l imhallfin ma emmunx il verzjoni. Il whistle blower hija tajba ghax ma hemmx bzonn proklama ghax kieku tkellem xi hadd iehor li mhux involut.
M cauchi
Feb 11th, 08:32
Ah.. sewwa jghidu... bix xoghol hodba fuq darek tghamel, mhux flus.. hafna flus malajr ma jigux bix xoghol!
Jay Oatmon
Feb 11th, 08:24
What a disgrace - 10 years for a court case to get heard is not unusual, but a 'politically sensitive' item gets done in days!
Anthony Paul Naudi
Feb 11th, 08:07
Issa kellu bzonn li johrog il-hmieg kollu u li min thammeg ihallas ta ghemilu huwa min huwa bla ebda distinzjoni
Mr clint catania
Feb 11th, 08:02
Setgha il president ma firmax il proklama?
Charles Sammut
Feb 11th, 07:51
Have any conditions been included that the info this guy gives will net the BIG FISH by the name of AG??!
We shall see......but let us ALL be prepared to be choked with lots of smoke without finding the source of the fire!!
How is Johnnie Dalli in Brussels ..is he any better so that he can travel to the island in the sun???
...and the beat goes on...and the beat shall go on...
Gorg Sciberras
Feb 11th, 08:08
Can you find any text in this article which implicates any "big fish"? We need justice not the head of an unpopular minister on a plate.
Franz Zammit Haber
Feb 11th, 07:34
Euro 250,000 - dawk zgur qatra fl-0cean!!!!
Mr Adrian Zahra
Feb 11th, 07:29
For telling the truth about Tabone and Sammut ? Or for telling the truth about the whole case possibly implying also further parties ?
Charles Micallef
Feb 11th, 06:48
Would the people who ultimately paid for this crime, namely the taxpayer would ever get to know the full truth? DOUBT IT!
M. Bezzina
Feb 11th, 06:45
X partit ta ezempju ghadna.......ghandhom ghalfejn isemmu lil Lorry Sant fuq il korruzzjoni wkoll!!Biex tiskongra trid tkun pur habib!!!
rueben pitre
Feb 11th, 06:42
What a joke! Kollox fis-satra tal-lejl!
Mario Scicluna
Feb 11th, 09:26
Ezatt!! Kif tajru li Gorg Borg Olivier fl-1977, tar-Religio et Patria!
charles flask
Feb 11th, 05:57
This is a very sensitive time for our country. Whatever he has to say must be public before the election because such information is said to be directly linked to government "spending" (our money). We have to make an important decision. Please tells us now!
Joseph Sammut
Feb 11th, 05:27
Il-poplu b'xiber imnieher ha jibqa.
Julian Tonna
Feb 11th, 00:12
smoke a joint and they take you to court
Joseph Bugeja
Feb 10th, 23:35
Should more profits result from the alleged crimes, such profits must also be passed on to the government.
What is this? There shouldn't be more no? Or else he'd be lying about how much profit he'd pocketed? He must be asked how much money he's made. If caught in a lie he shouldn't put the difference up but he loses the presidential pardon. And in any case wouldn't such profit be seized up?
ANTHONY PAVIA
Feb 11th, 11:09
Average oil purchases of €250,000,000 annually @ at least 1.5%= averaged annually €3.75 million from 1999 onwards and possibly even before, therefore a wildcat would amount to € 52.500,000!!!!!! Split that by another wildcat of 8, and each would have earned a tax free amount of € 6.5 millions over the period. Deduct expenses and fanfare and you are left with say €6,000,000.
Mr Andrew Camilleri
Feb 11th, 13:04
Pavia, yes ut only Farrugia is getting the pardon with the condition to retrun his profits - what about the others? Will they be obliged to return their ill-begotten gains?
ANTHONY PAVIA
Feb 12th, 15:52
I should very well hope so!
Lino A Catania
Feb 10th, 23:18
Should start with defining A.G.
Nicholas Ellul
Feb 10th, 23:16
The PM did what any democratic and open PM would do in such circumstances. Now lets wait and see what this Farrugia has to say so the truth may come out in full. It is so far very clear that the politician did what was expected and the its now the Police that have to do their work to try and go to the very bottom of this case. With or without a whistleblower act, PN acted in an exemplary way.
Peter Simpson
Feb 10th, 23:02
Imsomma issa l-koruzzjoni m'ghadiex hrafa imma realta u kulhadd qed ihoss l-piz taghha ghax l-flus qed jisparrixxu mill-portmonijiet!
Toni Borg
Feb 10th, 22:59
Sensible conditions that go towards uncovering the facts about this case as welll as recover any funds that the tax payer indirectly paid!
VIctor Seguna
Feb 10th, 22:58
Therefore its possible to have cheaper electrical bills Mr. Tonio Fenech! If one does not pay his bills, one gets penalised. What are those involved in this scandal are going to get? We wait and see
S Scerri
Feb 10th, 22:17
Trid tmur l-Universita' ta ' La Sapienza Ruma biex tahdem din l-abbrevjazzjoni. Nahseb AG tfisser Abate Gwango , Nigerjan jghix hdejn il-Power Station tal Marsa li kienu jghidulu Dragun u li inghata djamant ghax jifhem fiz-zejt !!!
Joseph Aquilina
Feb 10th, 22:08
Any lejber diehard has anything to complain? Here we can see how a Nationalist government is 100% committed for all the truth to come out regardless of who is involved or not!!
Pierre Fenech
Feb 10th, 22:07
This is the first step. Good to see that we are getting somewhere. I hope we will get soon to the Big fish or better Sharks. May god help the Police and prosecutors to leave no stone unturned and rid this country of such evil.
J. Camilleri
Feb 10th, 22:06
NOW WE WANT THE WHOLE TRUTH... AND PLEASE IF MINISTER AG IS INVOLVED LET US KNOW PLEASE
David Bezzina
Feb 10th, 21:59
Time for the whole truth to come out....and lots of questions to be answered.
Joseph Borg
Feb 10th, 21:56
Nispera issa li Franco jzomm kelmtu dwar dak kollu li kien jghid fuq il korruzzjoni. Nistenna li ghandu jghin lill klijent tieghu issa biex tohrog il verita kollha.
Martin Saliba
Feb 10th, 22:29
hahahaha , ghandek xi dubju meta hemm dawn is suspetti ta minn hu A.G , Aust u il ministru ?
Anthony Mizzi
Feb 10th, 23:39
Jidher li ghadu ferm RELEVANTI Dr. Debono allavolja forsi haddiehor jikkunsidrah bhala IRRELEVANTI !
Ronnie Callus
Feb 11th, 07:48
Naqbel mieghek Joseph. Franco kien ilu jghidlu lil Prim fuq il-kurruzzjoni u li ma' jahdiemx ma' wiehed minn shabu. Issa ghandu c-cans kollu li johrog il-verita kollha. Dawn huma l-affarijiet li messu thaddet fuqhom il-Prim mhux qadd jinhela fuq ic-cuccati li lilna c-cittadin ma' jinteressanhiex. Dawn huma flusna, u tghamlilna hafna differenza ghax ahna 1.16 euro hadna u mhux 500 euro.
carmel cassar
Feb 10th, 21:55
My inquisitive mind is searching for a good reason why George Farrugia is asking for a pardon, and is in two minds is it to tell all or not to tell everything
ANTHONY PAVIA
Feb 11th, 10:58
Prosit Carmel. Shrewd observation irrespective of all the inanities written below by known apologists bent only on protecting "THE PARTY".
Joseph N. Attard
Feb 10th, 21:52
When the whole mess is cleared, I would expect the following. Apart from any punishment that the courts would deem fit to impose, everyone who is found guilty of channelling illegal funds into his pocket must return them to the last cent. Then the government of the day must refund them pro rata to the Maltese people, from whom they were initially stolen in the form of higehr electricity bills.
G Schembri
Feb 11th, 06:17
Instead of returning them pro rata, the government could return them to the people by investing in a project to clean the Power station area. These illegal funds were given so that we buy heavy fuel oil, which is polluting the south of the Maltese islands.
D Mifsud
Feb 11th, 07:30
Dream on my friend
J Abela
Feb 11th, 09:00
There is nothing wrong in dreaming. Most achievements start by a dream - I agree with G Schembri....
Willie Grech
Feb 10th, 21:47
So, now we should get to know who A.G. Aust and the minister are, shouldn't we?
Gorg Sciberras
Feb 11th, 08:05
Of course everyone knows who these abbreviations refer to. But the emails do not imply any wrongdoing from the minister's part. Hopefully Farrugia's eventual testimony will shed light on what has happened.
R. Balzan
Feb 10th, 21:37
"The pardon will fall through if Mr Farrugia does not reveal the whole truth". But how can anybody tell if a person is revealing the whole truth or just those parts which do not incriminate him? This whole shenanigan smells as fishy as a crate of haddock.
J Martinelli
Feb 10th, 22:25
R Balzan, no 'parts' of the truth will incriminate Mr Farrugia. That's what a Presidential pardon is all about. The pardon is CONDITIONAL upon Mr Farrugia revealing all the truth so telling all has no incriminating effect on him. The pardon is IN ADVANCE of telling the whole truth.
If he tries to be 'selective' then the pardon is withdrawn and he would be prosecuted.
Read the conditions again.
Julian Borg
Feb 10th, 22:29
We have a legal syste a nd courts and they decide if he is saying the whole truth......simple Watson! Who decides if someone perjures himself - its not very difficult to figure out - but think about it!
alfred attard
Feb 11th, 05:43
There are ways. Now that he is pardoned, he must answer any question put to him by the investigators because he will not incriminate himself. Now it is up to the investigators and what kind of questions are put to him.
G Schembri
Feb 11th, 06:26
Nothing he says will incriminate him, he was granted a Presidential Pardon. It is in his interest to tell the whole truth.
1. because if he leaves someone out he will have to pay the money that person from his pocket.
2. because if it is discovered that he left anything out, he will lose the Pardon and end up in proson.
Prosit sur President, you made a fair deal.
Simon Cutajar
Feb 10th, 21:37
i live on my own and the bill is 1000 euros for one year !! I'm going to have SOMETHING IN RETURN PLS !!!!
marcus bonello
Feb 10th, 22:40
Ditto
G Borg
Feb 10th, 21:26
It seems that all is quiet on the PN and its allies front . The citizens needs answers on who was involved and also about persons who knew about what was going on but omitted in doing their actual duties.
I do not care whether any PL supporter may have been involved in this whole state of affairs, the crux of it all is that we have been paying a lot of unnecessary kickbacks under the PN,s nose.
Victor Laiviera
Feb 10th, 21:23
What guarantees are in place to make sure he tells the truth?
We do not want a repeat of the Żeppi l-Ħafi case, where 4 separate juries decided that he was not telling the truth but he kept his 3 pardons for major crimes anyway.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Feb 10th, 21:46
What you want, Mr Laiviera, is not a guarantee that the truth be told. Your wish is that the "truth" that emerges would be the version desired and anticipated by you and the LP not the plain unvarnished truth.
Willie Grech
Feb 10th, 21:48
I think that that's for the next government to decide!!!!
Willie Grech
Feb 10th, 22:18
@ Francis Saliba
The 'truth' I like to know is: Who is A.G.? Who is Aust? Who is the minister mentioned in those emails? Are these people one and the same? What connection to the oil procurement scandal do these names have? Where they part of the kickbacks system mentioned on the first day? For me, if these questions are not answered, then the pardon was given for nothing like Zeppi's pardon.
Willie Grech
Feb 10th, 22:19
@ Francis Saliba
And what is the "plain unvarnished truth" may I ask?
Martin Saliba
Feb 10th, 22:19
Francis ,why are you so bent on defending anything that is PN ? Have you , like everybody else , not seen the dammnig evidence ? Whatever the truth is it is a fact the the PN was asleep while people from its fold were syphoning of money that belonged to the maltese people as in the vat fraud where many were just given a slap on the wrist .
Martin Saliba
Feb 10th, 22:26
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130210/local/oil-firm-asked-rogue-trader-about-meeting-with-minister.456850
Alfred Vassallo
Feb 10th, 22:27
No Dr. what we want is not to have any shenanigans. We aren't that naive not to know that politics can make people sing a different tune altogether. Pardons or no pardons.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Feb 11th, 08:08
@WillieGrech
When Alfred Sant was elected the MLPpredicted that it would pin corruption on the previous NP administration but no trace of corruption was ever found. History is repeating itself. More mud slinging on the eve of a general election based on insinuations.
Francis Saliba M.D.
Feb 11th, 08:14
@ Alfred Vassallo
Don't we have already political shenanigans in great abundance being churned out by the dirty tricks LP propaganda apparatus without having to speculate idly what will happen after election results?
Mr Joseph Carmel Chetcuti
Feb 11th, 09:03
At the very least it appears that a Minister has been asleep on the job but then who cares about ministerial responsibility? Not teh PN!
Louis Craus
Feb 10th, 21:13
Mela ....dehlin lura fil- kaxxa ta' Malta ga l-ewwel EU 250'000. Allura dawn minn fejn gejjin?
Tghid dalwaqt jorhos id-dawl u l- ilma?
Issa naraw.......forsi jigu aktar.
Sue De Nym
Feb 10th, 21:51
Tassew tassew, min jaf minn fejn gejjin, min jaf jekk hemmx xi 2,500,000 ohra maghhom? Qarnita b'hafna swaba.....
alfred attard
Feb 11th, 05:57
Cara, dawn it-TIPS gejjin mill-mijuni li ha bhala kommixxins. Kemm hadu kollha bejnithom nixtieq naf. Bejn wiehed u iehor f'sena wahda thallsu minn 4 sa 5 miljuni. 250,000 huma TIPS. Kieku ccappas ghal-mizera ta' 250,000 haqqu zunnarija.
Gorg Sciberras
Feb 11th, 08:02
Mr Attard,
If you consider 250 000 tips, then I am interested in working for you!
In reality 250 000 will not make much of a difference to electricity bills considering the millions the government has been spending on subsidies.
Please choose the reason of your report below: