The company secretary of the State-owned oil bunkering company MOBC yesterday told a court that the former CEO, Frank Sammut, would receive tenders from another firm in which he was a silent partner.

Hugh Attard Montalto said Mr Sammut would review and assess bids before making a recommendation to the MOBC board on which company to select.

The board would then lean favourably towards Island Bunker Oils Limited, a company in which Mr Sammut was a silent partner together with the former chairman of the same company, Tancred Tabone. The tenders were for the chartering of oil barges.

Mr Attard Montalto was testifying in the case against Cassar Ship Repair chairman Tony Cassar and Francis Portelli, of Virtú Ferries, who together owned half the shares in IBOL. They stand charged with bribery, taking a private interest in an adjudication process and money laundering.

In previous sittings, the court had heard how Mr Cassar and Mr Portelli knew that Mr Tabone and Mr Sammut were public officials and yet hid their shares in IBOL to mask any conflict of interest.

The case against Mr Portelli and Mr Cassar is not linked to the alleged taking of commissions on oil procurement deals involving Mr Sammut and Mr Tabone.

The case continues.

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