OLAF chief Giovanni Kessler headed the investigation against John Dalli. Photo: Reuters

The Bahamas trip of July 2012 had no connection with a probe by the EU Anti-Fraud Agency (OLAF) escalating at the time, John Dalli insisted yesterday.

He said he had e-mails which showed that the trip, which involved the chartering of a private plane from Malta to Nassau, had been planned as early as June 2012.

“So this idea that I somehow jumped on a plane after I spoke to Silvio Zammit to do God-knows-what in the Bahamas is simply ridiculous,” he told reporters who had gathered for a news conference at Portomaso.

The dates are salient in this case, because Mr Dalli’s July 7 flight took place the morning after he called Silvio Zammit and, according to police sources, the two spoke about the ongoing OLAF investigation.

Mr Zammit has been the only person arraigned in connection with the scandal which hinges on an allegation that he asked for €60 million from tobacco firm Swedish Match to help lift a ban on snus – a form of orally-consumed tobacco that can be only sold in Sweden under current EU rules.

If I felt the need to cancel I could simply have approached her throughout the day and told her I could not go

However, the EU probe had forced Mr Dalli’s resignation after OLAF claimed there was unambiguous circumstantial evidence that he knew the money was being demanded in his name.

Mr Dalli yesterday insisted there was absolutely no connection with the investigation and his Bahamas trip where it was originally claimed the former EU Commissioner travelled to transfer “millions”.

A picture of gold cases taken by Martin Zuch during a trip to Tanzania earlier this year.

He also contradicted information that he had called his office in Brussels, shortly after the phone call with Mr Zammit, to inquire whether he could get out of a dinner event that had been hosted by Cypriot Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou.

According to Brussels sources, Mr Dalli was told by the office of the Commission’s Secretary General Catherine Day that it would be impolite for him to cancel at such short notice.

Mr Dalli, however, said that this could not possibly have been the case.

“I had received a private invitation for Vassiliou’s dinner so if I felt the need to cancel I could have simply approached her throughout the day and told her I could not go. Of all the College of Commissioners only five remained for the dinner,” he said.

Moreover, he claimed that the phone call to Mr Zammit was made during the dinner.

However, a European Commission spokeswoman gave a conflicting version of events, insisting that Mr Dalli had called to inquire about not attending the dinner.

The spokeswoman said Ms Vassiliou had invited the College to her home at the start of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council.

“The Secretary General of the Commission was asked whether Mr Dalli could drop out at short notice, having previously accepted her invitation. The Secretary General was not given any explanation for his change of plan nor did she ask. These circumstances led the Secretary General to say it would be impolite to cancel at the last moment but of course the Commissioner was free to do as he wished.”

When this was pointed out to Mr Dalli, the former minister stuck to his version of events.

He also argued that the latest controversy surrounding him cropped up right as the European Parliament was meant to approve reform legislation for OLAF last week.

The agency was criticised over its handling of Mr Dalli’s investigation particularly over fears that the human rights of some suspects may have been breached in the process.

Mr Dalli argued that the Bahamas story broken on Monday was intended to sabotage a vote moved by MEPs critical of OLAF, which were being resisted by the agency and the Commission.