Updated - adds denial by Dr Gonzi -
A number of e-mails by oil trader George Farrugia mentioning meetings with then minister Austin Gatt were presented in court this morning by Saviour Balzan, managing editor of Malta Today, as the court continued to hear libel proceedings instituted by Dr Gatt.
Dr Gatt has denied that he had met a businessman, George Farrugia "in a bid to ensure the lucrative sale of oil to Enemalta", as the newspaper reported.
The newspaper is arguing that the emails showed that Mr Farrugia met Dr Gatt, but it insists it had not in any way, inferred that Dr Gatt was aware of or involved in any illicit deals in relation to fuel oil procurement to Enemalta.
Testifying today, Mr Balzan said that in the summer 2011, a person in the prime minister's security team had approached Dr Gonzi telling him he had material proving the allegations of the oil Procurement scandal. Dr Gonzi told him to inform his superiors in the Security Service.
The head of the service, Godfrey Scicluna was informed, and he in turn spoke to a high level official at Dr Gatt's ministry of Austin Gatt.
When the ministry's official saw the documents, a number of them were discarded, with claims that some of them were actually shredded.
Mr Balzan said he reserved the right to summon this the official to testify in the future, as he is currently under proceedings and might incriminate himself.
Godfrey Scicluna was told by this official that the documents related to a case of tax compliance and the documents were passed to another official within the finance ministry. The finance ministry passed the documents to the Tax Compliance Unit for investigation. Two-and-a-half years later, nothing had happened, and the story was therefore published.
The emails, Mr Balzan said, were taken from a hard disc belonging to George Farrugia by third persons, and were confirmed to be originals by IT experts.
They showed correspondence between Mr Farrugia and other people, mostly from Total Oil, which he represented in Malta. The emails specifically discussed the purchase and sale of oil. Some of the emails involved Austin Gatt.
In one of them, dated 4/6/2003. Mr Farrugia told Tancred Tabone, then chairman of Enemalta. "I am waiting for conference with Total, will give you details re meeting with AG regarding Enemalta"
17/7/03. Mr Farrugia to Naim Ahmed a Traffigura official: "I met the new minister and the new chairman. Enemalta is interested in foreign partnerships. We cannot waste time so I need a reply quick"
30/3/04. Mr Farrugia to Duncan Man and Albert Fereres - Total officials, "As promised I had meeting with the minister responsible for Enemalta. He is very positive....'he also said that the minister said to ask them if they want to take over all our storage facilities and totally run the game'"
22/3/05. Mr Farrugia to Mr Tabone . "Hi Tancred, will meet Austin this afternoon. Can I meet you after?"
12/4/05. Mr Farrugia to. Mark Dunee. Informing him of mtng on 21/4 including a cv of Austin Gatt so Dunee knows who he's meeting.
19/1/05. Camille Kay from Traffigura to George Farrugia - how did meeting with minister go. Any good feedback?"
Mr Balzan said that in Feb 2013, Dr Gatt had claimed the emails were fakes as the heading was in Maltese, however the heading changes depending on the operating system one is using.
Dr Gatt held a press conference, which he attended, and Mr Balzan said he had declared that he never stated or claimed Dr Gatt was being bribed or receiving kickbacks himself. What he wrote was that amongst his meetings George Farrugia had allegedly met Austin Gatt over lucrative oil deals. He never said bribery took place during these meetings, but for sure they spoke about oil trading.
He said he had other emails linking the meetings of George Farrugia and Austin Gatt. It was impossible that Dr Gatt was not aware of what was going on at Enemalta, Mr Balzan said.
DENIAL BY LAWRENCE GONZI
Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in a short statement denied Mr Balzan's claim that any member of his security team had given him information or handed him documents alleging irregularities on oil procurement.