E-mails referring to George Farrugia, the man at the centre of the oil procurement scandal, show that he met former energy minster Austin Gatt and former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, a court heard yesterday.
The e-mails and correspondence were presented as evidence by MaltaToday editor Saviour Balzan, whose newspaper broke the story about the scandal in January.
A number of high-profile businessmen are pleading not guilty to charges related to taking commissions on oil purchases made by Enemalta.
Mr Balzan was testifying in a libel suit filed against him by Dr Gatt over a January 27 article which carried excerpts from emails purporting to show Mr Farrugia was in regular contact with Enemalta officials and the former minister over the sale of oil.
Dr Gatt denies ever having met Mr Farrugia over oil tenders. Last night Dr Gonzi categorically denied ever meeting Mr Farrugia on any matter, saying those who were alleging to the contrary were lying blatantly.
Mr Balzan yesterday gave Magistrate Francesco Depasquale seven documents containing a number of e-mails and a chat log.
He was asked if he had ‘a guy on the inside’
In the first e-mail, Mr Farrugia both confirms he knew Dr Gatt and also knew of his opinion on third parties, Mr Balzan said, as he read out the relevant section: “I know as a fact that his relations with Enemalta and with Aust. is very bad.”
In the second e-mail, Mr Farrugia wrote to Frank Sammut, the assistant to ex-Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone, and copied in businessman Paul Hili.
Mr Balzan said in this e-mail Mr Farrugia gave information about a tender. He added it was a known fact that Mr Hili was very close to Dr Gatt.
In a third e-mail, sent in 2008, Mr Farrugia informs a bidder, George Stassis of Moil Coal Trading Ltd, how bids for the privatisation of Enemalta’s petroleum section were being considered before the contract was released.
Mr Farrugia said that his company Powerplan Ltd was the most favoured and in fact it won the tender, Mr Balzan said.
The main competitors were Island Oils Bunker Company, owned Mr Tabone and by Francis Portelli of Virtú Ferries, who has been separately charged over his involvement. Enemalta’s chairman at the time was Alex Tranter, Mr Balzan said.
In a fourth e-mail, it was confirmed that Mr Farrugia knew Dr Gonzi and Dr Gatt as there were a number of exchanges about meetings with them through Leonard Callus, who worked at OPM at the time.
In these exchanges, some private companies are also mentioned, including one owned by Beppe Hili.
In a fifth document, Mr Farrugia told Mr Callus that a company, Horizon, was inviting Dr Gonzi and “AG” to Dubai and possibly for a dinner.
This meant that meetings between them did take place, Mr Balzan said.
In the sixth document, Mr Balzan presented a chat log between Mr Farrugia and Nicholas Vernerey from a company called Gasoil, in which they spoke about a contract.
Mr Vernerey asked Mr Farrugia “if he had a guy on the inside”. Mr Farrugia said he did.
The seventh document was another e-mail referencing meetings that Mr Balzan said used to take place between politicians, the management of Enemalta and the companies tendering, without any form of protocol.
While he was not making an allegation, this appeared to be normal and regular, he said.
In a statement, the PL said PN leader Simon Busuttil had to answer for what had been said in court about Dr Gatt’s and Dr Gonzi’s denial of knowing Mr Farrugia.