Former European commissioner John Dalli was aware of what was going on in terms of bribes and trading in influence in connection with EU tobacco laws, John Rizzo said yesterday, citing police probes.
Mr Rizzo told Parliament’s Privileges Committee that a criminal investigation conducted by the police when he headed the force had arrived at the same conclusions as those of the EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF.
The Privileges Committee is looking into a complaint raised by the Prime Minister after Opposition leader Simon Busuttil alleged that Joseph Muscat had interfered in Mr Dalli’s investigations.
Reiterating that both the police and Attorney General had agreed Mr Dalli should be charged in court because there was sufficient evidence to prove their case, Mr Rizzo said his successor, Peter Paul Zammit, never discussed the case with him even though he had been the lead investigator and was still a member of the force.
Mr Rizzo said he did not have time to arraign Mr Dalli because the Prime Minister had decided that, after 12 years, he was to be replaced.
Insisting that no politician from the then Nationalist administration had ever spoken to him about the Dalli case or told him what to do, he said he had started to investigate as soon as he received the OLAF report on Mr Dalli.
“I wanted an independent criminal investigation and did not want to rest on what OLAF had concluded,” he said.
“Together with my team and the Attorney General, we investigated the allegations thoroughly, interrogated all the protagonists and compiled all the evidence again.
“At the end of our investigation, we decided there was sufficient evidence to prove our case that John Dalli knew what was going on,” Mr Rizzo told the committee.
Pressed by Nationalist MP Chris Said to explain why he had not charged Mr Dalli once there was sufficient evidence, Mr Rizzo said Mr Dalli produced medical certificates saying he could not travel to Malta as he had fallen ill in Brussels.
The police were awaiting his arrival to interrogate him before charging him in court.
Noting that Mr Dalli had not informed him that he was back in Malta, Mr Rizzo said he could not proceed with the arraignment because he had by then been replaced as commissioner following a decision by Dr Muscat.
“I didn’t want to charge Mr Dalli through a simple summons as such practice was only applied in petty cases. This was a serious matter involving bribes and a European commissioner. We had to await his arrival,” he insisted.
Asked whether the Prime Minister had given him a reason why he was being replaced, Mr Rizzo said that according to Dr Muscat his time was up as he had been at the helm of the force for 12 years.“I don’t think this was a reasoned explanation but he decides and, as a public officer, I had to obey orders,” he said, adding that the Prime Minister had never mentioned the Dalli case to him.
Mr Dalli returned to Malta on April 6 and, on April 8, Dr Muscat met Mr Rizzo and informed him of his intention to replace him.
A few weeks after his appointment as police commissioner, Mr Zammit had said during an interview that there was not sufficient evidence to charge Mr Dalli.
Asked whether Mr Zammit had ever discussed the case with him, Mr Rizzo said he had not.
None of the Labour MPs sitting on the Privileges Committee asked Mr Rizzo any questions.
Timeline
| 2012 | |
| October 15 | OLAF finishes investigation on John Dalli and concludes he knew about request for bribes. |
| October 16 | European Commission announces Dalli’s resignation. |
| October 19 | OLAF gives a copy of its final report on John Dalli to Attorney General and the police start fresh criminal investigation. |
| October 22 | Dalli returns to Malta. |
| November 13 | Dalli interrogated at police headquarters on bribery case. |
| December 1 | Police Commissioner John Rizzo travels to Brussels investigating Dalli case. |
| December (date unknown) | Dalli falls ill while in Brussels and says he cannot travel. |
| December 11 | Dalli’s former canvasser, Silvio Zammit, charged in court with bribery and trading in influence. Police inform OLAF Dalli will also be arraigned when he returns to Malta. |
| 2013 | |
| January 13 | Dalli presents medical certificate from Germany stating he can’t travel or face psycho-social exposure until end of February. |
| February 19 | Dalli files lawsuit in Brussels against Commission challenging resignation. Still too ill to travel. |
| March 10 | Dalli presents new medical certificates stating he is still too ill to travel and remains in Brussels. |
| March 13 | Labour is returned to power. |
| April 6 | Dalli returns to Malta after absence of four months due to ill health. |
| April 8 | Prime Minister Joseph Muscat informs John Rizzo he will be removed from the role of Police Commissioner. |
| April 12 | The government announces the appointment of Peter Paul Zammit as new Police Commissioner. |
| June 8 | New Police Commissioner states there is no criminal case against Dalli. |
| June 14 | Prime Minister meets Dalli at Castille and gives him a government role. |
| September 26 | Rizzo testifies he had gathered sufficient evidence to charge Dalli and that Attorney General had agreed but he had no time to charge Dalli as he was removed from the Police Commissioner role. |
Rizzo ‘hadn’t concluded probe’
John Dalli yesterday denied he knew about trading in influence and bribery and claimed that former police chief John Rizzo had not concluded his investigation because he had not interviewed him yet.
In a statement following Mr Rizzo’s evidence before the House Privileges Committee, Mr Dalli said that Mr Rizzo “had all the time in the world” to interview him before he had left for Brussels to institute legal proceedings against Swedish Match and against the European Commission.
Mr Rizzo could also have spoken to him once he got back, which was before the police commissioner had been replaced, Mr Dalli added.
“Why is Rizzo making these assertions when he still had not concluded his investigation?” Mr Dalli asked. “Is this ethical behaviour on his part to publicise an opinion he held before he had concluded his investigation?”
Reacting to Mr Rizzo’s declaration that an investigation by the police had indicated there was enough evidence proving that Mr Dalli knew what was going on, Mr Dalli reiterated he was never aware of any attempt of trading in influence.
“The facts that even OLAF could not refute are that I was never swayed in my resolve to push through a tobacco directive that would have been effective,” Mr Dalli said.