Rogue oil trader George Farrugia used to bribe Enemalta officials with the full knowledge and consent of all but one of his brothers, Police Inspector Angelo Gafà told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday.
In fact, Mr Gafà said he had suggested they face corruption charges together with others.
During his 48 hours of investigation under arrest, Mr Farrugia was not very cooperative and often chose to keep silent. In fact the police took only one statement from him, before he was released.
When he was informed, while still under arrest, that he was being offered to turn State’s evidence, he did not know what it meant and wanted to consult his lawyer.
To a question by Deborah Schembri (PL), Mr Gafà said then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s announcement of the impending recommendation to the President had to be taken in the context of an election campaign. Not that an investigation would have been handled any differently, he added immediately.
Mr Gafà said the first person to spill the beans was Frank Sammut, who was receiving money from Trafigura without Farrugia’s involvement. After being given a Presidential pardon in exchange for his testimony, Farrugia was called to Police Headquarters repeatedly and had no choice but to answer their questions. Farrugia never changed a comma in his story, Mr Gafà said.
Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said the PAC had asked some questions which Farrugia had to pause to answer.
He had not always been convincing, especially about the enigmatic “big one”. Mr Gafà agreed, adding that Farrugia admitted saying things to bluff foreign companies about his connections.
Answering further questions, he said Tonio Fenech was cautioned and interrogated about the gift of a Maltese clock which Farrugia had mentioned. It turned out that the clock had been paid for by Powerplan, the Farrugia brothers’ company, but Fenech knew nothing about this.
Coming back to “the big one”, Dr Bonnici asked Mr Gafà if this was a person or a cheque. The inspector pointed out that in one of his e-mails Farrugia mentioned “the big one” as “it”.
Dr Bonnici asked why the police had never felt the need to talk to Minister Austin Gatt again since Farrugia mentioned him several times, but Mr Gafà said it was known that Dr Gatt had always refused to talk to Farrugia about tenders.