The wife of oil trader George Farrugia confirmed before the Public Accounts Committee this evening that she had sent an e-mail to then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi asking him to meet her husband.

She said that although Dr Gonzi refused to meet him, she did not know why.

Cathy Farrugia was replying to questions from MPs who are discussing oil procurement on and before 2009.

George Farrugia had been granted a presidential pardon to reveal all about commissions paid for oil procurement contracts.

Early in today's sitting, the Attorney General, Peter Grech, was called to answer various questions about his role in the granting of the pardon to Mr Farrugia.

Beppe Fenech Adami (PN) said Dr Grech could settle, once and for all, the issue of whether the pardon was issued for 'sinister' reasons or in the best interests of the investigations.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici said explanations on the background of the pardon had been given by the former prime minister, former police commissioner John Rizzo and the investigators among others, and it was not the role of the Attorney General to give his opinion, particularly as it could conflict with the confidentiality of his office.

Dr Grech said the government was his client and he needed an exemption to testify.

Dr Bonnici said an exemption could not be given for the reasons he had explained. If necessary, a face-to-face confrontation could be held between Dr Gonzi and Mr Rizzo to see who had come up with the idea of offering the pardon.

CATHY FARRUGIA GIVES EVIDENCE

The Committee then started questioning Cathy Farrugia.

She said that after 2006 she started helping out in her husband's office at Powerplan Ltd in Qormi. She spent a few hours there every week, up to 2010, and recently started once more.

She assisted her husband within John's Group and Powerplan Ltd, which her husband managed. She had no dealings with clients.

Prior to 1995 she worked with the Mizzi Group as a secretary for seven years. Although Lawrence Gonzi worked on the same floor, in the legal department and later as board chairman, she never worked for him.

As far as she could recall, Dr Gonzi was already there when she joined and was there when she left, but his time in the company was reduced when he became Speaker.

Asked whether they met, she said 'not really' other than courtesies such as 'hello'.

She said about 150 people worked in the same block and some 50 were in the same floor.

Asked about e-mails she had sent Dr Gonzi, Mrs Farrugia said she could recall all of them as it was a long time ago. She did not have a record of them. For example, she could not recall a 2004 e-mail shown in the newspapers.

Asked if she communicated frequently with Dr Gonzi she replied 'no way'.

Asked why she had e-mailed Dr Gonzi to request a meeting for her husband, Mrs Farrugia said her husband had expressed the wish to meet Dr Gonzi and she sent the e-mail. At the time there was a campaign about the way how people could e-mail the prime minister.

She did not know what her husband wished to speak to Dr Gonzi about. She assumed it was a business matter but did not ask him, and she did not know more. She drafted the e-mail with her husband.

Asked whether it was normal for her to seek a meeting for her husband with the prime minister, without asking questions, Mrs Farrugia said she had not asked questions, it was a business issue about which she was not involved.

Dr Bonnici said he found that hard to believe.

Mrs Farrugia confirmed that she wrote invoices on behalf of her husband for Powerplan and Ikon Ltd (also owned by her husband). She was given the information to list on the invoices and did not seek the information herself.

Dr Bonnici said the fact that she was involved in invoices showed she had some business information and it was therefore difficult to believe she had not asked questions when the meeting with Dr Gonzi was requested.

Pressed further, Mrs Farrugia said that when Dr Gonzi replied by asking her what her husband wanted to speak to him about, she did not know and passed the e-mail to her husband.

Dr Bonnici noted that she had mentioned her children in the e-mail to Dr Gonzi.

Mrs Farrugia said she had not communicated with Dr Gonzi for 13 years.

Dr Bonnici pointed out she had congratulated Dr Gonzi in an e-mail in 2008.

Mrs Farrugia said it was natural that when she had not seen someone for 13 years, she would speak about her children.

Dr Bonnici said there was also another e-mail in 2004. Mrs Farrugia said she could not recall it.

She did not know what happened after her e-mail request for her husband to meet Dr Gonzi. Her husband told her Dr Gonzi would not meet him. She did not know why.

Dr Bonnici said he found that difficult to believe.

Replying to further questions, she said she was not involved in helping political parties. As far as she knew, her husband was not involved either. She only got to know from the committee meetings that her husband had made a donation to former minister Austin Gatt.

She only once attending a political activity, a dinner, along with her husband and his brother Raymond. She was not sure if it was organised by (former minister) Tonio Fenech. As to whether her husband attended such activities, she did not know and it was he who should be asked.

Dr Bonnici noted that Mr Farrugia had said that, with his brother Raymond, he had attended a party for former minister Austin Gatt and given a donation to his son.

Mrs Farrugia said her husband spent a lot of time outside the house on business and it was no surprise for her that he did not tell her where he was or whom he met.

She confirmed that her husband had been invited by (oil company) Trafigura to the World Cup in South Africa. She assumed they paid for the trip, but she did not know for sure. Company representative Naim Ahmed was present. Her husband had bought her a precious stone.

She did not know if she met Mr Ahmed in Malta. Once, she said, she met a representative of another oil company, Totsa, but could not recall the name. She did not communicate with them on e-mail.

She only communicated for invoice purposes.

The sitting was adjourned at 9 pm. The next sitting will be held after Easter.