Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has called upon the Prime Minister to act following further revelations in the Panama Papers.
Speaking at a press conference, Dr Busuttil said the papers showed how Dr Muscat's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, has secret companies not just in Panama but also the British Virgin Islands. It was already known that minister Konrad Mizzi had a secret company in Panama.
What was significant, Dr Busuttil said, was that Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri owned companies which were set up after Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri took up their government posts. It was significant that their intended purpose was to hold funds from brokerage and that they had bound themselves to deposit €1 million in a bank account.
No Nationalist MP or PN official was found to own a company in Panama or the British Virgin Islands, whether directly or indirectly
The financial services firm Nexia BT set up three companies in Panama within a week. Two were owned by Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri but the ownership of the third was not known yet.
Dr Busuttil said that in view of serious implications, he was calling on the authorities to investigate who owned the third company.
Dr Busuttil observed that in the list issued yesterday no Nationalist MP or PN official was found to own a company in Panama or the British Virgin Islands, whether directly or indirectly. Thus, the only politicians to own companies were Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri.
Former Nationalist minister Ninu Zammit, who was mentioned in the Panama Papers had also been mentioned in the SwissLeaks last year and he had subsequently been immediately suspended from the PN, Dr Busuttil recalled.
He stressed that although the Panama Papers mentioned financial services companies in which Francis Zammit Dimech and Ann Fenech were or had been involved, the two were not directly involved, in contrast to the minister who had set up a company of his own. Dr Zammit Dimech and Dr Fenech had only been doing professional work as lawyers in financial services firms, Dr Busuttil insisted.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST BY BRIAN TONNA
The Panama Papers mentioned the audit firm Nexia BT headed by Brian Tonna, which set up the companies for Dr Mizzi, Mr Schembri and the third, unknown, person.
In Mr Tonna's case, there was clear conflict of interest because he had an office at Auberge de Castille while also serving as financial consultant to Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri. Therefore, Dr Busuttil insisted, Mr Tonna should no longer be involved in Castille.
Now that the Panama Papers had been issued, and for the government to continue to govern without a shadow of suspicion, the prime minister should dismiss Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri.
The Maltese authorities also needed to do their duty and investigate all the implications of the Panama Papers to ensure there was no corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.
Dr Busuttil said it was a disgrace that rather than taking action, the Labour Party was trying to deceive the people by trying to give the impression that PN officials also had Panama companies.
However, the people would notice the difference between financial services industry operators and people who actually owned companies in Panama.
Through its actions, the Labour Party was undermining the financial services industry, Dr Busuttil said.