Two reference letters issued from HSBC's Attard branch, months after it had ceased operations, were at the heart of testimony given this morning by the Prime Minister's consultant and Nexia BT director Brian Tonna.
Taking the witness stand in the libel proceedings instituted by himself and his business partner Carl Cini against The Malta Independent following two articles which appeared in May 2013, Mr Tonna declared that Nexia BT had not asked for any clarification from HSBC when news of the letters was leaked in the media.
The letters had been issued on behalf of the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and Malcolm Scerri, who now heads the Kasco Group owned by Mr Schembri. The documents, which were used in connection with the opening of companies in tax havens, had the words “Attard branch” written on them even though the branch had ceased to operate 15 months earlier.
Mr Tonna admitted that although allegations of fraud, targeting him and fellow director at BTI Management Carl Cini, had first appeared in a blog a week before The Malta Independent articles, no denial or libel action had been made.
It was only after publication of the allegations in the newspaper articles that he and Mr Cini had filed libel proceedings against it.
While denying the allegations, Mr Tonna declared there had been no communication between Nexia BT and HSBC on the matter which the bank had attributed to "an administrative error" within its correspondence system and templates.
Mr Tonna explained that the reference letters had been requested by Mr Cini on behalf of their clients Mr Schembri and Mr Scerri a few weeks after the 2013 general elections.
The request was forwarded to Lawrence Pace, a manager at the HSBC Head Office, in the normal course of business by Nexia BT.
Asked whether he sensed any 'anomaly' in the fact that the documents had been issued by a closed branch, Mr Tonna declared that once he received a reference on behalf of clients, he did not check the address details. "You should ask the bank" he retorted.
"You should ask the bank" he retorted.
Following the publication of the allegedly defamatory articles, Mr Tonna and Mr Cini had sent a statement of denial to the publishers asking for an apology and a retraction of the allegations made in their regard.
Lawyer Peter Fenech was counsel to The Malta Independent.
Lawyer Aaron Mifsud Bonnici was counsel to Mr Tonna.