The chairman of the government’s privatisation unit claimed yesterday he was treated like the infamous “Porporina” during the investigation of the former CEO of Malta Investment Management Company Ltd, Mario Mizzi, who is charged with requesting a bribe.

During the two-and-a-half hour court sitting, Emanuel Ellul also exonerated Mr Mizzi and said that although he had previously told the police that he thought Mr Mizzi’s behaviour was incriminating, he now believed the opposite.

The police investigation into Mr Mizzi and the court case against him centre on the government’s wish to privatise the shipyards to turn it into four separate entities including a designated area dealing with the repair of super yachts.

A call for tenders was issued and the unit was in the process of finding a suitable buyer.

According to the police, Mr Mizzi, who sat on the adjudication board, had a private conversation with one of the directors of a bidding company, namely Paul Cardona, and said “if you take care of me, I am in a position to help you”.

The second issue the police believe incriminates Mr Mizzi is that one of the two companies which made it to the final stage had been downgraded and effectively eliminated from the bidding process, after Mr Mizzi had spoken to the foreign technical consultant, Sue Hall.

Mr Ellul testified that he had been copied into the email which Mr Mizzi had sent to Ms Hall, asking her to effectively match her negative comments about shortlisted company SYC Limited with the points she awarded them.

Mimcol chairman’s behaviour ‘not incriminating’

He said there was nothing wrong with what Mr Mizzi had done, adding that it was completely in line with what was going on at that moment.

Mr Ellul told the court that he agreed with Ms Hall that one of the two companies, SYC Limited, should be eliminated from the bidding process and that their competitor Asteleros should be awarded the contract because the first company was incompetent.

Mr Ellul said that as the whole investigation emerged and Mr Mizzi was arrested, he was called to the police depot by Police Commissioner John Rizzo and questioned.

The following day he went back to work as usual and asked his secretary to print out any correspondence he had with Ms Hall. She printed out emails containing the two reports in which she downgraded SYC Limited.

He felt one of the e-mails was “incriminating”, panicked and went straight to the Commissioner with the printed material.

At this point, he said, he was treated as if he was the notorious criminal Alfred Bugeja, known as il-Porporina, and taken to task by the police besides being accused of trying to hide documents from them.

Asked by prosecuting police inspector Angelo Gafà why he had said that he felt the email between Mr Mizzi and Ms Hall was incriminating, Mr Ellul said he had forgotten what he had seen a year and half before.

He argued that he panicked because of the pressure of the investigation, adding that after having reviewed the correspondence with a clear mind, he was now convinced that there was nothing untoward about Mr Mizzi’s exchange with Ms Hall.

During cross examination, defence lawyer Joe Giglio highlighted that the adjudication committee’s lawyer Anne Fenech had also sent an email in which she advised that if the SYC limited was not up to standard then it should be eliminated.

The case continues.