Former Nationalist Cabinet minister Ninu Zammit yesterday acknowledged that until recently he had a secret Swiss bank account but said he regularised his position last year through a government asset repatriation programme.
Both Mr Zammit and Michael Falzon, another ex-PN minister, whose name was also on the Swiss Leaks list, dodged questions when asked if they had ever declared their interest when repatriation schemes were debated in Cabinet.
The scandal, which was broken by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, involves a giant tax evasion scheme allegedly operated by British multinational bank HSBC via its Swiss subsidiary. The bank has been accused of encouraging clients to evade taxes in their home country by using Switzerland’s secretive banks culture to escape legal loopholes.
Mr Zammit was yesterday contacted by this newspaper in the wake of a story in The Malta Independent on Sunday which said Mr Zammit did not deny having an account at HSBC Geneva.
However, he declined to reveal the amounts involved. “Such information has been passed to the authorities when I regularised my position,” he said.
In a statement, Mr Zammit said that, in the late 1970s, he had deposited abroad earnings from his profession as an architect and from property dealings. Eventually he decided to transfer this money to HSBC Geneva but no further deposits were made since, he said.
Position with the Inland Revenue Department ‘in order’ after last year’s asset repatriation scheme
Mr Zammit, who retired from politics in 2013, declared that his position with the Inland Revenue Department was “in order” after he took advantage of last year’s asset repatriation scheme. As a result, he said, he no longer had foreign bank accounts.
He also refuted allegations of any involvement in the Enemalta oil procurement scandal. Declaring he was politically responsible for the construction of the facilities used by the Mediterranean Oil Bunkering Corporation, he categorically denied any involvement in oil trading, whether within MOBC or Enemalta.
On Saturday, Mr Falzon suspended himself from the party and the oil procurement committee after admitting holding an account with HSBC in Switzerland.
He gave details of an account holding €460,000 that he opened in Switzerland in the 1980s, pointing out that he had regularised his fiscal position in 2008 when the money in the account was repatriated.
Asked by Times of Malta whether he had declared his position in Cabinet during his tenure as minister, Mr Falzon yesterday denied any conflict of interest. “I did not benefit from an amnesty that was the result of a decision taken while I was a minister,” he said. Both former ministers have been suspended from the PN.
PN leader Simon Busuttil yesterday reiterated the categorical stance announced on Saturday that whoever featured on the Swiss Leaks list and had any official connection with the party should consider himself suspended immediately.
As a result of the latest developments, he said Mr Zammit should consider himself suspended with immediate effect.