Pardoned oil trader George Farrugia. Photo: Jason Borg

Pardoned oil trader George Farrugia has rebutted his brothers’ claim that he owes them €300,000, insisting he has already paid them more than €865,000.

In a sworn counter application, Mr Farrugia and his wife, Katherine, yesterday denied that they had breached the terms of private agreement with his brothers made in June 2012.

The terms of the agreement, which was meant to settle a family dispute, are unknown.

Mr Farrugia and his wife were slapped with a warrant of prohibitory injunction by the court last month, stopping them from transferring property.

In a subsequent court application, the Farrugia brothers, owners of John’s Group and Power Plan Ltd, insisted he still owed them money and had not transferred company shares as per the agreement.

In the counter application filed by lawyer Siegfried Borg Cole, Mr Farrugia and his wife denied the accusation insisting they had already paid more than €865,000 as part of the obligations set in the agreement.

The couple had also settled government dues to the tune of €250,000 which, they argued, had benefited the brothers. The settlement formed part of the conditions laid out in the presidential pardon granted to Mr Farrugia in exchange for evidence against others allegedly involved in the oil procurement scandal that hit the headlines last year.

In January last year it was revealed that kickbacks had been paid on Enemalta contracts won by oil companies Trafigura and Total represented in Malta by Mr Farrugia.

So far, legal action has been taken against former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone over fraud and bribery charges. Another man, Frank Sammut, who ran Enemalta’s petroleum division while serving as adviser to then chairman Mr Tabone, was also charged over bribery and fraud.

Former Enemalta chief project officer Ray Ferris was also charged with fraud and bribery offences.

Two other businessmen, Anthony Cassar, chairman of Cassar Ship Repair Limited, and Francis Portelli, of Virtù Ferries, have also been charged with corruption and money laundering in a separate case which, however, came to light after the scandal broke.

Former Enemalta chief financial officer Tarcisio Mifsud was also accused of fraud and bribery. All proceedings against the men are pending.