The police have still not verified Austin Gatt’s declarations about his Swiss bank account but Times of Malta can reveal it was valued at more than €700,000 when the former Transport Minister forgot to declare it in 2005.
Essential requisite elements for such an investigation to take place are missing
In the heat of the election campaign, Dr Gatt admitted to having the account, which, he said, he had forgotten to include in his declaration of assets.
At a press conference on February 15, called to deny any involvement in the Enemalta oil scandal, Dr Gatt had said the account was opened by his father in 1973 and he inherited it when his mother had passed away.
He said there had been no transactions in the account for 40 years, apart from cumulative interest. A day later, he provided the police with the necessary details to investigate the account.
What was not known then is that on February 18 – three days after the press conference – Dr Gatt wrote to the Speaker of the House to amend his annual declaration of assets for the years 2005 to 2011.
In his letter, Dr Gatt gave details of his account and revealed that he had lost about €200,000 during the 2008 economic downturn.
Dr Gatt told then Speaker Michael Frendo that the “managed fund portfolio”, administered by UBS and held in Swiss francs (Chf), contained Chf 883,277 (€713,976) in 2005 but dropped to Chf604,443 (€488,587) in 2008 “due to the drastic downward revaluation of assets brought about following the financial crisis”.
The account maintained similar levels throughout 2009, 2010 and 2011 when it was last valued at Chf602,638 (€487,128).
When contacted, Dr Gatt declined to comment on the account, saying he was now out of politics. He was a high-profile Cabinet member for most of the recent Nationalist administrations and the person who directed the PN’s unsuccessful election campaign three months ago.
Dr Gatt has since left politics and joined leading shipping agents Hili Company Ltd.
No evidence to tie the account to the oil scandal
Times of Malta asked the police whether they had investigated the Swiss bank account to confirm there had not been any transactions in 40 years.
Although the police initially said they were investigating, a spokesman recently told Times of Malta: “Please note that the Swiss bank account in question cannot be the subject of a police international cooperation matter as the requisite elements that are essential for such an investigation to take place are missing.”
Sources explained this meant they had no powers to investigate because they had no evidence to tie the account to the oil scandal.
Times of Malta asked the police to explain the requisite elements for a police international cooperation matter and why they could not verify Dr Gatt’s claims despite getting all the necessary permission. Replies were not forthcoming by the time of going to print.