Labour MP Joseph Sammut is one of the witnesses called by Mark Gaffarena to testify in his defence in the court case following the Valletta property expropriation scandal, documents show.
Mr Gaffarena’s lawyer, Keith Bonnici, lists Dr Sammut as a witness “to testify on the contents of a letter he sent to the Land Department” in the name of Mr Gaffarena and his wife, Josielle.
The letter is not mentioned in the Auditor General’s report on the deal. It could be one of the documents missing from the Land Department file on the deal. The National Audit Office noted in its report that various documents were missing from the file it was given during the investigation.
This newspaper filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the file but this never happened. There was no acknowledgment or official refusal of the request made a few days after the Times of Malta exposed the deal.
Dr Sammut is listed as a witness to testify on the contents of a letter he sent to the Land Department
Sources told Times of Malta the letter sent by Dr Sammut, who is also a Mepa board member, asked for the property in Old Mint Street to be expropriated. However, since the letter could not be traced, the information could not be verified.
Land Department files were seized by the police and secured when the Auditor General’s report was tabled in Parliament a month ago and the government announced a reform at the Land Department. The deal involved the government buying half ownership of the Valletta property for €1.65 million from Mr Gaffarena through two contracts.
Only the shares of Mr Gaffarena were expropriated.The government never dealt with the other co-owners of the shares it purchased. The Auditor General concluded that there had been “collusion” in the deal. “The NAO is of the opinion that this expropriation was instigated by [Mark] Gaffarena, yet readily facilitated by… [former parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon, the director general of the Government Property Department and its director of estate management] and deems such collusive action as highly inappropriate, in clear breach of the fundamental principles of good governance, transparency and fairness,” the report said.
The Auditor General’s report also said that government officials had been “secretly cooperating to the detriment of the other property co-owners”.
The court has decided to uphold the Prime Minister’s request for a warrant to stop Mr Gaffarena from transferring properties given to him by the government.
His lawyers have deemed the case to be “an exercise being done for political purposes”.
The court rejected the plea by Mr Gaffarena that the Prime Minister could not institute the case. Dr Bonnici argued: “The submission by Joseph Muscat unequivocally states that he is acting in his capacity as an MP and, therefore, independently of the government. In this context, Dr Muscat cannot assume the role of Prime Minister when presenting a case as an MP.”
A government spokesman told the Times of Malta the case was based on the advice of the Attorney General outlined in the Auditor General’s report.
However, legal sources have expressed concern. Even if the case filed by the government could lead to the return of public land given to Mr Gaffarena, it might still not be sufficient to deliver justice to the co-owners of the Old Mint Street property who were cheated in the deal, they argue.
Repeated attempts to reach Dr Sammut proved futile.
caroline.muscat@timesofmalta.com