Oil trader George Farrugia said in the Public Accounts today that he could not remember his reference to The Big One in an e-mail sent in 2005.
Mr Farrugia was back before the committee for the third time, with MPs asking him a series of questions on the oil procurement scandal.
Mr Farrugia, the local agent of Total/Totsa, was granted a presidential pardon to reveal the whole truth on the case.
At the beginning of this evening's sitting, Parliamentary Secretary Owen Bonnici referred to an e-mail sent on 29 April 2005 by Mr Farrugia to his Total principal Olivier de Richmond requesting urgent payment, saying he had not received anything re The Big One. He needed the payment desperately because he could not do what he needed to do and he would be in deep sh..
Asked repeatedly by Dr Bonnici, Mr Farrugia said he did not recall what he had been speaking about, but this was a form of pressure for payment of overdue sums. It could have been, he said, that he too needed to make some payments and thus needed the money. He could not recall what 'the big one' meant, but the letter was a form of pressure for payment.
Dr Bonnici told Mr Farrugia that he did not believe him, especially since he could remember fine details on other matters. He warned him that not giving information could have consequences.
Dr Bonnici also asked a series of questions about other e-mails. Mr Farrugia said the e-mails were about the possibility of forming a consortium to manage oil storage facilities.
Mr Farrugia confirmed that a reference to 'Aust' in one of the e-mails referred to Austin Gatt. In it he said that relations between the Falzon Group and Dr Gatt were bad. He also said that if Falzon was not admitted as part of the consortium, Falzon would form a partnership with Shell Petroleum.
Dr Bonnici noted another e-mail were a Naeel Ahmed asked Mr Farrugia: "Did the dragon like the diamond?" He asked what that meant. Mr Farrugia said this was about a blue diamond given as a gift to his wife. He still had it, along with receipts.
Asked about another comment that: “We should have the 50,000 returned to you within two weeks,” Mr Farrugia said that was about a sum of 50,000 which had been loaned for a drag racing car sponsorship and which were being returned.
Dr Bonnici asked him how he remembered these details, but nothing about The Big One.
Mr Farrugia insisted he was saying everything that he remembered.
To further questions, Mr Farrugia asked where the €50,000 were sent to a Swiss account.
Dr Bonnici asked whether this was a case of attempting to hide the transaction.
Mr Farrugia said Mr Ahmed was Swiss-based. He said Power Plan Ltd did not have the funds so he paid them himself. He did not have the funds in Malta and paid from the Iakon account in Switzerland.
Dr Bonnici said he found it difficult to believe that he had no funds in Malta. Furthermore the dragster car was never mentioned.
Mr Farrugia said that was a loan, which he had used for the car.
Dr Bonnici said he was not believing him. How could he, with such strong income, claim he did not have money? And did Ahmed lend him money just like that?
Furthermore, in the same e-mail, Mr Farrugia had also said he was ‘Working on Ray’ (Stafrace, the auditor of Aikon Ltd).
The sitting was suspended at 6 p.m. and resumed at 7.15 p.m.
When the sitting resumed, Dr Bonnici said he was still not believing that Mr Farrugia did not have €50,000 and needed to borrow from Nageem Ahmed.
He asked Mr Farrugia if he had had business dealings with Mr Ahmed. Mr Farrugia said they had, but this was not related to the Enemalta oil procurement.
Dr Bonnici asked Mr Farrugia whom he had phoned when the police told him they wanted to question him.
Mr Farrugia said he had phoned his wife...
Dr Bonnici warned him he was under oath.
Mr Farrugia said after a long pause that he tried to phone his lawyer Siegfried Borg Cole but could not get through. He then phoned Ronnie Agius and asked him to tell Dr Borg Cole.
Dr Bonnici asked Mr Farrugia whether he had spoken to any elected person in the three days between when the oil scandal was revealed in the newspapers, and his questioning by the police.
Mr Farrugia said he did not recall speaking to anyone.
Dr Bonnici insisted with Mr Farrugia that he should reveal all.
Mr Farrugia said he was saying everything he remembered.
Asked where he had been when he read the story the first time, Mr Farrugia said, after a long pause, that he was in a coffee shop in Kalkara. He said a (then) business partner of Frank Sammut phoned him and later visited him with Frank Sammut. Mr Sammut's partner had nothing to do with the oil procurement.
The meeting with Mr Sammut was made before the latter's arrest.
Asked if had e-mailed anyone about this issue, Mr Farrugia said he did not recall doing so. Nor did he recall speaking to anyone else, except Ronnie Agius, a trusted friend.
Dr Bonnici said he found it strange that he did not speak to anybody else.
Mr Farrugia said he may have spoken to Dr Godwin Muscat Azzopardi but he did not know what it was at that time.
Dr Bonnici again repeatedly asked whether he had requested assistance from anyone other than Dr Borg Cole.
Mr Farrugia said he may have spoken to some friends, but could not recall more.
Dr Bonnici said he was not believing him.
At this stage it was revealed that 10 days elapsed between the day when the story broke and the day when Mr Farrugia was questioned by the police.
Dr Bonnici again asked whether he had sought anyone, other that his lawyer, for assistance. He asked whether he had sought help through a friend.
Mr Farrugia said he did not.
Jason Azzopardi (PN) asked him whether he had spoken to a minister, parliamentary secretary or MP.
Mr Farrugia replied 'no'. He spoke to some members of his family for moral support.
After his release from police headquarters and the granting of the pardon, Mr Farrugia said he did not speak to anyone involved in the case or anybody in authority. Nor was he approached by anyone who was involved. This was the time when he got to know who his real friends were, because many people no longer spoke to him, he said.