Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is expecting former European Commissioner John Dalli to clarify his position in light of the latest revelation that he took multiple trips to the Bahamas as the EU probe against him was escalating last year.

Asked for his reaction in light of Mr Dalli’s recent appointment on a reform board for the Mater Dei Hospital, the Prime Minister said this morning that he was expecting a personal visit by Mr Dalli to explain his position.

The statement comes after Police Commission Peter Paul Zammit told Times of Malta that he is looking into the latest twist in the Dalligate story which comes after the International Herald Tribune revealed that Mr Dalli had travelled to the Bahamas repeatedly in June of last year.

The newspaper quoted a Barry Connor from the Bahamas saying that Mr Dalli told him that he was in the tax haven “to move millions”.

Mr Dalli denied the claim, saying that no transaction was made and that he had travelled there to discuss the logistics of setting up a charitable fund to “help people in Africa”.

But Mr Dalli’s trip also coincides with an escalation of the EU Anti Fraud Agency (OLAF) investigation. Mr Dalli’s office had just been raided by unbeknown to the Former Commissioner at the time.

However, the former European Commissioner boarded the flight to Nassau on July 7, the day after he called his former canvasser Silvio Zammit, who had just been interrogated by OLAF.

Shortly after that phone call, Mr Dalli called Brussels to see if he could get out of a dinner which that evening was being hosted by the Cypriot Commissioner Androulla Vassillou, according to a Commission source who spoke to The Times of Malta anonymously. Mr Dalli was told it would be impolite given the short notice and eventually decided to attend.

But the day after, he boarded a flight to Malta, from where he began the journey to the Bahamas and back to Cyprus on 9 July, where he was expected for a conference a day later.

mmicallef@timesofmalta.com