A Maltese entrepreneur who had organised meetings between former EU Commissioner John Dalli and representatives and lobbyists of snus producers repeatedly requested a considerable sum of money from the industry in exchange for the adoption of a proposal for the lifting of the ban on snus, OLAF, the EU anti-fraud office said today.
It said in a statement that the business had traded on the name of the Commissioner. The businessman’s request, OLAF said, was declined by the industry and no payment or financial transactions took place.
OLAF said it was making its statements to clarify comments in recent media reports regarding its investigation into alleged bribe requests to obtain the lifting of the EU ban on snus.
The claims were made in a Swedish newspaper this morning.
Aftonbladet claimed that Snus manufacturer Swedish Match was asked for €60 million by Silvio Zammit to influence a decision by Mr Dalli.
In its statement, OLAF regretted that partial evidence of the case had been provided to the press by interested parties and said it would not comment on details of the investigation as the matter was now under consideration by the judicial authorities.
It reiterated that its investigation found no conclusive evidence of the direct participation of Commissioner Dalli in the operation for requesting money and again noted it had referred the case to the competent Maltese judicial authorities for their consideration of the criminal aspects of the actions of the people involved.
OLAF said it also concluded that there were a number of unambiguous circumstantial pieces of evidence indicating that Mr Dalli was aware of the activities of the entrepreneur and of the fact that his name and position were being used for financial gain.
“OLAF found that Commissioner Dalli had taken no action to prevent or dissociate himself from the facts or to report the circumstances,” it said.
It said it was aware of the evidence reported in recent press articles which formed part of the overall findings of the investigation on the basis of which it drew its conclusions.
OLAF pointed out that all rights of the people concerned were respected and prior to the adoption of the final report a comprehensive review of the investigation process was conducted to ensure compliance with all legal requirements, including the rights and procedural guarantees of those concerned.
It said Mr Dalli was interviewed twice during OLAF's investigation.
“On these occasions he was provided with the allegations and the facts concerning him, and given the opportunity to comment on them. Commissioner DALLI was informed and availed of his right to be assisted by a person of his choice during the interview.
“The principle of the presumption of innocence and the right of defence of the persons concerned by OLAF investigations are fully respected throughout the whole investigation process,” it said.
See also:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20121019/local/Aftonbladet.441762