A firm owned by the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, won seven contracts between 2004 and 2011 and another six between 2013 and last year, with a total value of over €362,000, to supply paper to the government.
Mr Schembri relinquished directorship of Kasco Ltd when he took up his official position in Castille in March 2013. However, he is still the controlling shareholder in the company.
The six tenders won between September 2013 and March 2015 to supply paper to the government printing press were worth €193,905, figures supplied to the Times of Malta following a Freedom of Information Act request, shows. The other seven contracts awarded between September 2004 and August 2011 were valued at €169, 024.
The request was limited to tenders awarded to Kasco Ltd since the Labour government came to power but the information provided also covered the contracts won by the company since 2004. An explanatory note attached to the information stressed that Kasco Ltd was awarded the contracts through an open and competitive process.
Kasco Ltd’s bids for the 13 tenders in question were always the lowest, bar on one occasion. The information supplied shows that on this occasion the company that had submitted in the lowest offer pulled out after a request for it to raise the bid was rejected.
Contacted yesterday, Mr Schembri said he saw no problem with his company winning government contracts notwithstanding his position. “As I am sure you appreciate, I do not manage Kasco Ltd, having relinquished all directorships of my companies and, moreover, I do not interfere in any government procurement. The award of tenders is done by the competent authorities and the data is publicly available.
“In my duties as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff I have no responsibilities, connection to, control over or direction of government procurement, hence, there is no conflict of interest. All procurement won by Kasco Ltd was won because Kasco Ltd was the most competitive in all tenderers.
“Finally, as explained in all previous statements, I will not discuss Kasco Group’s commercial operations and strategies,” Mr Schembri said.
Kasco Ltd’s parent company, Kasco Holdings, declared a loss of nearly €700,000 to the Malta Financial Services Authority in the three years following the setting up of two offshore companies.
The losses, incurred in the years 2012 to 2014, follow the establishment of two companies in the secretive jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands, the previous year.
The Panama Papers show that, in January 2011, Mr Schembri set up Colson Services Ltd. Another company, Selson Holding Corporation, was set up on the same day and fronted by Malcom Scerri, Kasco’s managing director.
An independent analysis of Kasco’s audited accounts for the years 2009 to 2014 commissioned by The Sunday Times of Malta shows the group’s gross profit margin fell by 32 per cent in the year the companies were established.
jacob.borg@timesofmalta.com