Updated 3pm with Mizzi reaction
MEP David Casa will on Monday head to court to present all evidence in his possession to prove Minister Konrad Mizzi's connection with corruption and money laundering.
The development elicited an equally scathing reaction from the minister who accused the MEP of being obsessed with him.
[attach id=630303 size="medium" align="right"]David Casa: on the warpath.[/attach]
The damning report he will be presenting, concluded in March 2017, includes "details of schemes, systems, behaviour and collusion in corruption and money laundering, involving officials at the highest levels of the Maltese government", he said in a statement on Saturday.
Mr Casa revealed he had been invited by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja to present all evidence in his possession under oath at 9am after presenting an application in court on Friday.
The MEP said the damning report concludes that criminal investigations should start against Minister Mizzi on alleged money laundering and the possible existence of money derived from crime.
"As I have already stated, it is my belief that the judiciary is the last remaining hope for the Maltese people as all other institutions have been exposed as government mouthpieces more interested in concealing the criminal activities of their political masters than doing their job," Mr Casa said in a statement.
Mr Casa said he was confident the information he will provide will equip the judiciary to do what, under normal circumstances, should be done by the police.
It has however become painfully clear that the Commissioner of Police is not interested in crimes committed by people close to the Prime Minister
"The FIAU buried this report on Konrad Mizzi and as far we know it has never even made it to the Commissioner of Police. It has however become painfully clear that the Commissioner of Police is not interested in crimes committed by people close to the Prime Minister. Despite information in the public domain that I have been in possession of this report since December no attempt was ever made by the Commissioner of Police to obtain this information.”
The report was originally drawn up by the FIAU.In a statement on Friday, Dr Mizzi reiterated that no wrongdoing whatsoever was committed, and that the trust and company (now dissolved) never held bank accounts and received no funds from anywhere in the world.
But Mr Casa hit back: "Konrad Mizzi should be nowhere near public office. The staggering amount of information already in the public domain is sufficient to conclude that he’s a crook”.
Mizzi accuses Casa of being obsessed with him
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, Konrad Mizzi referred to the "sustained spate of unsubstantiated allegations" made against him by Mr Casa.
"Casa's obsession in my regard betrays his own insecurity and is only intended to mask his own inefficacy as a politician. Mr Casa has not made any contribution to the well-being and prosperity of the Maltese. Instead he has consistently been destructive to Malta’s best interest. He continues to harass me because of tangible achievements, such as Enemalta's turnaround, resolving the out of stock medicines problem and more recently, bring positive and sustainable change to Air Malta."
Dr Mizzi said these achievements stemmed from situations created by the very PN administration that Casa was at the very forefront of.
"This mudslinging and cheap theatrics are only intended to intimidate me from continuing to deliver for the Maltese people."
His statement elicited another reply from the MEP:
"Konrad Mizzi is finding me “intimidating”. If it will stop him from “delivering for the Maltese people” an expense of millions of euro to the dodgy operators of our hospitals, and the transfer of public land to sham universities, he should be warned that I am only getting started."