Nexia BT partner Karl Cini was unable to recall many details related to reference letters issued by HSBC on behalf of Keith Schembri and Malcolm Scerri this morning while testifying in court.
Mr Cini told a court that the reference letters had been specifically requested by financial services firm Mossack Fonseca.
The Nexia BT partner was taking the witness stand in libel proceedings instituted by Nexia BT managing partner Brian Tonna and himself against The Malta Independent following two articles which appeared on May 8, 2016.
The article entitled “Panama Papers: HSBC investigation expected into alleged fraudulent documents vouching for Keith Schembri and Malcolm Scerri,” and its online counterpart, had alleged that HSBC Bank Malta was expected to launch an investigation into the use of documents concerning OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and Kasco Ltd general manager Malcolm Scerri which featured a letterhead for a branch which was no longer operational when the letters were dated.
Asked whether the reference letter request had been made in writing or verbally, Mr Cini declared that he could not remember and could not consult his records since the request had possibly been made via phone.
When lawyer Peter Fenech, appearing on behalf of The Malta Independent, asked Mr Cini to verify the information requested of him, lawyer Aaron Mifsud Bonnici pointed out that his client was bound by professional secrecy and that the line of questioning amounted to a ‘fishing expedition.’
Asked for the raison d’etre behind such reference letters, Mr Cini replied that the question was irrelevant, thus prompting Dr Fenech to retort that a witness could not decide upon the relevance or otherwise of questions put to him. “Is this the level to which we have reduced justice?” the lawyer remarked.
Mr Cini explained how the letters were issued from HSBC head office by Lawrence Pace, the relations manager normally consulted by Nexia BT in the ordinary course of business. However, once again, Mr Cini could not recall whether it was the clients themselves, namely Mr Schembri and Mr Scerri, who had contacted the bank or whether he had done so himself.
READ: Brian Tonna testifies in HSBC reference letter case
This prompted Dr Fenech to declare that the witness was "not credible" and to request a suspension of the cross-examination so that the information being sought might be obtained from bank officials under oath.
Mr Cini could also not recall who had signed for receipt of the reference letters or whether they had been accompanied by a covering letter. He said the the reference letters had either been received by Nexia BT via post or had been personally collected from the bank.
When Mr Cini’s lawyer argued that these questions were totally irrelevant to the merits of the case, Dr Fenech replied that this information lay at the heart of the matter since the allegedly defamatory articles concerned the issue of documents from HSBC’s Attard branch, months after it had ceased operations.