Ninu Zammit, a former minister, denied claims in l-Orizzont carried today about a case which goes back 25 years, involving the brothers Michael and Alfred Fenech, who at the time traded in oil provisions. He said the brothers owed Enemalta about Lm500,000 (about €1.2 million) for oil purchases from Enemalta.

They did not want to settle, Mr Zammit said, and Enemalta stopped supplying them with oil. Another person mentioned, Pawlu Cutajar, il-Maxku, had been removed from Ninu Zammit’s group since before the 1992 election. He himself has sworn he is a liar. He had sworn in court that everything he had said about Ninu Zammit and his brother Leli was all lies.

What Cutajar is heard saying in recordings mentioned by the newspaper, Mr Zammit said, has no veracity and was nothing but barefaced lies. And the claims by l-Orizzont and maltastar.com are nothing but a frame up, he added. The case reported in l-Orizzont, Mr Zammit said, had been reported by Alternattiva in 1992 and has nothing to do with the oil procurement case being treated now in court.