Former EU Commissioner John Dalli will continue to head a reform body within Mater Dei Hospital, following a meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Friday, which ended, according to Mr Dalli, on a “very positive” note.

Speculation concerning Mr Dalli mounted following a story published by the International Herald Tribune – a sister paper to the New York Times – last Monday, which revealed that he had gone on a number of trips to the Bahamas last summer. At this time, he was still an EU commissioner, but he was being investigated by EU anti-fraud agency OLAF over claims that he was aware of a bribe request to revise EU laws on tobacco allegedly made by his associate Silvio Zammit.

The International Herald Tribune (IHT) quoted Mr Dalli as saying that he travelled as part of efforts to arrange financing for a philanthropic project, which he said was “very confidential” and which aimed to help people in Africa.

It also quoted Barry Connor, the landlord of a villa rented by Mr Dalli’s daughter Claire Gauci Borda, who said that Mr Dalli had told him that he planned to transfer large amounts of money for an unspecified venture of an apparent philanthropic nature.

Press questions to the Office of the Prime Minister concerning Mr Dalli’s post – the appointment was only made last month, shortly after Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit declared that there was no case against him – went unanswered, but when the topic was raised at a press conference on Thursday, Dr Muscat that he was expecting Mr Dalli to explain himself before making a decision.

At a press briefing yesterday afternoon, Mr Dalli confirmed that he met Dr Muscat to do just that on Friday, accompanied by his daughters Claire Gauci Borda and Louisa Dalli. The former commissioner said that during the hour-long meeting, he provided details of the philanthropic project, stating that he also provided some documents he could not make public due to professional secrecy.

While he said that he could not speak on behalf of the Prime Minister, Mr Dalli said that the outcome of the meeting was very positive. In reply to another question, he confirmed that there was “no change” as far as his Mater Dei appointment was concerned.

 

Planned philanthropic project ‘worth billions’

The press briefing, which took place in Mr Dalli’s office in Portomaso, was apparently held in reaction to a story published by The Times yesterday: he confronted its author, Mark Micallef, over its contents on a number of occasions during the 50-minute event.

Mr Dalli’s family stood by while the briefing took place; on a number of occasions, journalists’ questions were met with muted heckles or laughter.

While he did not disclose the documents shown to Dr Muscat, the former EU commissioner did reveal some more details about the philanthropic project.

He said that, this project was still being drawn up, and that information about it was very sensitive. But he insisted that the financing involved was far north of the $100 million mentioned by the IHT: the initiatives that have been prioritised would require billions of dollars.

The general idea, Mr Dalli revealed, was to set up sustainable economic projects in various sectors – he mentioned farming, mining, oil and energy as examples – in various African countries, which would create jobs and foster economic growth in the local community. The profits from these economic projects, he added, would be used to support other initiatives in education and health.

The prioritised projects alone, he said, would create 28,000 direct jobs and 115,000 indirect jobs, assist 13 million poor people and feed and educate seven million children. He said that at this stage, the countries of operation envisaged are Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana – the Niger Delta, an oil-rich region of southern Nigeria, was also included in the list of countries.

Mr Dalli said he felt that the project was worth pursuing, and that his contribution gave him particular fulfilment, especially now that he was reaching the end of his career.

The former commissioner also revealed that he was seeking to have the project based in Malta, adding that this would provide great financial benefits and that it could lead to the earmarking of some funds to help the underprivileged in the country.

He announced that he held a number of meetings with a consultant from one of Malta’s largest accounting firms, starting last August: the last meeting took place this very week.

But in the written statement he provided to the press, he also suggested that the “ongoing negative campaign” that was taking place made the outcome of his efforts doubtful.

 

The Bahamas

Mr Dalli confirmed that he travelled to the Bahamas three times: in July, August and September 2012.

He said that he did not even leave the airport on the first trip: he held meetings on the private plane that took him there and took another flight to return.

The July trip took place the morning after Mr Dalli called Silvio Zammit, who had just been interrogated by OLAF, and Mr Dalli took care to emphasise that there was no link between the two events. He pointed out that he was in possession of emails which confirmed that the trip had been planned since at least 12 June – “even before the first interview of Gayle Kimberly by OLAF”.

The other trips lasted roughly five days and two to three days, according to Mr Dalli.

Mr Dalli moved on to discuss the statements made by Mr Connor, which he sarcastically described as “a prophet inspired by Christ”. He had already questioned the Bahamian national’s credibility earlier this week, stating that, among other things, that he had sent threatening emails to his daughter Claire, who had turned down his request to help organise some financial transactions “as the transactions were suspect”.

But in subsequent comments to the press, Mr Connor insisted that he was simply chasing unpaid rent from Ms Gauci Borda, which was eventually paid in full. The lease was revealed to have been for one year, and that it was signed on behalf of Tyre Ltd, a company involved in the trading of precious metals; Ms Gauci Borda is the company’s secretary.

Mr Dalli reiterated that he had not gone to transfer any funds, pointing out that even by OLAF’s account, no money had changed hands over the tobacco directive.

He pointed out that Mr Connor was present at the villa on a regular basis when the project was discussed, and that he had offered a trust he was a beneficiary of as a vehicle for this initiative, an offer that was not taken up. As for Mr Connor’s claims that business projects were being discussed, Mr Dalli noted that ultimately, the charitable venture involved the setting up of a number of sustainable business projects.

The IHT also reported that Mr Dalli had concealed the Bahamas trip from the European Commission. The former commissioner said that he informed his Cabinet of his private trip after it took place. He accused his former head of cabinet Joanna Darmanin – who has retained the post under his successor Tonio Borg – of leaking details to the press.

Mr Dalli noted that Tyre Ltd rented the villa as it was the coordinator of discussions on the charitable project, adding that although the company was a commercial one, it also had charitable aims as it sought to source gold from independent miners in Africa to ensure that they received a fair price denied to them by the mining “cartels.”

“This is why it operates at a loss,” he quipped.

He did not rule out any future involvement by Tyre Ltd in the sustainable business projects the charitable venture will include, pointing out that the company shared similar aims. But he stressed that there were no commitments at present.

 

Dalli insists timing was deliberate

Mr Dalli also questioned the timing of the publication of the International Herald Tribune’s story last Monday. He noted that when he was contacted for comment the previous Friday, the journalist mentioned rumours coming from European Commission staff.

He insisted that the leak of information from the Commission was not coincidental, insisting that the Commission was attempting to damage his reputation at a point when pressure on OLAF was mounting – due to the way it had mishandled his case.

The release of the information, he said, coincided with European Parliament votes on reforming OLAF. MEPs voted on reforms which had been agreed by the European Parliament and by the European Council, but also had to vote on amendments that would have increased parliamentary scrutiny over OLAF.

These amendments, presented by EPP MEP Inge Grässle – who has called for the resignation of OLAF chief Giovanni Kessler over the way the Dalli investigation took place – were not approved, even though there were 302 votes in favour, 247 against and 36 abstentions. An absolute majority of sitting MEPs was required.

According to Mr Dalli, it was clear that the Commission sought to discredit the MEPs who were critical of OLAF.

 

‘My children cannot work anywhere’

During the briefing, Mr Dalli also touched upon past controversies centred around him and his family, at one point lashing out at critics who appeared to assume that his hidden hand was behind everything his daughters did.

He noted that every time either he or his daughters had dealings with a company, the company was assumed to be his practically every time.

“This is madness,” he exclaimed, adding that it could also be very damaging. He noted that when a daughter was made director of an investment company, there were claims that it was in his name as a hidden shareholder – a claim that had “very grave” repercussions as such practices were not permissible in that sector.

“Other people’s children can be directors everywhere, they can have a company which has a funnel directed straight at it, and that is seen to be OK, but my children cannot work anywhere,” he sighed.

“They are demonised... this is irresponsible and unprofessional,” he added.