The brothers of rogue oil trader George Farrugia were arraigned in court this morning over their possible involvement in the oil procurement scandal. 

George Farrugia himself was also summoned to give testimony in the case against his brothers, who were once his business partners.

The move comes after more than two years since George Farrugia’s brothers had been first arrested and questioned by the police over their possible involvement in the scandal.

The Farrugia brothers, namely Antonio 68, a mechanic from Marsa, Gaetano, 65, retired, from Marsa, Raymond, 62, retired from Marsa, Emmanuel, 59 of Hamrun, and Salvatore, 60, of Marsa stand charged with having had knowledge that their brother George had been bribing state officials to secure oil contracts from Enemalta for Powerplan Ltd, the family business he once managed.

All pleaded not guilty.

Testifying in court, Angelo Gafa, former inspector at the police economic crimes unit and now at the Malta Security Services, said that George Farrugia had told police that his brothers had approved of his shady deals. His brothers also knew about the gifts George gave to Enemalta officials and on some occasions they even signed the cheques used to pay for the gifts. Emmanuel is the only one to have told police that he was not aware of the deals which were taking place.

Inspector Gafa said: "The clock given to former finance minister Tonio Fenech was given by the wife of Raymond Farrugia – the first clock his (Raymond's) wife had crafted – which was paid by PowerPlan Ltd and the value of the clock was Lm450. The gift was given to Fenech as a token of appreciation." PowerPlan is the former business of the Farrugia brothers. 

He continued: "Ray Farrugia is the only one of the brothers who told police he was aware a Ssangyong Korando was given to Frank Sammut of MOBC as a kickback on behalf of PowerPlan Ltd by George. But George Farrugia insisted with police that all his brothers knew about it.

Police had called in George to speak to him about the car which was given to Sammut as a kickback. He confirmed the car was financed by PowerPlan Ltd. The funds paid for the car were deposited in a JF Motors bank account - a car importer which also belonged to the Farrugias, police had confirmed.

David Mifsud – who worked at JF Motors – had been questioned by police on the Ssangyong Korando and confirmed to police that it was George Farrugia who had asked him to prepare the relevant documents related to the purchase of the vehicle.

The case is being heard by Magistrate Miriam Hayman.

Inspector Jonathan Ferris is prosecuting while Dr David Farrugia Sacco is defending the Farrugia brothers. The case is set to continue tomorrow morning.