Lawyer David Gonzi said today that Italian authorities have not approached him in their investigations on illegal betting connected with the Mafia.
In a statement referring to a report on The Times, which followed up another story carried by The Malta Independent last Sunday, Dr Gonzi said that he has already provided all necessary information to the Maltese authorities.
He also criticised The Times headline which referred to him as a suspect, saying that his being mentioned by The Times as being "at the centre" should have been backed up by evidence, of which there is evidently none.
Dr Gonzi’s full statement – parts of which were already stated in comments he gave to The Malta Independent last Sunday – is as follows:
With reference to today’s report in some sections of the media mentioning my name in connection with the investigations presently being carried out by the Italian authorities, I would like to reiterate the following :
1. I am a one-third shareholder in GVM Limited. On the 2nd of December 2014 I was appointed as the third director of the company. This company is fully licensed to operate as a fiduciary company in terms of the Trusts and Trustees Act. This means that although the name of the ultimate beneficial owner of a client company is not known to the public, the full details of all the beneficiaries are available upon request to the Maltese authorities However, in the case of gaming companies, all these details must be disclosed to the Malta Gaming Authority before a licence is issued
2. In addition, in all cases of companies that have a gaming licence, the Maltese authorities carry out extensive and rigorous due diligence processes to verify that the ultimate beneficiaries are of good standing. In the case of all such GVM clients, including the ones being investigated, the Maltese Gaming Authority and the company’s Banks successfully completed this due diligence process.
3. GVM itself carried out its own due diligence process to ascertain that the individuals concerned were of good standing. This was done by requesting certified copies of the ultimate shareholders’ passports, proof of residential address, as well as copies of their police conduct records.
4. Since my first contact in October 2013and since becoming a director in December 2014, we have never ever had any reason to suspect that the companies mentioned in the investigation were involved in any unlawful activity whether in Malta or elsewhere.
5. It was only on this basis that the companies involved were accepted as clients of GVM.
6. So far, the Italian Authorities have not approached me. I have already taken action to provide all the necessary information to the Maltese authorities, including the MFSA and the FIAU (Malta Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit). I shall also be directly contacting myself, over the coming days, Italian and Maltese police authorities to clarify my position.
7. However, at this stage I must clarify that the report drawn up by the Italian investigators is factually incorrect as it fails to recognise that GVM is a licensed fiduciary company which holds shares on behalf of beneficial owners disclosed and approved by the Malta Gaming Authority, that I am one of three shareholders and that I have only been appointed as Director since December 2014.
8. In a 770 page document, it would be expected that a statement that I am involved “at the centre” of the network should have been backed up by some sort of evidence of which obviously there is none. In all fairness, the report itself states that the conclusion ‘requires further investigation’ and is ‘pending necessary further investigation’.
The Malta Independent report carried last Sunday
This is the part referring to Dr David Gonzi carried by The Malta Independent last Sunday
David Gonzi
The fiduciary company at the top of the six companies in question is GVM Ltd, with one of the three directors and shareholders being David Gonzi, son of former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, the others being Keith Massa and Angelo Vella.
Speaking with this newspaper, David Gonzi clarified that the company offering the fiduciary services to the Betuniq companies was GVM and not his actual law firm - Gonzi & Associates Advocates. He explained that he has a one-third shareholding in GVM Ltd, and has been a co-director since 2 December 2014. Dr Gonzi said, "We [he and the other two shareholders] use the service for the law firm's clients, as well as the clients of the other two shareholders".
He explained, "We have a licence to provide these services as a fiduciary in terms of the Trusts and Trustees Act and we are fully transparent with the authorities. This means that, according to law, the name of the ultimate beneficial owner is not available to the public but it is available to all competent authorities - including the tax authorities and the Malta Gaming Authority - who are aware of who the said owner is. In addition, achieving an MGA licence means that the MGA actually would have carried out a very rigorous due diligence process in relation to every ultimate owner and the licence is only awarded once the due diligence is completed successfully."
In addition, he said that banks also only recognise the owner of a company and not a fiduciary, so the banks would also know who the ultimate shareholder is."
Dr Gonzi explained what due diligence GVM Ltd took in this case. "Typically before accepting a client we would ask for a copy of the ultimate shareholder's passport, which needs to be certified, their police conduct, and proof of address. We would also ask them to send information of proposed activities and their plans for the company and evidence regarding the source of their funding. We would then conduct a risk assessment. This is done before the MGA's due diligence process referred to above."
Dr Gonzi said that Mario Gennaro is not a GVM client, and again stated that the identity of the ultimate shareholder is known to the competent authorities.
Dr Gonzi said he has not yet been contacted by the Italian or Maltese authorities but he has been in touch with the Malta Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit and that he will make himself and GVM fully available for any investigations both locally and in Italy.