Brian Tonna - the man behind Nexia BT, the company that had advised Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi on the establishment of his Panamanian company and New Zealand trust - is also the sole shareholder of Mossack Fonseca & Co. (Malta) Ltd, through his company BT International.
When confronted with the fact that his company, BT International, is the sole shareholder in Mossack Fonseca’s Malta company, Mr Tonna insisted that “our holding of shares in Mossack Fonseca Malta Limited is purely on a fiduciary basis”.
Mossack Fonseca has been at the epicentre of the Panama Papers scandal, which has exposed how the Panama-based international law firm has worked with many of the world’s wealthy and politically-exposed people to conceal funds through mazes of offshore companies such as that held by Dr Mizzi.
He also stressed that “neither Nexia BT nor any of its partners have any personal, beneficial interest in the company or any other Mossack Fonseca related entities”.
He would not, however, go into the dynamics that may or may not exist between Nexia BT and Mossack Fonseca, citing professional confidentiality.
Mr Tonna is the managing partner at Nexia BT, the company that provided Dr Mizzi with “politically naïve” advice, as it was described by the Prime Minister, to the minister on his international financial setup, which has been called into serious question since it was revealed.
It has been reported that Nexia BT had also advised Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri on his similar financial setup.
Nexia BT Ltd’s directors - Brian Tonna, Manuel Castagna and Karl Cini - are also the directors of BT International, a Maltese registered company, in which Mr Tonna is also listed as the sole shareholder.
In turn, BT International Ltd is the sole shareholder of Mossack Fonseca & Co (Malta) Ltd, which was registered in May 2013, and Nexia BT is the Mossack Fonseca company’s registered auditor. The Director of Mossack Fonseca & Co. (Malta) Ltd is a certain Adrian Hernan Dixon Sanchez, from Panama.
This newsroom attempted to contact Managing Director Brian Tonna several times yesterday to ask him about his relationship with Mossack Fonseca (see box), but to little avail.
Yesterday evening, however, Mr Tonna sent us a curt email insisting that the shareholding in Mossack Fonseca Malta was purely of a fiduciary nature.
As for our other questions, Mr Tonna tersely stated: “As you are aware we are bound to keep our clients’ identity and affairs strictly confidential. We regret, therefore, that we are unable to respond to any of your queries.”
The questions sent to Mr Tonna were as follows:
· What is the exact relationship between Nexia BT and Mossack Fonseca?
· When you applied for Minister Konrad Mizzi to open a company in Panama, why didn’t you tell Mossack Fonseca (Panama) that he is a Politically Exposed Person?
· Now it is clear that there is a direct relationship between you and Mossack Fonseca. This company is in the centre of this scandal of Panama Papers and it casts a cloud over Nexia BT. What do you have to say about this?
· Don’t you feel that this issue is jeopardising your professional integrity and your relationship with your clients?
