Central Bank Governor-designate Alfred Mifsud has met with well-known businessman Ronnie Demajo, but denies it was for “for any wrongdoing.”
“I deny meeting him for any wrongdoing,” he said in comments to this newsroom. Pressed about whether that means he had met with Mr Demajo for unrelated purposes, he said “certainly not at my house for bad purposes.”
Allegations surfaced against Mr Mifsud in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s blog, when she quoted Mr Mifsud’s former partner, Anna Zelbst, saying that Mr Demajo had come to their home between 1996 and 1998 at least three times, to pay Mr Mifsud Lm50,000 in cash each time.
Ronnie Demajo
At the time, Mr Mifsud was chairman of Mid Med Bank, while Mr Demajo, through the M Demajo group represented an American banking software system known as Eastpoint. Mrs Caruana Galizia and Ms Zelbst are claiming that Mr Demajo therefore passed on the large sums of cash to Mr Mifsud as a bribe, in order to get him to change Mid Med banking software to that of Eastpoint.
Mr Mifsud has repeatedly denied these allegations, stating that the new banking software at the time was decided upon by a board, through a transparent tender process. After being contacted by this newsroom, he also said that he has never received any money from Mr Demajo, nor any expensive gifts.
“He may have sent me a bottle of whiskey or wine, I don’t remember. I never received any expensive gifts from him,” he said.
CEO of M Demajo Group, Pier Luca Demajo told The Malta Independent that “from an M. Demajo group point of view, we are totally oblivious to all this. These allegations being made by Anna Zelbst refer to 1996-1998 – we are talking about 20 years ago here. Our practice is that we keep records for 10 years. It’s therefore impossible for me to adequately analyse the situation.”
“Generally speaking, we are not a very public group and do not like being thrust into the spotlight this way, but we have to safeguard our interests. We are discussing it at a board level and considering our options” he added.
In two separate statements, Mr Mifsud claims that his former partner, Ms Zelbst, is motivated by “revenge,” that she is untrustworthy and the story stems from a “failed personal relationship.” He categorically denied claims of wrongdoing, money laundering and corruption.
Anna Zelbst
Ms Zelgst lived with Mr Mifsud for 24 years, until they parted ways. Mr Mifsud claims that his former partner has chosen to make such allegations following the refusal of a number of requests made by her in the form of a letter.
Both Ms Zelbst and Mrs Caruana Galizia have alleged that Ms Zelbst was ordered by Mr Mifsud to deposit the money received from Mr Demajo into her bank account, and then she would be tasked with transferring money into his account.
Mr Mifsud has filed a libel case against Daphne Caruana Galizia and a criminal complaint with the Police against his former partner after she publicly admitted that it was she who blew the whistle on Mr Mifsud.
Sources within the Police force revealed to this newsroom that Ms Zelbst has been summoned to give a statement but she’s currently away. It is understood that she will give a detailed account of the events at the end of the week, however it is not yet known if she will file for whistle-blower status.
Mr Mifsud claims that such allegations erupted days before he becomes the next Central Bank Governor. For Mr Mifsud to be approved as Central Bank Governor, he would need Cabinet approval as well as European Central Bank approval, as ultimately, he would be reporting directly to the ECB.
While Prime Minister Joseph Muscat supports the nomination, sources told The Malta independent on Sunday that Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech and Education and Employment Minister Evarist Bartolo have raised concerns about the baggage surrounding Mr Mifsud.
It was also said that Mr Grech, Professor Scicluna and Mr Bartolo are pushing for Rene Saliba (right) who previously held the post of Deputy General Manager of the Financial Markets Division. It was said that they believe the Prime Minister is risking further damage to Malta’s reputation if the ECB’s due diligence on Mr Mifsud produces a negative result.
In view of the controversy surrounding Malta’s financial services sector as a result of no-portfolio Minister Konrad Mizzi and Dr Muscat’s chief of staff Keith Schembri’s involvement in the Panama Papers scandal, persons within the industry say they want somebody whose credibility would not be questioned on the European level.MrMifsud will need to go through a due diligence process to be held by the ECB. He has hinted in a statement to the media that he would be ready to relinquish his post as Governor if such could tarnish the country’s image.Assuming all goes to plan and that the ECB finds no objection to Mr Mifsud’s appointment, Mr Mifsud is set to fill the role of Governor on 1 July.