Albert Mamo, the man who served as Commissioner for lands when the Lowenbrau case took place in the early 1990s, had testified in court that the contract had been signed without his knowledge.

Minister Owen Bonnici today called a press conference to reveal what he said was 'fresh evidence' on the Lowenbrau land case which has been the source of political controversy between Dr Bonnici and Jason Azzopardi for the last couple of weeks.

The media was presented with a court testimony of Mr Mamo saying that the contract, which saw the land being transferred from government to Marsovin Ltd, was approved by the Director General, a certain Alfred Bezzina. When replying to questions by lawyers, Mr Mamo said that Mr Bezzina knew nothing of the case and could not distinguish between rent and perpetual emphyteusis. 

Dr Bonnici said the court then asked when he got to know about the contract to which Mr Mamo said "I knew about it afterword's, months later".

"When I realised, I was going mad. I thought I would end up in prison", Mr Mamo had said.  

Mr Mamo also said that the contract stipulated that the land was to be used for a factory, and that once he realised what had happened, he spoke to the Director General and AG. When asked by lawyer, he said he did not know on what criteria were the conditions changed. 

What Dr Bonnici presented as fresh evidence today had already been revealed by Dr Azzopardi.

In an interview with The Malta Independent, Jason Azzopardi said that in 2011, a panicked Mr Mamo had informed him of the illegal 2009 deal, which was carried out behind their backs. Dr Azzopardi subsequently ordered that legal action be taken against Vassallo Group, which was, by then, the owner of the Qormi land.

In 1990, the land was given to Lowenbrau Limited on a perpetual basis. Marsovin redeemed the ground rent in 1999 for €465,875 and sold it on to entrepreneur Zaren Vassallo at the same time that the government cancelled a condition stating the land in question could only be used as a brewery. This was later deemed to be in breach of the law and corrected through a contract of exchange in 2012, when the freehold value of the land was established at €706,400.

PN reacts

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said that Owen Bonnici revealed nothing new during the press conference. "The evidence brought forward has been public for more than three years," the PN said and Jason Azzopardi has been replying to questions related to this testimony for the past weeks.

"Minister Owen Bonnici should start acting as a Justice Minister and not waste time on lies and inventions", it concluded.