Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil today questioned why the journalist who quoted Brian Tonna from Nexia BT as saying he owns the elusive third Panama based company Egrant Inc did not refer to an article penned one year earlier, in which Mr Tonna said he could not divulge client details due to professional secrecy. Dr Busuttil also highlighted a number of other “inconsistencies” in the story published by Malta Today.

His comments were made during a political activity held this morning in Hal-Ghaxaq. In a few hours, the PN will be hosting a national demonstration to raise concerns about threats to freedoms and democracy.

Egrant is the third Panama based company acquired by Nexia BT, an audit firm that offers fiduciary services, along with Hearnville and Tilgate – owned by No Portfolio Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri. It also owned shares in Mossack Fonseca Malta, the local branch of the Panama based law firm at the heart of the controversy.

This morning, Mr Tonna was quoted on Malta Today stating that he is the owner of Egrant, that it has remained a shelf company since its acquisition in 2013 and that ownership of this company was never transfered to anybody else. The Nationalist Party has raised questions on the ownership of the Egrant company since it was opened concurrently with Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri’s Panamanian companies.

This forms part of the wider Panama Papers scandal, which exposed 11.5 million documents that detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities.. Panama has no double taxation agreement with Malta, meaning tax authorities have no obligation to share information. Panama’s secretive laws mean there was, up until November 2016, zero obligation for those with holdings (where operations are carried out offshore) in the jurisdiction to even keep a record of their accounts, let alone share it with authorities.

The secretive laws also make it virtually impossible to ascertain the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) of a company (the person who would be retaining any profits held within a company), without the UBO offering that information themselves or some sort of information leak as was the case in the Panama Papers scandal.

While Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri have claimed no wrongdoing, the fact that they are Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and more so that the former is unable to carry out private business activities according to the Ministerial code of ethics, many have questioned why the pair have gone out of their way to establish complicated financial structures in a secretive jurisdiction.

During this morning’s political activity, Dr Busuttil said:

“Today, after much scratching their heads, they [the government] decided that the day the PN will be holding a national demonstration, and a day before the PANA committee meets, they decided to invent something. They went to Malta Today, and decided to tell them who owns the third country. I have not lost a single opportunity to ask who owns that third company. Usually the Prime Minister becomes red in the face and upset at this, but today they chose to reveal this information."

He cited the headline which reads – Brian Tonna: Egrant is mine. Dr Busuttil said that Mr Tonna is a special financial adviser, because he offers his consultancy services to the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri and No Portfolio Minister Konrad Mizzi.

“Nobody believes you [Brian Tonna], not a single person.”

Dr Busuttil said that there is evidence disputing the statement that Egrant belongs to Mr Tonna of Nexia BT.

“Along with the companies of Mr Schembri, Dr Mizzi and Egrant, there was another company acquired by Mr Tonna. Is he so successful that he would require the fourth company and Egrant?”

He called into question why the names of Mr Schembri and Dr Mizzi were mentioned in the leaked e-mails at the centre of this controversy, however the person behind Egrant was only mentioned on Skype, suggesting that the person behind Egrant is of a higher standing than Minister Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri, who both work within the Office of the Prime Minister.

A leaked e-mail from the Mossack Fonseca server shown below, circulated by the PN this morning in which Mr Karl Cini, a colleague of Mr Tonna, explained the set-up of the 'new company', where it was said that the UBO will not in fact be Nexia BT, and that more would have to be discussed via Skype. The precise e-mail does not mention the company Egrant by name, however many have questioned which company is being referred to in the light of the fact that the UBO of Hearville (Dr Mizzi), Tilgate (Mr Schembri) and the fourth company (Mr Tonna) were all made known at the start of the information leak:

In a separate statement issued by the PN following Dr Busuttil's speech this morning, it said that the above e-mail exposes that this morning's explanation of Egrant's ownership is a lie because as indicated in the above e-mail, the UBO of 'the new company in Panama' will not be Nexia BT. 

“Does this make sense? I don’t think so.”

Dr Busuttil cited another article, during his speech, penned by the same journalist from Malta Today one year ago, in which the journalist wrote:

“A third offshore company set up by Nexia BT called Egrant is still a shelf company, Tonna said, “we are not at liberty to divulge any client details since we are bound by professional secrecy obligations.””.

The Opposition Leader said that if the company was in fact meant for Brian Tonna, he would have said so a year ago.

“What hurts me most is that the government thinks that the people believe them. I genuinely don’t think this is the case, because we are talking facts, and our suspicions have solid foundations.”

He slammed Mr Tonna, saying that if he was an upstanding professional, he would have adhered to his legal obligation to turn down Mr Schembri and Dr Mizzi because of their status as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).

“Not only should he have turned them down, but he should have reported them to the authorities!”

 

Labour Pary reaction

The Labour Party's reaction to this morning's news that Mr Tonna stated how he never transferred the ownership of Egrant to anybody is another bubble that has burst in the face of the PN. The PL said that this proves the Opposition Leader is one of the biggest political liars, and that people would not go back to how things were under the previous PN governments. Lastly, it said that this shows the Opposition's desparation to deflect from Malta's success and the feel good factor being experienced by all.