Allied Newspapers, publishers of The Times of Malta, this evening said it has no knowledge of alleged payments to the tune of €650,000 made by the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Keith Schembri to its former managing director Adrian Hillman.
The company also stated that it could have, if allegations by Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil are proved correct, "if anything, been the victim of any criminal activity if confirmed by the Magisterial Inquiry".
Moreover, the company said that Mr Hillman's statements that "nothing illegal or of a criminal nature as alleged by [Opposition leader] Simon Busuttil" resulted from the company's internal investigations into allegations against Mr Hillman "are misleading and gratuitous" since the internal Investigation concluded its works in June 2016.
Allied Newspapers' full statement follows:
"The Board of Directors of Allied Newspapers once more makes reference to statements made in public, by the Prime Minister, Mr. Keith Schembri and Mr. Adrian Hillman which speculate without any factual basis on the internal investigations carried out by the Company in connection with allegations of fraud committed by their former Managing Director Mr. Adrian Hillman made by Ms. Daphne Caruana Galizia in March 2016. Reference is also made to a number of questions the Company has received from sections of the press.
The Company confirms the following:
1. That the Company has no knowledge of payments amounting to Euro 650,000 allegedly paid to Mr. Hillman by Mr. Keith Schembri through offshore companies as stated in a press conference by the leader of the Opposition on May 17, 2107, nor on whether they were related to matters involving the Allied Group;
2. That consequently the allegations on such payments could not have been part of the internal investigations carried out by the Company which concluded its workings in June 2016;
3. That for the same reasons, any conclusions reached by Mr. Hillman as stated in his press release also of the 17th May 2017 that "nothing illegal or of a criminal nature as alleged by Simon Busuttil" resulted from the Company's internal investigations are misleading and gratuitous since the internal Investigation concluded its works in June 2016;
4. That according to the Leader of the Opposition, the Allied Group, if anything, could have been the victim of any criminal activity if confirmed by the Magisterial Inquiry.
5. The Company will therefore be following the workings of the Magisterial Inquiry which will investigate the allegations and examine the documentation presented by the Leader of the Opposition and the Company will request a copy of the findings of the Magisterial Inquiry to establish if any "illegal or criminal activity" was conducted to the prejudice of the Allied Group. The Company will of course co-operate with the magisterial Inquiry if so required.
6. The Internal investigation conducted by the Independent Board of Inquiry set up by the Allied Group could not at law have access to information related to any offshore activity, nor enjoy any powers at law to receive evidence under oath nor to summon witnesses who did not wish to participate in its workings. On the other hand, the Magisterial Inquiry is empowered by law to have recourse to all these investigative instruments.
7. The Board of Directors of Allied Newspapers Limited has without exception always respected the full independence of the editorial staff of its media stable. The Board therefore never requests to know any investigative material in the hands of its media journalists in the full knowledge that the protection of the journalistic sources of its journalists is a fundamental principle of the freedom of the press. The Internal Investigation also complied in full with this principle
8. The Allied Group therefore welcomes the Magisterial Inquiry so that judicial certainty may finally be reached on the exoneration or otherwise of those invested by it."