The following is Right of Reply from the Nationalist Party being published in terms of the Press Act.
Your front-page story in The Malta Independent of Thursday 22 February 2018 seeks to convey the impression that Adrian Delia 'was behind the Gasol deal, said nothing about it when he got into politics and was muzzled as a result of it'. Your story based on a malicious and anonymous tweet could be nothing further from the truth.
To start with everything was legal, legitimate and ethical. Dr Delia was not in politics at the time and he does not have any conflict of interest because he never advised, he never had any interest in or gained any financial benefit from either Electrogas or Gasol. Contrary to what you reported Delia's legal firm did not handle the bonds issue. Putting it in layman's terms, it wouldn't even be as close as saying that Gasol were the clients of my clients.
The truth is that Aequitas Trust which is a legitimate, legal setup, and licensed with the Malta Financial Services Authority, held only one share in each of the two holding companies that own Tradexec, the company which provided services to Gasol. Holding that one share in companies is standard practice by all those operating in Malta's financial services sector. In Malta, there are hundreds of Trust companies who as Aequitas are only registered after a rigorous process of due diligence.
Dr Delia was not on the board of the company (and did not hold any executive role) that raised the financing for Gasol and therefore did not know of the mentioned bond issue and could not disclose it. It is ridiculous to suggest he is muzzled in the anti-corruption fight because as you know it is the political party he leads that is fighting this cause every day. The Vitals Court case is but a case in point.
Jesmar Baldacchino
PN Director of Information
Editorial note:
The Malta Independent has not suggested that Dr Delia “was behind the Gasol deal” as is being stated. This newspaper has reported that the law firm in which Dr Delia is a prominent shareholder holds a share, in fiduciary, in a company which assisted Gasol with a bond issue. The facts in the article are backed up by documentation.
Leader
Read the original story here