George Farrugia, who has been granted a presidential pardon to turn state witness said today in court that he paid Alfred Mallia, former head of Enemalta’s petroleum division, around Lm40,000 worth of commissions in the wake of an agreement between Total and Enemalta for oil storage in Malta.

He also said that he did not know that Mr Mallia used to split the commissions he used to give him with Tarcisio Mifsud, the corporation’s financial officer at the time.

George Farrugia,who was testifying in court for the first time during the compilation of evidence against Tarciso Mifsud – who stands accused of corruption – said that in 1998, he had managed, to secure the oil storage deal through Mr Mallia and he only came to know about Mr Mifsud, when Mr Mallia was involved in a traffic accident and finished in hospital.

George Farrugia, told the police that he used to receive a commission of $0.16c per ton of oil stored at the Enemalta facility and he used to give part of it to Mr Mallia, paying him in cash or by cheque issued by Powerplan Ltd.

He said that Mr Mallia had told him that he used to pass some commissions to someone else, but he was not aware that Mr Mifsud was the beneficiary. Payments to Mr Mallia, used to be made monthly but there was no agreed amount.

Mr Farrugia also said that he continued to pay Mr Mallia for every oil procurement deal reached by Enemalta with Total – which amounted to well over half of total procurement by the corporation.  

Meanwhile after Mallia was injured in a traffic accident in 2000, George Farrugia said he was asked by Mr Mallia to speak to Tarcisio Mifsud, the corporation’s financial officer at the time. He did so and went to his office at Enemalta in Marsa, and that was the day when Mr Farrugia realised that he (Mallia) had been sharing the commission.

George Farrugia said that the commissions were not based only on procurement by Enemalta, but they were also an incentive for Total to win contracts. Sometimes Mr Mallia used to show him the bids made by rival companies.

Mr Farrugia said that he used to pay commissions to win the tender fair and square. This is because although he always used to be the best bidder, sometimes, even after paying commissions, he would lose the tender just the same.

George Farrugia also said that  he used to give money in an envelope to Tarcisio Mifsud as part of the  commission money. He used to visit Mifsud several times and once he remembers he gave him an envelope with Lm4,000. He  recounted that once  after Mr Mifsud put the envelope in his own pocket, he told him, that he still won’t win the tender – “it is better you don’t because people would start to question us,” Mr Farrugia said in court.

During cross examination made by Mr Mifsud’s lawyer Edward Gatt, who is aided by Dr. Anna Mallia, George Farrugia said that he did not know exactly how many times he went to give money to Mr Mifsud, but he knew it was several times. He even does not remember when he used to go. “He used to phone me up, and I would go to give him the money,”  he said.

The witness also said that it is true that at first Tarcisio Mifsud was not mentioned in such a scandal and that several times at the Depot, he said that he had never met him (George Farrugia), pointing to the accused stating he’s the one sitting at the dock.

George Farrugia also told the court that all of his brothers were aware he was giving commission to get the deal, as he had mentioned it in a Board of Directors meeting. He also said that he used to inform his brothers Raymond and Salvu about such business mostly, but he said that the company’s Board of Directors, includes all his brothers.

Inspector Angelo Gafa and Superintendent Paul Vassallo prosecuted.

Meanwhile later today the case of Tancred Tabone, 61 of Sliema was heard, also infront Magistrate Stafrace Zammit.  The only witness in this case was Emmanuel Ellul Chairman of the Privitisation Unit, presented a report on the resistance made by Frank Sammut and Tancred Tabone against the privatisation of  MOBC.

Dr. Avukat Giannella de Marco who is Mr Tabone’s lawyer queried the relevance of all this in to the case. The court said that she is giving time for both parts to see what’s in the report, and then decide if Mr Ellul’s testimony is relevant.

Tancred Tabone, 61 from Tas-Sliema,  is accused of being involved in the oil procurement scandal and that he took illegal commissions for his own advantage.  Superintendent Paul Vassallo is prosecuting.