Rachel Attard and David Lindsay
Just as Malta's nominated new European Commissioner Karmenu Vella is set to face his European Parliament hearing tomorrow, the European Union's Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, is in the midst of a brand new investigation into Malta's former commissioner John Dalli.
The Malta Independent on Sunday is reliably informed that OLAF is investigating Mr Dalli in connection with four trips he made to the Bahamas and at least one trip he made to Singapore during his time as a European Commissioner.
This investigation, reliable sources have informed this newspaper, is a completely new probe and is not connected to the snus scandal that saw him being dismissed - or resigning depending on whose version of events one subscribes to - from the European Commission under a dark cloud back in October 2012, nor to 2013 reports of trips he had made to the Bahamas while he was serving as an EU commissioner.
Contacted about the investigation this week, OLAF did not deny that it was investigating Mr Dalli on new allegations.
OLAF's press office replied to our questions in typical fashion: "Please note that on the basis of its ongoing cooperation with national authorities, OLAF may, at any moment in time, transmit to national authorities information of potential investigative interest regarding matters which are under investigation by them."
While the mention of Singapore in relation to OLAF's investigations into Mr Dalli is new, the same cannot be said for the Bahamas element.
Although it is not believed that the thrust of this new investigation is related to a July 2013 report in theInternational Herald Tribune, which revealed Mr Dalli had gone on a number of trips to the Bahamas in summer 2012, they could nevertheless be connected.
At the time of the Bahamas trips, Mr Dalli was still an EU commissioner and he was also at the same time being investigated by OLAF over claims that he was aware of a bribe request to revise EU laws on tobacco allegedly made by his associate Silvio Zammit - an investigation that led to the termination of his tenure at the European Commission.
In the wake of the article, Mr Dalli told The Malta Independent on Sunday at the time that he had not been notified by OLAF of any new investigation, and that OLAF would not find any evidence against him.
Nor would OLAF confirm or deny the report at the time, but said it was aware of the press reports and could confirm that it is currently looking into new elements that have emerged in the context of these reports.
Mr Dalli has always maintained that he had travelled to the Bahamas to help in the transfer of millions of dollars for a charitable project in Africa, and that there had been no wrongdoing.
At the time, he said, the charitable project was still being drawn up, and that information about it was very sensitive. But he insisted that the financing involved was far north of the $100 million mentioned by the IHT: the initiatives that have been prioritised would require billions of dollars.
The general idea, Mr Dalli said, was to set up sustainable economic projects in various sectors - he mentioned farming, mining, oil and energy as examples - in various African countries, which would create jobs and foster economic growth in the local community. The profits from these economic projects, he added, would be used to support other initiatives in education and health.
The prioritised projects alone, he said, would create 28,000 direct jobs and 115,000 indirect jobs, assist 13 million poor people and feed and educate seven million children. He said that at this stage, the countries of operation envisaged were Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana - the Niger Delta, an oil-rich region of southern Nigeria, was also included in the list of countries.
The former EU commissioner also said that he was seeking to have the project based in Malta, adding that this would provide great financial benefits and that it could lead to the earmarking of funds to help the underprivileged in the country. Nothing has been heard of the project since.
Mr Dalli had confirmed at the time that he travelled to the Bahamas on three occasions: in July, August and September 2012.