Former PN Minister Joe Cassar alleged that the case of a car given to him for free by Joe Gaffarena was a frame-up organised by the Labour Party in which the controversial businessman was a protagonist. He accused the government of feeding lies to the media in an attempt to humiliate him and his family.

He was reacting to reports that he was given a car for free by businessman Joe Gaffarena. According to reports, Dr Cassar went to buy a second-hand car for his daughter but Mr Gaffarena would not accept payment. Dr Cassar donated the €1,000 to the PN instead.

Dr Cassar used the adjournment time  in parliament to "set the record straight." He said Mr Gaffarena used to ask to meet him to speak to him about issues that were troubling him, including the PN’s refusal to issue a permit for his illegal Qormi petrol station. “He would tell me that his family did not have enough money to go by.”

The PN MP said he decided to buy the second-hand car for his daughter – an 11-year-old Peugeot 307 – from Mr Gaffarena because he felt sorry for him. They agreed on a price of €1,000 but when Dr Cassar went to pay, the businessman would not accept any money for the car. “Mr Gaffarena told me that instead of paying him I should give a donation to the PN. He said he did not want his name on the receipt because he did not want people to know his family were helping the party. This had all the makings of a frame-up, of the tactics and manipulation used by the PL. I should have realised I was being framed, but I did not and did as he requested.”

He also referred to another allegation, made by Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon, that he had bought his house from a patient. “Everything related to the purchase of my house is in the public domain. Michael Falzon did this because he knows that, because of my professional secrecy, I cannot comment and confirm or deny that I bought the house from a patient. I asked permission from the seller and was given it. I can now say that, no this man was not a patient of mine.” He accused Dr Falzon of lying and deceiving in an attempt to cover up the scandals he was involved in.

Reacting to another allegation by Dr Falzon that the house was built by Joe Gaffarena, Dr Casssar said the businessman was not involved in anything related to the house. He also denied another allegation that he had had a security camera installed for free. 

“I never gave him anything illicit, like this government did. I now expect the PL to answer the many questions that it has refused to answer so far. Did PL exponents meet with the Gaffarena family before the election? Is it true that the Gaffarenas were giving donations to the PL, like they claimed? Did the Gaffarenas ever give any gifts to the PL in return for favours? The PN was never blackmailed by the Gaffarena family and never gave them anything illicit.”

The former minister said this was nothing but a frame-up, an attempt to scare him and shut him up. He also blasted the Parliamentary Secretary for dragging his wife and children into this web of lies and deceit. “Instead of giving me protection, the government jumped on the bandwagon in an attempt to deviate attention from its own scandals.”

He said that, after making this declaration, his family was under threat of blackmail and asked for the necessary protection for his wife and children. Deputy Speaker Censu Galea said he would forward that request to the Police Commissioner.