Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi did not divulge that he was a politician when he solicited the services of Panamanian corporate service providers Mossack Fonseca, co-founder Ramon Fonseca Mora said in an interview with La Estrella.

The co-founder of the law firm told the Panamian news outlet in an interview on 14 March: “What escaped us is that this man is a politician and we do not deal with politicians anymore”.

Mr Fonseca Mora is no stranger to making international headlines because of corruption. He was once filled the role of minister-counselor to Panama President Juan Carlos Varela, but had to step down because of allegations that his company’s Brazilian office was involved in an on-going bribery and money-laundering scandal centred around Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petrobras. 

Dr Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri were discovered to concurrently hold trusts registered in New Zealand which own a company registered in Panama each. The information was released on 22 February by the Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In the interview Mr Fonseca Mora, insisted that “there is nothing wrong here” and that his company simply carried out the services requested by their client. The assertion that Mossack Fonseca was unaware of Dr Mizzi’s status as a PEP (Politically Exposed Person)comes in an era where a quick internet search would reveal all instantly. It also casts doubts on the due diligence process the corporate service provider carries out on its clients, especially when a bank in the very same country at the heart of this scandal (Panama) had refused to open up bank accounts for Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri because of their status as PEPs.

Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri said that they opened up their offshore financial structures upon the advice from the Maltese franchise of Mossack Fonseca, which is fully owned by Brian Tonna of Nexia BT. The company in Panama was acquired by Dr Mizzi in 2013, when he had already been appointed as a Minister.

Dr Mizzi had said that neither the Panamanian company (Hearnville Inc) nor the trust (Rotura) hold any assets, liabilities or bank accounts. He also said that the company has never traded.

Seven weeks after this initial discovery, the scandal dubbed Panama Papers came to light. A trove of documents from Mossack Fonseca leaked to a German newsroom 11.5 million documents which expose a vast network of how dictators, criminals, politicians and celebrities conceal their wealth.

The documents were analysed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, together with German newsroom Süddeutsche Zeitung and over 100 more news outlets. They have exposed 140 Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and how the powerful purchase secrecy as a commodity through the assistance of corporate service providers such as Mossack Fonseca.

Whether Dr Mizzi withheld such information from the corporate service provider remains to be seen. Whether the Maltese branch of Mossack Fonseca withheld this information from their base in Panama also remains to be seen.

Companies such as Mossack Fonseca sell secrecy to prominent figures in order for these people to conceal their wealth. When listing shareholders and directors, companies such as this one offer up the names of their own people to be listed, in order for the ultimate owner or the ultimate beneficiary to be concealed.

While no proof of corruption has of yet been found with regard to Dr Mizzi, ethical behaviour and political accountability have been stressed by the public. The fact is that he is the only Minister in the EU who was mentioned negatively by various international newsrooms, that people close to infamous dictators have been exposed within the same scandal, that the Prime Minister for Iceland has resigned over the matter, and that calls for resignation and protests against the Prime Minister of Ukraine. Dr Mizzi is the only active Minister from an EU Member State to be mentioned in Panama Papers.

If Mr Mora is correct in saying that the company was unaware of his position as Minister, then this exposes just how careless the corporate service provider is. If Dr Mizzi failed to bring this to the attention of the relevant personnel within the company, then it is another story entirely which puts more pressure on the Prime Minister who vouched in Parliament that if Dr. Mizzi was caught lying he wouldn’t survive one minute in his cabinet. So far the Prime Minister continues to back his most prominent Minister, against the advice of his senior members of cabinet.