OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri has reacted to today's report in the Australian Financial Review, which said that six banks were approached on his and Konrad Mizzi's behalf in an attempt to open bank accounts.
In a detailed statement, Mr Schembri said the PN’s bubble had been burst after the information published today, which confirmed that there was no corruption or bribery. The information, he said, showed that there were no government contracts and that Simon Busuttil’s millions did not exist. This was, in fact, the main reason why no foreign bank accounts had been opened.
Mr Schembri said he has always been in business. When he became Chief of Staff he resigned from the directorship of his companies. “Obviously, he remained shareholder of his commercial interests. Any other pretence is ridiculous. The fact that he resigned his directorships does not mean that his business interests would not keep expanding under the leadership of the board of directors.”
“Every father is expected to do everything he can to ensure that his children have a better future. That this genuine sentiment is being used for political gain shows the sorry state they (the Opposition) has descended to. Everyone can accept the fact that Keith Schembri has a duty and obligation, as a father and head of his family, to preserve and consolidate his and his family’s interests.”
“It was for this reason that, on 14 March 2015 he asked Nexia BT, the auditors of the Kasco Group for the past 20 years, to establish a trust with the aim of consolidating his assets and commercial interests, including the assets that are currently held in his existing trust, which is administered by a local bank. The aim of the trust is ‘Estate Planning generally; Preservation of family assets; Family Succession Planning.’
In order to be able to do this in an efficient manner, Mr Schembri was given the advice to place his past, present and future interests in a company settled in the trust. This is why, on 2 July 2015, he acquired shelf company Tillgate Inc, established in Panama and which was already in the possession of Nexia BT. Subsequently, on 22 July 2015, he established the Haast Trust in New Zealand and, on the same day, transferred the company into the trust.”
“Every company needs a bank account to be able to operate and this is why Mossack Fonseca was asked to explore the possibility of opening a bank account. It is evident that contact was made with a number of banks. These banks required deposits of around $1 million or more. To this date, neither the company nor the trust have bank accounts and hold no money. Mr Schembri did not exclude transferring money and investments held in local banks to the New Zealand trust.”
Mr Schembri also emphasised that he never had the intention of keeping the financial structure hidden from the Maltese fiscal authorities. “As any tax consultant can confirm, tax on Mr Schembri’s income and the income of his companies is paid in Malta, irrespective of where the income comes from. The trust was immediately declared with the NZ and, subsequently, the Maltese authorities. Any other insinuation is untrue, malicious and solely aimed to harm.”
Schembri accuses AFR journalist of misleading
It was made evident today as well that Neil Chenoweath of the AFR is confusing and obscuring facts which are unrelated. If it was intentional or not, he needs to be held responsible himself.
His article, which was published on 10 April 2016, is rife with inaccuracies, confusion and mistakes. The most prominent being that the companies in Panama were founded five days after the General Election of 2013. This is completely false. Tillgate Inc was registered by Mossack Fonseca in 15 July 2013 as opposed to five days later. That company was then acquired by Nexia BT on 9 August 2013 as a ‘shelf company’. Keith Schembri never knew of the existence of this company before it was acquired, let alone having control of it before it was transferred to him on the 2nd July 2015.
The funds that were going to go through this company are generated by his estate and the commercial activities of his own companies; both currently existing and any prospective ones. Nothing more, nothing less. This is why Nexia BT justly informed the banks that the sources of the money were going to be from ‘waste recycling’ and other activities, which also form part of the activities portfolio which he is interested in. These are activities which he personally invested in before he was in politics. Apart from that, Kasco Group will remain there and will continue to expand its activities, possibly including new ones including ‘remote gaming’ and ‘RFID technology’, this includes abroad where the company has been making its presence known in countries like England, Italy, Greece, Spain and others.
It is also clear from the article in AFR that correspondence in the name of other clients of Nexia BT is being attributed to Keith Schembri, as if he were the only Nexia BT client.
Keith Schembri categorically denies that he had any intention of getting into business with Minister Konrad Mizzi. The absolute confusion that the AFR is creating in the correspondence which it has is lending to this absurd allegation which was reported today. This same confusion results from correspondence which Neil Chenoweth sent to Keith Schembri, which, for the sake of truth, is being published together with this statement. There is no relation between Keith Schembri or his companies and the people who are mentioned.
While any ulterior motives are known only to Neil Chenoweth, this confusion which is entirely speculative indicates that he was influenced by people who want to harm Keith Schembri and the government in general. One cannot neglect to notice that Matthew Caruana Galizia, who is Daphne’s son, works for the ICIJ. It is certainly a strange fact that, while the ICIJ didn’t feel the need to include Keith Schembri on its list, an Australian journalist has seemingly made it his mission to subject Keith Schembri to a ‘trial by media’ to make defamatory remarks and to denigrate his reputation and honour.
Mr Schembri has already employed the services of an Australian lawyer in order to take the necessary steps to protect his reputation and his “legitimate” commercial interests.
This newsroom has tried several times, including all day today, to contact Mr Schembri. All attempts to reach him proved futile.