Minister Konrad Mizzi explained that the €6.5 million generated for the firm he formed part of prior to becoming minister relates to client accounts and business development he led.

He was responding to questions sent on Wednesday in relation to the €6.5 million he generated prior to becoming Minister.

According to the Panama Papers, an email sent by Karl Cini of Nexia BT to Mossack Fonseca, included a biography and past working history. In the email, the following was written "The UBO (Mizzi) was also Partner and Head of the Energy and Infrastructure Practice for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa) with Pcubed, a global leader in projects delivery. He set up the practice and developed major accounts with personal revenue amounting to GBP 5m." (€6.5 million)

Minister Mizzi was asked what he did in order to earn the €6.5 million, why it was not registered in his declaration of assets, what he did with these funds and where the wealth had gone. These questions were sent on Wednesday.

The Minister explained, in an answer received Thursday: “You will note that the bio provided an overview of the projects which Dr Mizzi worked on prior to entering politics. This included his role as Partner and Head of Practice with an international firm. As head of practice Dr Mizzi developed the energy practice and also sold various consultancy engagements on behalf of the firm. The revenue which you refer to relates to client accounts and business development led by Dr Mizzi and, as such, was received by the firm and not by Dr Mizzi.”

The questions arose after it was noted that Minister Mizzi only had €389,440 in bank deposits declared in his declaration of assets last year.