OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri will not resign according to his lawyers, who insist that the court decree delivered earlier today only states that a separate magistrate should handle the Keith Schembri allegations as they have nothing to do with the original inquiry's scope.
Earlier this afternoon, PN Leader Simon Busuttil said that Magistrate Aaron Bugeja ruled there is enough evidence to warrant a criminal investigation into Mr Schembri and Nexia BT owner Brian Tonna.
The evidence given to the magisterial inquiry was provided after Dr Busuttil, who claimed that he held documents which showed that that Mr Tonna received €166,800 from three Russians for the sale of Maltese Citizenship. The funds were passed into an account at Pilatus Bank belonging to Mr Tonna's British Virgin Island's Company (Willerby Trade inc.).
Dr Edward Gatt and Dr Paul Lia (Keith Schembri's lawyers) said that the Prime Minister had called an inquiry to determine the allegations regarding Egrant and the accusations that it is owned by his wife. "That request was met and the inquiry began. We know that the magistrate is gathering the information and has heard testimony."
"Dr Busuttil made certain allegations and asked the magistrate to hear him out. The Magistrate accepted. Subsequently, the court conducting this inquiry made a decree, asking Keith Schembri to provide his response regarding what was alleged by Dr Busuttil. Keith Schembri did this, and said that Dr Busuttil's allegations did not have anything to do with Egrant, and also said that he found no difficulty that the same magistrate hear this case. "
"The Magistrate today gave a decree, saying that he could not continue to hear the allegations made by Dr Busuttil as they have nothing to do with the original allegations and said that it should be looked into by another magistrate."
"Such a decree can be appealed before the criminal courts. After we spoke with our client, he does not want to contest this, but wants to continue along with the Magistrate's decree."
He said that this is not an investigation but an inquiry in genere. "An inquiry is that the magistrate conducting this exercise preserves the evidence found, which can either be presented by people or be requested by the magistrate. Once the magistrate ends the inquiry, and has heard everything,he can then pass on his findings to the Attorney General."
Dr Gatt said that the magistrate did not say there was a case for investigation. "The magistrate said that the allegations made through the request (of Simon Busuttil) do not have anything to do with the current inquiry, and so someone else will hear it."
He stressed that all the magistrate is saying through this decree is that it has nothing to do with Egrant.
Nexia BT director Brian Tonna also reacted to the Magistrate's decree, saying the accusations against him are "without basis".
"The reports to the effect that the Magistrate found sufficient evidence for a criminal investigation to be launched in my and Mr Schembri’s regard, are false and incorrect. The Magistrate did not evaluate any evidence, let alone make any factual finding, not even a preliminary one. Rather, the Magistrate found simply that the allegations are such that, if proved, can lead to the conclusion that an offence or offences have been committed.
"This is a very different determination to the one as reported, which is intended to convey the message that the Magistrate weighed the evidence and drew conclusions from it. This is simply not the case.
"For the record, I categorically deny the accusations of corruption and money laundering levelled against me. They are entirely without basis in fact, " Mr Tonna said.