Nationalist MEP David Casa has submitted a parliamentary question asking whether the European Commission will investigate claims made in a French news investigation.
The video featured a conversation between an undercover journalist and Paceville entrepreneur Luke Chetcuti, in which the former referred to contacts he allegedly had with two government ministers. “Last week I was having dinner with Chris (Cardona), the Minister for the Economy. And he texted the Tourism Minister (Konrad Mizzi) saying: we must help the Chetcuti family. They have always helped us. The other minister replied saying the beach was quite small but he would see what he would do, if it could be enlarged.”
In another part of the video, an agent from the Chetcuti Cauchi firm was filmed boasting about his ‘close’ connection to the Prime Minister and Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship, Julia Farrugia Portelli. The firm has since had its IIP licence suspended. All ministers named in the video have denied any wrongdoing, and Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said that the Labour Party did not receive any donations from the Chetcuti family.
In his PQ, Casa said: “On Sunday 22nd September 2019, French investigative journalists from Enquête Exclusive (Exclusive Inquiry) revealed shocking information regarding agents involved in the Maltese passport-for-cash scheme. In a video, such agents were horrifyingly caught boasting of their close relationships with senior government ministers. One agent was caught on camera bragging that even if a passport is denied, it would be possible to encourage the ministers to ignore the discrepancies.”
Will the European Commissioner investigate these developments, keeping in mind various resolutions approved by the European Parliament calling for such schemes to be stopped, he asked?
In comments to this newspaper, Casa said: “What has been exposed is not only shocking, but confirms that the process of due diligence for someone to buy Maltese and European citizenship is a complete farce.”
“Since day one of this citizenship-for-cash scheme, I, together with my European Parliament colleagues, have continued to make pressure on the European Commission and the Maltese Government to stop this scheme. Throughout the past months and years, this scheme was the subject of a number of scandals, investigations and allegations of corruption and money laundering, involving Nexia BT and Pilatus Bank. The latest investigative work done by Enquete Exclusive should lead to an immediate halt to the citizenship scheme.”