OPM Minister Carmelo Abela said on Monday he has gone to the police HQ to release a statement about the “calumny” levelled against him by the PN.

The Nationalist Party said earlier in the day that the investigation that the police is conducting into Abela’s alleged involvement in the failed HSBC heist renders his position in the government untenable.

Abela had been accused by PN MP Jason Azzopardi of being involved in the 2010 HSBC heist, which in exchange would have seen Abela earn €300,000 from the would-be robbers.

Abela has vehemently denied such claims, and filed a libel case against Jason Azzopardi. The first court session on the case was held today.

In a Facebook post, Abela said he had already denied the allegations but has not gone to the police to give a statement.

He said he had also provided a copy of a sworn statement he had already presented in the libel case, which Azzopardi has so far failed to reply to.

“Apart from handing over this document to the police, I have also expressed my willingness to cooperate fully to remove any doubts and so that the truth will emerge.”

He challenged Azzopardi to do the same. He also asked why the PN had not gone to the police with the allegations he is making. “I expect that the police send for him and question him.”

He also lashed out at Opposition Leader Bernard Grech for taking ownership of Azzopardi’s “lies” and for “associating themselves in criminal strategies to reach their political aims.”