Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister Konrad Mizzi this week said he had fallen victim to fake news over the Panama affair. In an eight-page declaration presented to the Pana Committee on Monday, Dr Mizzi said he had exposed himself and his family to an “unprecedented level of unfair criticism”.
The Sunday Times of Malta has fact-checked some of the claims made by Dr Mizzi before the committee, as well as other claims made by the minister throughout the year since the Panama scandal broke.
READ: 'I was a victim of fake news', says Konrad Mizzi
Claim: “I also notified the establishment of the [financial] structure in my ministerial declaration of assets for 2015. This was the first opportunity to report the set-up, and I did so without fail. The trust was also registered with the New Zealand tax authorities.”
Fact: The first opportunity for Dr Mizzi to declare his trust locally would have been with the tax authorities, which he failed to do. He was subsequently slapped with a fine for breaching the Income Tax Management Act. He blamed Nexia BT for failing to advise him of his legal obligation to register the trust locally. In addition to not doing so immediately, an e-mail from Nexia BT to Mossack Fonseca indicates that Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri wanted to avoid alerting local banks about their New Zealand trusts.
Claim: “Regarding the reports that there were attempts by the service provider [Nexia BT/Mossack Fonseca] to open a bank account, this was part of the service that was offered to the trust. Nevertheless, as a state of fact confirmed by the reports, the trust did not pursue this option and never opened any account for the structure, either in Panama or elsewhere.”
Fact: Mossack Fonseca made multiple attempts to open up bank accounts on Nexia BT’s instructions all over the world. Inquiries were made with banks in Miami, Dubai, the Bahamas and Panama.
Rather than the trust “not pursuing the option”, time and again, Mossack Fonseca were informed by the banks that they were unwilling to open up the accounts because Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri were politically exposed persons (PEPs).
E-mails sent by Nexia BT for the purpose of opening bank accounts included bank reference letters, their curricula vitae, copies of passports, professional reference letters, utility bills and statements regarding the source of funds.
Claim: “A company requires a bank account to operate, and hence, the service provider instructed Mossack Fonseca to make the necessary enquiries… But I did not sign any bank opening forms, nor did I give a power of attorney to the service provider to open an account. The service provider was only allowed to make enquiries.”
Fact: Nexia BT gave the go-ahead to Mossack Fonseca to open up bank accounts with the BSI Bank in Panama. These bank accounts would have required annual deposits of close to $1 million. The attempt to open the bank account failed. Asked at a press conference several months ago if this go-ahead was given without his authorisation, Dr Mizzi skirted the question.
Past claims
Claim: A statement issued last April by the DOI said: “Dr Mizzi states unequivocally that no joint investment was considered with Mr Keith Schembri.”
Fact: Bentley Charted Accountants in New Zealand requested more information on the “joint venture” that Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri would be entering into with their Panama companies. This e-mail was forwarded by Mossack Fonseca verbatim to Nexia BT on September 4, 2015. After several reminders from Mossack Fonseca, Nexia BT replied to the “joint venture” e-mail on October 17, 2015.
Claim: Konrad Mizzi tells a court on October 6, 2016 that naming the company carrying out an audit on his financial affairs would place “undue pressure” on them.
Fact: Crowe Horwath signed off on the audit into Dr Mizzi’s financial affairs on September 21, 2016. The audit was published last Monday.
Notes
The Sunday Times of Malta has reproduced extracts from the original e-mails. The format of the dates and times are as found in those e-mails.
Hearnville is the Panama company opened by Konrad Mizzi, Tillgate the one opened by Keith Schembri.
Notes in square brackets have been added to some of the e-mails to indicate original mistakes by the sender or to provide further explanation.
Konrad Mizzi has filed two libel cases over reports carried by the Times of Malta on the Panama affair. The paper is contesting both cases in court.