Godwin Sant arriving at court.

A director of the Malta Resources Authority, who is now suspended, yesterday denied accepting bribes from pardoned rogue oil trader George Farrugia over the procurement of fuel for Enemalta.

Godwin Sant, 44, of Naxxar, was charged with tax evasion, bribery, money laundering, computer misuse and using to his advantage information to which he was privy.

Mr Sant, an engineer, stood silent in the dock before Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona, only speaking to confirm his name, age, address and profession.

Police Inspector Jonathan Ferris said Mr Sant, who was tasked with overseeing the resources authority’s regulations, was arrested on January 18 in the wake of information regarding allegations of bribery, tax evasion and misuse of information.

The probe followed a MaltaToday story alleging that Mr Sant had accepted gifts from oil giant Trafigura at Mr Farrugia’s request. The newspaper reported that, in April 2009, Mr Farrugia made arrangements for Mr Sant to receive football tickets for the UK Premier League from Trafigura as a gift.

He was immediately suspended when the allegations surfaced.

Mr Farrugia, who had been given a presidential pardon to divulge all he knew about the scandal, had told the police in 2013 he had no further backhand dealings to report about post-2005 and that he had told them everything he knew.

Following the press reports, Mr Farrugia was also interrogated by the police.

MaltaToday said Mr Sant had a very close relationship with Mr Farrugia, even providing him with details of what was going on within the energy portfolio of the MRA.

Mr Sant served as director for energy regulation and later was chief officer responsible for energy policy at the MRA.

Police Superintendent Paul Vassallo, who heads the economic crimes unit and who is also prosecuting, said the police observed a significant difference between the income Mr Sant declared and the amounts deposited in his bank account. Mr Sant could not adequately explain the provenance of large sums of money.

The prosecuting officer asked the court to order the freezing of his moveable and immovable assets in line with the Money Laundering Act.

Defence lawyer Edward Gatt sarcastically noted that, for months, the case had been investigated by editors not by the police.

When requesting bail, Dr Gatt said his client was contesting the allegations and always turned up when summoned to the police depot.

Mr Vassallo agreed and called on the court to impose strict bail conditions.

The court upheld the request for bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000. The accused was also ordered to sign the bail book at the Naxxar police station twice a week and surrender all travel documents.

Lawyer Mark Vassallo also appeared for the accused.