Updated 4.30pm
The Attorney General and the police commissioner have not yet received the inquiry into secret offshore companies opened by murder suspect Yorgen Fenech and ex-government officials Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.
On Tuesday, Nationalist MEP candidate David Casa and his lawyer Jason Azzopardi announced on Facebook that the years’ long magisterial inquiry has come to an end.
By law, an inquiring magistrate has three working days to present their concluded inquiry, known as the proces verbal, to the AG, with recommendations on how to proceed.
The probe centered around plans by Fenech’s company 17 Black to pay millions to Schembri and Mizzi via secretive offshore structure in Panama.
These plans are suspected to be linked to Electrogas, the consortium awarded a 2013 government contract to build and operate a gas-fired power plant.
In a statement, shadow justice minister Karol Aquilina called on the Attorney General to publish the magisterial inquiry report "without further delay".
"The Attorney General and the Police Commissioner are now being held responsible if this inquiry report ends up in the hands of Robert Abela again in an abusive and illegal manner so that, as happened in the case of the Vitals inquiry, he will be able to make statements and public comments with which he tries to dictate and influence the judicial process for his political advantage," he said.
When Times of Malta asked the Attorney General's office if they had received this inquiry and whether it intended to publish it, a spokesperson replied: “The Office of the Attorney General has not received the records of the Magisterial Inquiry to which reference is being made in your email."
A spokesperson for the police said: “To date the Police did not receive the indicated Magisterial Inquiry."
Reacting, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard later urged for action "against those spreading the misinformation.
Fenech, who is awaiting trial for allegedly orchestrating the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is also a former director and part-owner of Electrogas.
Schembri’s and Mizzi’s ownership of the secret Panama companies was outed by a massive data leak known as the Panama Papers.
Caruana Galizia had teased knowledge of the Panama companies prior to the leak’s publication in April 2016 and put up a cryptic Facebook post in February 2017, hinting that 17 Black could be linked to government corruption.
She was assassinated by a car bomb eight months later.
In April 2018, Times of Malta published an e-mail linking 17 Black to Mizzi’s and Schembri’s Panama companies.
Schembri claims the e-mail referenced "draft business plans" he formulated with Fenech whilst still in government. Mizzi denies any connection with 17 Black.
'Irresponsible and dangerous information'
In comments to the media on Wednesday afternoon, Attard slammed the “irresponsible and dangerous” misinformation.
He claimed the judicial process was being politicised by the Nationalist Party.
“The PN is providing misinformation to the public on the presumption of the conclusion of an inquiry. The Attorney General and Police Commissioner publicly said it was not true that the inquiry was presented to the AG’s office,” he said.
“If necessary, there should be steps taken against those who spread the misinformation," he added.
“According to the lawyer of the NGO Repubblika [Azzopardi] and the PN’s justice shadow minister [Aquilina], the inquiry was at the AG’s desk yesterday,: that is misinformation, lies and deceit."