Echo of 1970s Bical case in libel suit

Former Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici yesterday gave an account of what led to criminal action being taken against Cecil Pace, the former president of the Bank of Industry, Commerce & Agriculture Limited - Bical.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici was testifying in the libel case filed by former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff against the editor of Maltatoday, Saviour Balzan, over a series of articles about the closing down of the bank in 1972.

He explained that after being appointed controller of the bank he had asked Pace's lawyer to explain the difference between the balance indicated in an account of Hambros Bank and the books kept by Bical but he could not provide an explanation.

Once there was no explanation for the discrepancy involving hundreds of thousands of pounds he reported the matter to the Finance Minister to suspend Bical's licence and that was when criminal investigations started.

Subsequently, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said, he learnt that the letterheads of Hambros Bank at Bical, which had been verified by an inspector of the Central Bank, contained fabricated entries.

It turned out that the letterheads had been printed at Tudor Press, one of Pace's subsidiary companies. The statements issued by Hambros Bank were disposed of and others were fabricated using their letterheads so that they matched the entries in the Bical books. Once this was exposed the police had no other choice but to take criminal action against Pace.

As the controller, he explained, it was not in his interest that criminal action be taken and he managed to stall it for weeks so that the company, which employed many people, kept on operating for some more time.

The case continues.