“I think that our MPs on the Public Accounts Committee took a very clear position this week,” Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi declared.

“What was their position,” the reporter asked.

“It was very, very clear, the position taken was made clear.”

“But do you know what that position was, what position they took?”

“The position was clear.”

“Can you explain to me what the position was,” the reporter insisted.

“No, no it was a very clear position and there is no need for further explanation.” And with that, Zrinzo Azzopardi scampered off.

Labour’s clear position is to conceal the depth of corruption it engaged in. Its clear position is to cover up Konrad Mizzi’s most rotten deal for the nation.

Its clear position is to ensure that sordid details of Labour’s misdeeds, which Daphne Caruana Galizia was about to reveal before her brutal assassination, remain hidden.

Four years after the journalist was eliminated to conceal the shafting of the nation, Labour still defends and protects Mizzi, still does its best to obscure the circumstances that led to her murder.

The Guardian described Mizzi’s SOCAR agreement as “a monopoly deal with Azerbaijan under which Maltese taxpayers could be losing tens of millions of euros a year”.

That deal is worth over €1 billion. In one year alone, Malta paid $153 million for its gas, twice the open-market value. SOCAR made $40 million in one year alone from Labour’s deal.  The Maltese taxpayer lost that money.

SOCAR had no relevant experience in trading in LNG. Why did Labour deal with SOCAR?

No public tender was issued for gas procurement. No public information was made available about the structure of that billion-dollar deal.

The Daphne Project revealed that SOCAR was actually buying the gas from Shell. SOCAR makes no contribution whatsoever. It does not produce the gas, it doesn’t handle the gas, nor organise its transportation or add value to the process.

Yet, SOCAR rakes millions of Maltese euros for doing nothing. There was absolutely no logical reason for Malta to go to Azerbaijan. Malta should have got that gas straight from Shell. But then how would millions be siphoned off?

Labour continues to shield Konrad Mizzi from appearing before the PAC, keeping the nation in the dark- Kevin Cassar

A UK consultancy hired by Electrogas noted that the “arrangement is unusual, one would expect Shell to contract directly with the project”.

Simon Pirani, a senior research fellow at Oxford Institute for Energy Studies commented: “If I were a Maltese taxpayer, I would want to know why such a poor deal was signed.” But Labour’s position is very clear.  It cannot afford to let the Maltese taxpayer know why such a poor deal was signed or where those millions are going.

We have some clues.

The ‘Azerbaijani laundromat’, a network of shell companies used to embezzle public funds out of Azerbaijan, transferred millions into 17 Black’s account.

Mayor Trans Ltd, a Seychelles shell company purportedly owned by an Azeri security guard, sent €1.4 million from its Latvia ABLV Bank account to 17 Black’s account at Noor bank in Dubai, held in Yorgen Fenech’s name. Before making those payments, Mayor Trans received payments from UAE registered Lazr Int Ltd’s account at Pilatus Bank.

In December 2015, 17-Black made an undisclosed profit of €4.6 million when Enemalta bought the Mozura wind farm. 

Reuters reported that the purchase came after negotiations and several trips to Montenegro by Mizzi. That same month, Nexia BT wrote in an e-mail that Mizzi and Keith Schembri stood to receive payments from 17 Black.

A company called Cifidex bought the Mozura shares on December 10 for €2.9 million. Two weeks later, it sold its shares to Enemalta for €10.3 million. Cifidex paid €7.8 million to 17 Black by May 2016. Cifidex is owned by Turab Musayev, an Azeri who sat with Fenech on Electrogas’s board.

He also sat, according to Melvin Theuma, at Fenech’s dinner table the day after Caruana Galizia’s was murdered.  Musayev was the former head of SOCAR’s trading arm.

But Labour’s Azeri links run deeper.

The Daphne Project revealed that several networks of companies, allegedly operated for the benefit of Ilham Aliyev’s daughters, used Pilatus Bank for secret investments in the UK, France, Spain, Georgia and Montenegro. Malta was used as a gateway for them to buy and manage assets across the world.

Among the assets held by Aliyev’s daughters through companies that were customers of Pilatus was the five-star Sofitel Hotel on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah.

According to The Washington Post, the Aliyevs also acquired 17 luxury properties on the Jumeirah islands worth £70 million. Former prime minister Joseph Muscat received a €21,000 donation from a secret donor to travel with his family to Dubai on a 70-hour trip, 15 hours of which spent travelling. The purpose or the site where he stayed with his family on that trip in the dying days of his premiership were never revealed.

Mizzi, who travelled to Azerbaijan with Muscat and Schembri on that notorious secret mission, urged Fenech to “delete WhatsApp” after the latter lost his phone.

Fenech was tipped off on at least three major projects spearheaded by Mizzi, including Azerbaijan’s “kind intentions” to supply Malta with LNG. Even top secret correspondence between Mizzi and Azerbaijan’s energy minister reached Fenech.

And Labour continues to shield Mizzi from appearing before the PAC, keeping the nation in the dark. Mizzi knows too much. Labour is petrified that,  some day soon, Mizzi will squeal.

Labour must hide the real reasons why it squanders millions of our money. No wonder Mizzi continues to evade justice. Despite the slew of scandals, Mizzi has never been prosecuted. Musayev has never even been questioned.

Labour’s position is clear. It must do everything possible to hamper scrutiny, conceal its stinking deals and dupe the nation. It will bury Daphne’s stories – Panama, Pilatus, Electrogas and SOCAR. It will do everything to bury Daphne and her murder for good.