Arnold Cassola has presented the police commissioner with what he says is “first-hand evidence” of corruption in the Marsa Junction project. 

The evidence includes email and WhatsApp chat conversations between major players involved in the multi-million euro project, Times of Malta is informed, and at least two “well known personalities” are involved, the independent political candidate said in a statement on Saturday. 

Cassola said he was giving police Commissioner Angelo Gafà until the end of the month to summon him for questioning about the evidence and would be resorting to further legal action if that did not happen. 

He said that the information handed to him by anonymous whistleblowers proves that negotiations for the project were done in an irregular manner, with “fronts” involved in the tendering process and insider information divulged, and raises questions about “inexplicable” bank payments and what Cassola described as the “strong suspicion of the creaming off of "tanġenti"/commissions”. 

Corruption concerns about the Marsa project – the country’s largest-ever infrastructural project – have already been flagged to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, National Audit Office and Permanent Anti-Corruption Commission. 

Times of Malta had exclusively revealed in October how the EPPO was looking into Yorgen Fenech’s involvement in the deal. 

Fenech, an heir to the Tumas business empire who stands accused of complicity in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, was promised a €2 million success fee for his role as a middleman in the Marsa project.

Half of that money was due to be funnelled offshore to a company linked to his 17 Black, an offshore firm that former minister Konrad Mizzi and former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri listed as a payments vehicle in paperwork for their own offshore setups. 

Arnold Cassola said the evidence was handed to him by anonymous whistleblowers.

Cassola said that the evidence he has handed over to the police raises further concerns about the Marsa contract, and involves other players. 

"This case is an extremely serious one which can rock the foundations of the nation,” he said. 

"In a country like ours, where it seems that the moral compass has been totally lost, it is imperative that the police conduct serious investigations in a speedy way, not only to ensure that the authors of all misdemeanours are brought to book but also to show that proper ethical behaviour and real justice have not been banished from our country".