Justice Minister Jonathan Attard on Friday said the oil corruption scandal case is still “ongoing”, almost a decade after the first prosecutions.

Enemalta’s former financial controller Tarcisio Mifsud was cleared of wrongdoing this week, after years of delays.

Seven individuals were charged in 2013 in connection with alleged corruption in Enemalta’s oil purchases.

Oil trader George Farrugia, who was at the centre of the kickbacks scheme, was given a pardon to tell-all during the dying days of the last PN administration.

A decade down the road, his testimony has yet to secure any convictions.

In 2015, Enemalta’s former chief projects officer Ray Ferris was also cleared of wrongdoing, with a magistrate calling into question the credibility of the pardoned oil trader’s testimony.

Process 'ongoing'

Asked on Friday if there were any plans to revoke Farrugia’s pardon, the justice minister declined to comment on individual cases.

“I do not think it is opportune to go into the merits of a particular case. The process is still ongoing, we have to let it take its course,” Attard said.

Attard said he wants to ensure that the justice reforms being introduced cut down on court delays.

The case against other key figures like former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone has yet to be concluded.

Tabone attempted to halt the proceedings against him in 2020, claiming his human rights had been breached when he was made to testify before parliament’s public accounts committee.

He is undergoing court proceedings on charges of bribery and corruption in oil procurement during his tenure at Enemalta. He was charged in 2013 over alleged corruption in 2005 and his case is pending trial.

He had served as chairman of Enemalta and its offshore bunkering arm and was also secretly a director of a rival oil bunkering company, according to testimonies in court and parliament.

Farrugia, who was the local agent of oil giant Total, had claimed he was blackmailed by Tabone into giving him commissions on oil procurement and storage contracts.

He claimed Tabone had told him to either pay up, or contracts would be given to another company. The commissions were shared between Tabone and his consultant Frank Sammut.

The 'necessary' pardon 

In 2014, police chief Angelo Gafà told parliament that the pardon given to Farrugia had been necessary for police to build a case. 

 Gafà, who at the time was an inspector investigating the case, said he believed the pardon had been necessary as it helped the police close their case against a number of people.

He said he believed Farrugia had told the truth because he was always consistent in what he said.