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PM: Government will chase hidden accounts everywhere, not just Switzerland

February 22, 2015, 12:50 am
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Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today that while the government would follow up the lists of Maltese who reportedly held accounts in HSBC Geneva, this was not the only bank in Switzerland, and Switzerland was not the only country where people could have parked money away from the tax authorities and the government would seek information about them everywhere.  He pointed out that apart from the recent media reports about a list of HSBC account holders, there had also been another list, mentioned in 2010, which had not been followed up by the former government and which would be followed up by the present one. Speaking in a telephone interview with One Radio from Madrid, where he attended a socialist leaders' meeting, Dr Muscat also spoke about fuel prices and noted that prices in Europe had started to go up, while in Malta they would go down. Soon, he said, average prices in Europe would be higher than in Malta. He was confident, he said, that time would show the government was right on this issue, and the leader of the Opposition had spoken too early. About Libya, he said that at the Madrid meeting  he was pleased to hear the French Prime Minister declare that the situation...
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Italian Military Mission in Malta to wind down

February 21, 2015, 10:28 pm
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The Italian Military Mission in Malta is expected to wind down operations next year because of cost-cutting by the Italian government. The mission was set up more than 40 years ago and provides training and rescue services using AB-212 helicopters. In the past it had a wider role, both military and civil, including participation in infrastructural projects.  Officially, both the Maltese and Italian governments said the presence of the Italian military is no longer necessary as the Armed Forces of Malta has acquired the necessary expertise and personnel not to require any back-up. It also recently bought two modern helicopters for rescue work. “The re-dimensioning and winding down of the Italian Military Mission in Malta is planned for 2016 and has been long coming,” a spokesman for the AFM said. “We are currently in discussions with the Italians to see how our collaboration can keep going despite this decision. We are very interested in keeping our bond especially where it comes to training,” the spokesman added. More in The Sunday Times of Malta and the e-paper on timsofmalta.com Premium.
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Malta marathon has closest finish as Moroccan runners dominate

February 21, 2015, 10:44 pm
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Three runners from Morocco won the podium places in the 2015 Malta Marathon today. It was possibly the closest finish ever with Muhammed Hajjy coming in first at 2.19.28 from Nasef Ahmed who was second on 2.19.29. Elfeche Abdel Hakim came third on 2.21.36. It was the fifth Malta Marathon win for the Italy-based runner. The first Maltese in was Andrew Grech whose time of 2.32.34 was good enough for eighth. Samantha Woodward was the first woman to reach the finishing line while Malta’s Josanne Attard Pulis was second. In the half marathon, Karol Grunenbelg, a German, was first on 1.09.53 followed by Gerry Pennington (1.11.57) and Pascale Valentin 1.14.52. The first Maltese was Mark Herrera. Pavlos Tsana Varos of Greece was the first woman in, followed by Simona Bacceti and Rita Galea on 1.26.08 A record of over 4,000 runners took part, including Opposition leader Simon Busuttil. Inspire - The Foundation for Inclusion - will be the main beneficiary of the funds raised. The 42.2km marathon and the 21km half marathon started outside Mdina and ended in Sliema. For many of the participants the marathon wasa long-awaited event, the culmination of months of training. For others it is an...
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Ninu Zammit confirms Swiss account, used recent amnesty to regularise tax position - denies links to oil scandal

February 22, 2015, 4:24 am
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Former Nationalist Minister Ninu Zammit confirmed this afternoon that he had an account at HSBC Geneva and said his tax affairs were regularised after he applied for an amnesty offered by the present government. In a media statement issued shortly after the PN said he had been suspended from the party, Mr Zammit said he started depositing money abroad in the late 1970s. The money came from his profession and property business. He opted to deposit some funds abroad in order to diversify, for financial security, and because of attractive interest rates. The funds were eventually transferred to HSBC Geneve. No more deposits were made since that time.   Mr Zammit said his tax position was in order since he had made use of the amnesty offered by the present government and been issued a compliance certificate after rigorous scrutiny. He paid all due tax and penalties and now had no foreign bank account.   Mr Zammit noted that a section of the media had tried to associate him with the oil procurement scandal. He said that although he was responsible for the building of the MOBC installation, he was categorically denying ever having ever been involved in oil procurement, whether it was...
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Codes replace names in answer to parliamentary question

February 23, 2015, 9:45 am
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The Opposition complained this evening after codes replaced surgeons’ names in a reply given to a parliamentary question. The question, by Claudio Grech (PN) was about how many operations had been performed by each surgeon at Mater Dei Hospital. In his reply, Health and Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi gave codes instead of names when he listed how many operations each surgeon had performed. When Mr Grech demanded an explanation, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Chris Fearne said this was an issue of data protection. The codes were known to the hospital management and the clinical heads, but he did not feel that the names of each surgeon and how much operations each performed should be publicly listed. The public, he explained, could get the wrong impression, particularly in the case of surgeons whose main duty was not regular operations, but interventions where necessary, hence the small number of operations they performed. 4,704 operations were performed last October and 4,438 in November. Mr Grech and Claudette Buttigieg (PN) said they saw no reason why the names of each surgeon, and how many operations each had performed, should not be published, once they were paid from...
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‘Mistake to treat Tripoli Islamists the same as IS’

February 21, 2015, 3:11 pm
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Joseph Cassar

Islamists in Tripoli and Misurata are not Islamic State terrorists and the internationally-recognised Libyan government is mistaken to lump them together, a former diplomat has warned. Joseph Cassar, ambassador to Libya between 2005 and 2009, yesterday said a major hindrance to the formation of a national unity government was the Tobruk administration’s insistence that all Islamists were terrorists. He said it was good that the UK, the US and the EU rejected the Tobruk government’s request at the UN on Wednesday to lift an arms embargo. “Libya does not need more weapons but a national unity government that will counter the threat posed by Islamic State extremists,” he told RTK radio. The Tobruk government considers the self-declared Islamist-leaning administration in Tripoli as a security threat much in the same way as IS. The Tripoli government rejects any linkage to IS and accuses the Tobruk government of being staffed with Gaddafi loyalists. UN representative Bernardino Leon had been trying to get all sides together but progress has been slow, allowing IS to exploit the political vacuum. Dr Cassar laid part of the blame for the current instability on a decision taken by...
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Jailed three years for supplying, administering near-fatal dose of heroin

February 23, 2015, 5:44 am
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A man who 15 years ago supplied and administered a near-fatal dose of heroin to a first-time user has been jailed for three years and fined €5,000. Louis Mallia, 47, was found guilty of administering a dose of heroin to his childhood friend, Clyde Bonavia, who was rushed to hospital unconscious and only survived thanks to the instant care he received from doctors. Magistrate Miriam Hayman heard how the police began investigating the case when Mr Bonavia arrived at the Emergency Department after having been found unconscious in a rented flat in St Domenic Street in Valletta. Doctors immediately noticed fresh needle marks on his forearm. Police investigations revealed that Mr Bonavia was with another two men at the time. Mr Bonavia told the court that it was around Christmastime when Mr Mallia asked him hether he was interested in sharing some heroin because he had just received a social benefits payment. He said he told Mr Mallia that he had never taken heroin before. He was assured that it would be okay and that if it was unpleasant, he could stop. hey bought the heroin from a certain Grezzju Camilleri in Valletta and Mr Bonavia said that since he had never taken heroin before,...
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Updated - HSBC Malta announces €52m profit, down 42% from 2013

February 23, 2015, 12:54 am
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HSBC Malta said today it made a pre-tax profit of €52m in 2014, down  by €38m, or 42%, compared to the previous year. Cost efficiency ratio was 57%, against 50% in 2013. Return on equity for the year was 7.7%, compared with 13.9% in 2013. The advance to deposit liquidity ratio improved from 73% to 67%. Gross new loans of €710m increased by €113m or 19% on 2013. Net loans and advances to customers were €3,273m and remained in line with 2013. Customer deposits increased by 8% to €4,867m as at December 31, 2014.  Net operating profits before loan impairment provisions and excluding significant notable items (available-for-sale investment sales, ECB Comprehensive Assessment costs and lower insurance technical provision releases) were 12% down on the prior year. The bank said key contributors to the decline in profitability were a €19m increase in loan impairment charges resulting principally from lower valuations on legacy commercial properties, a €14m decrease in income associated with the challenging operating environment and lower non-recurring revenue items, and a €5m rise in costs primarily due to regulatory fees and additional compliance investment. All three main business...
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Valletta roof collapse leads to road closure

February 23, 2015, 12:50 am
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A roof collapse in lower St Paul Street has led to the busy street in Valletta being closed for traffic. The cave-in happened early yesterday morning and an architect recommended the closure of the street for traffic because of fears that other parts of the building may collapse. No one was injured.
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Benghazi church 'used as Isis arms depot' - Air force commander

February 23, 2015, 2:52 am
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The Chief of staff of the Libyan Air Force, Maj al-Jaroushi, has claimed that Isis in Libya uses Benghazi’s Catholic Church and the Commonwealth War Cemetery as ‘arms depots'. The claim was made on Libya Awalan TV and tweeted by Good Morning Libya last night. Coincidentally, the Maltese bishop of Benghazi, Mgr Sylvester Magro, recently arrived in Malta for a break. He will also be going to Rome to brief the Pope about the situation in Libya.
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Only 25 charged with Smart meter tampering

February 23, 2015, 12:01 am
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Only 25 people have been taken to court to face charges connected with last year’s electricity theft scandal despite there being 600 outstanding cases. A significant number of those charged were Enemalta employees accused of accepting bribes to modify the supposedly tamperproof smart meters in a way that would record less electricity than consumed. When the scandal broke at this time last year, Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi said that about 1,000 meters were found to have been tampered with. The government took the controversial decision to offer an amnesty. A total of 428 consumers applied to benefit. The police said investigations are ongoing, acknowledging that 25 of the remaining 600 clients, suspected of defrauding the energy provider, had been charged. These included three Enemalta employees and a customer who pleaded guilty. More in Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.
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Court halts auction of police weapons, vehicles

February 23, 2015, 8:37 am
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A judge this afternoon upheld an injunction to stop the auction of police weapons and vehicles that was meant to be held between tomorrow and Saturday after a protest over a rule that prohibits public officers from bidding for any item. Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon temporarily upheld the application for an injunction filed by the Police Association and two public officers who felt aggrieved that they were being excluded from the bidding process. The items were to be sold at two separate auctions. Tomorrow, the Police Force was planning to auction off 129 vehicles that were previously used by the force. Between Wednesday and Saturday, the force was planning to auction almost 800 weapons that were used by police officers or that had been impounded by the police during investigations. Vintage pistols from the First Balkan War and police-issue firearms from decades past and rifles from a mysterious arms dump were all being made available to collectors. The auctions includes 425 weapons that were formerly used by police officers and a further 342 weapons that had been seized by the courts, mostly in connection with environmental crimes. However, public officers were automatically...
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No mention of overseas accounts in former ministers' declaration of assets

February 22, 2015, 10:47 pm
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Both former Nationalist ministers exposed of having deposited money in Switzerland had declared very modest bank accounts and concealed their overseas holdings when they sat in Parliament and Cabinet. A review of the ministerial declarations of assets shows that Michael Falzon, a former infrastructure and later education minister, had claimed to have held between Lm10,000 (€24,000) and Lm22,000 (€53,500) in “banks” between 1987 and 1996 – roughly five and 10 per cent of the Lm200,000 (€460,000) he had deposited in a Swiss account.  He has insisted that the undeclared money was earned in business dealings he carried out abroad, before he had been elected to the House of Representatives. Ninu Zammit, who served as parliamentary secretary for water and energy, minister for agriculture and fisheries and minister of resources and infrastructure declared even more modest bank accounts amounting to no more than Lm 20,000 (€48,000). He had also declared a sizeable portfolio of agricultural lands, three residences and stocks. However, unlike his colleague, Mr Zammit refuses to say how much money he had deposited in Switzerland.  More in Times of Malta.
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Police called to investigate smart card abuses

February 23, 2015, 12:59 am
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The Ministry of Education has called on the police to investigate abuses in the smart card system following the findings of a an inquiry into the now defunct system, Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said this morning. He did not disclose what the abuses were, but said they had been flagged by the Auditor General report. Students used the card to purchase educational items. There had been reports of retailers giving cash to students instead of selling them products, which were then indicated as having been sold. The education minister was addressing a news conference at the GRTU premises in Valletta where he announced that an agreement has been reached to compensate retailers who joined the scheme in 2013 and 2014. The agreement involves some 135 retailers who had bought the required devices, each costing some €500, to be able to process purchases under this scheme. Following the decision to scrap the smart card system last year, retailers had complained that they would not be able to recoup the investment made to buy the devices.It was agreed that those who joined the system in 2014 would get €400 and those who enrolled a year before will get €300.  
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Minister insists claims of extramarital affair were 'false and outrageous'

February 23, 2015, 4:15 am
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Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi this morning described allegations that he had an extra marital affair with his communications coordinator, Lindsey Gambin as, as "false and outrageous," saying in court that his only relationship with her was a professional one.  He said his marriage with his wife, Sai Mizzi Liang, is "strong", despite the long-distance relationship.  Dr Mizzi was testifying in libel proceedings he filed against blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia over a blog posted last November in which she alleged that Dr Mizzi was having an affair with Ms Gambin.  Describing the entire post as "a lie from beginning to end", Dr Mizzi vehemently denied ever kissing Ms Gambin or ever engaging in an "intimate embrace" as alleged by the blogger.  "She said the relationship with Lindsey Gambin was an open secret among members of the press and politicians. This is far from an open secret but completely absurd. Worse than that she claimed that we were seen in an intimate embrace. This is blatant lie, beyond imagination. I never kissed her or intimately embraced her," he told Magistrate Francesco Depasquale. "I have had no relationship with Ms Gambin and the only relationship is...
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Update 2 - Busuttil: Austin Gatt no longer has anything to do with PN, Labour reacts

February 23, 2015, 2:43 am
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Updated - Adds video comments - Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said today that he had not spoken about Austin Gatt's Swiss bank account because at the time when it was revealed, he was not party leader. Dr Busuttil was replying to questions after he suspended former ministers Michael Falzon and Ninu Zammit for having held undeclared funds in a Swiss account. Dr Busuttil said the suspension was precisely that - a suspension - and if the former ministers cleared their name they would be accepted back in the party. Dr Busuttil said former minister Austin Gatt no longer had anything to do with the Nationalist Party. PL: TWO WEIGHTS, TWO MEASURES In a reaction, the Labour Party said Michael Falzon and Ninu Zammit were not being treated like Austin Gatt. Dr Busuttil had been ready to suspend Michael Falzon and Ninu Zammit but was scared of taking action against Austin Gatt and had actually defended him. It asked what was different.   
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Deadline looming at Crafts Village

February 24, 2015, 1:19 am
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Ta’ Qali’s 62 Crafts Village tenants have to decide by next month whether to sign a 65-year government lease as part of a €9 million embellishment project, or else vacate the place. An Economy Ministry spokesman confirmed the project which is being managed by Malta Industrial Parks will include new services, street lighting, public open spaces, parking facilities and a family area. The restoration of two Nissen huts which were part of the military airbase that was closed down in the late 1960s is also part of the project. The ministry said that in the coming months Malta Enterprise will roll out a scheme to assist tenants in the development of the sites and promote artisanship and crafts in Malta. While the spokesman described the feedback as positive, tenants who spoke with this newspaper were not so keen about the project, saying they could not afford to finance the cost of the new premises. With the March 31 deadline looming, sources said only about a third had accepted the offer, with the majority deeming the conditions as being “too tough”. More on Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.
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Ministers with Swiss accounts watched as fellow MP resigned for tax evasion

February 24, 2015, 1:31 am
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The revelations that two former ministers had secret Swiss bank accounts while they were in office came with a twist of historical irony. Michael Falzon and Ninu Zammit were Cabinet members in 1994 when a backbench colleague of theirs was pilloried for evading tax on an undeclared investment account. Fortnightly newspaper Alternattiva had published a story showing how PN MP Lino Gauci Borda held an investment account in the UK with £48,000, which had never been declared for income tax purposes. He resigned from Parliament four days later. Dr Gauci Borda did not want to be drawn into the current controversy when contacted yesterday.   More on Times of Malta.
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Stolen car belonging to Anna Falchi's partner found in Malta

February 23, 2015, 10:25 am
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An Aston Martin car stolen in Italy last August has been returned to Denny Montesi, showgirl Anna Falchi's former partner, after it was found in Malta. The car was reported stolen in Rimini. Montesi told the Italian media that the car appeared to have been destined for Libya. It was in good condition, albeit with a flat battery. He thanked the Malta police for their work.
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Kazakh ex-diplomat who lived in Malta found hanged - he had warned somebody was out to kill him

February 24, 2015, 4:17 am
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Rakhat Aliyev, the Kazakh president's former son-in-law turned political arch enemy, has been found dead in an Austrian jail after killing himself, a court spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Aliyev used to live in Malta for some time and had told The Sunday Times of Malta that somebody was out to kidnap him or kill him (see below). His lawyers said they doubted he had taken his own life. Austrian prosecutors in December charged him with the murder of two bankers in 2007, a case in which Kazakhstan's two requests for extradition were denied because of the former Soviet republic's human rights record. Aliyev, a former Kazakh ambassador to Austria who became a vocal critic of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, had denounced the case against him as politically motivated. He had been in custody since June when he turned himself in to Austrian authorities after a four-year investigation. The Austria Press Agency (APA) quoted corrections department director Peter Prechtl as saying Aliyev's body was found at 7:20 a.m. in Vienna's Josefstadt prison in a cell where he had been in solitary confinement. He had hanged himself in a bathroom, Prechtl said. Defence attorneys Manfred and Klaus Ainedter...
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