‘Zammit pursued lobbyists after €60m request refused’

Silvio Zammit, the man at the centre of the John Dalli resignation as European commissioner, had again approached snus lobbyists after his alleged request for a bribe was rejected, tobacco producer Swedish Match told The Times. After snus producer Swedish Match had rejected his request for money in return for influencing legislation in Mr Dalli’s portfolio, Mr Zammit approached the European lobby group representing the industry with fresh offers to set up meetings with the then commissioner, a company spokeswoman said. An EU anti-fraud investigation concluded there was “unambiguous circumstantial evidence” indicating Mr Dalli knew Mr Zammit had asked for a bribe from Swedish snus lobbyists, which led to his resignation last week. The former Maltese minister has vehemently denied the claims. Swedish Match rejected Mr Zammit’s alleged request for €60 million on February 21 and reported the matter to the Swedish Government three days later. They then filed a complaint with the European Commission in May. Asked why the company had waited so long, Swedish Match said they did not plan to take it further until Mr Zammit made a second approach, this time with the European Smokeless...