Oil scandal: Lawyer says witness made allegations after losing contract

A defence lawyer accused the man given a Presidential pardon to testify in the oil procurement scandal of making allegations about his client just because his company had lost a major contract. Edward Gatt, who is representing Enemalta’s former financial controller Tarcisio Mifsud, said George Farrugia, who was testifying in the proceedings against his client, only mentioned Mr Mifsud after Mr Farrugia was given the Presidential Pardon. The reason, he said, was because his client had brokered a deal for Malta between an energy company and the Italian government with Mr Farrugia losing out as a result. Dr Gatt warned Mr Farrugia that he had been given a Presidential Pardon on condition that he told the truth. In his evidence, Mr Farrugia recounted that he started out as an agent for Total in 1999 when Total had storage at Has Saptan and would sell to oil bunkering companies. Mr Farrugia said he was approached by Alfred Mallia, the former head of Enemalta’s petroleum division, who wanted to see if Total would sell to Enemalta. A deal was discussed during which Mr Mallia asked Mr Farrugia to think of him because he was not alone. The deal went through and Total began tendering. When...