George Farrugia interrogated for the third time

Pardoned oil trade George Farrugia, who is on police bail, was called in for questioning today for the third time ever since MaltaToday published new emails showing that Farrugia’s cosy relationship with government officials persisted after 2004.

Further emails published by MaltaToday on Sunday showed that Farrugia also benefitted from inside information on fuel stock data belonging to competitors.

Farrugia holds a presidential pardon granted to him in February 2013 to reveal how he bribed people like MOBC chief Frank Sammut and allegedly, also former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone, for the procurement of oil from Trafigura and Totsa to Enemalta.

Emails recently published by MaltaToday, show that the corrupt oil trader – formerly a member of family firm John’s Group before his ouster – also got Trafigura executives in London to send UK premiership football tickets to another civil servant, a former director at the Malta Resources Authority, Godwin Sant, who was in charge of green-light fuel oil specifications of all imports to Malta. Godwin Sant is also on police bail.

It was also revealed that an Enemalta senior manager in the petroleum division, Emanuel ‘Leli’ Mizzi, had allegedly repeatedly sent fuel stock data of competitors of oil giants Totsa and Trafigura, to their representative in Malta, George Farrugia.

The government has since suspended civil servant Godwin Sant, who was also arrested and interrogated by the police.

Formerly head of energy regulation at the Malta Resources Authority, Sant accepted free UK football tickets from the oil giant Trafigura at the behest of Farrugia.

MaltaToday has revealed that George Farrugia made arrangements for Sant to receive football tickets in the UK from Trafigura as a gift. Apart from the suspicious informality, the very fact that a regulator was keeping close contact with the Trafigura and TOTSA agent raises many serious questions.

MaltaToday is also informed that no discussions on the presidential pardon have taken place.