Tonio Fenech insists clock gift not in breach of ministerial ethics

Former Finance Minister insisted that his acceptance of a clock as a gift for his wife by pardoned oil trader George Farrugia and his brother Raymond was not in breach of his ministerial ethics.

Testifying in front of the Public Accounts Committee, Fenech argued that he was still parliamentary secretary within the Finance Ministry, and not responsible for Enemalta, when the Farrugia brothers knocked at his door to give his wife a clock hand-crafted by Raymond Farrugia’s wife. Fenech had accepted the gift on her behalf.

The PAC is investigating the Auditor General report into Enemalta’s fuel procurement practices between 2008 and 2011. Fenech was made minister responsible for Enemalta in 2010.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis challenged Fenech’s acceptance of the clock, insisting that he wouldn’t have accepted it had he been in his position.

However, Fenech argued that the ministerial code of ethics doesn’t forbid ministers and parliamentary secretaries or their spouses from accepting or declaring gifts.

“The code of ethics says that ministers must declare those presents that they receive from people who in some way can influence their ministerial decisions, and that they or their spouses mustn’t accept gifts that would render the recipient in some way obliged to the sender,” Fenech said. “I wasn’t responsible for Enemalta back then, and I had simply seen the event as someone from John’s Garage gifting my wife a clock.

“It’s not as though the Farrugia brothers had ever approached me afterwards to ask me for a favour, while reminding me that they had gifted me with a clock.”

Claiming that he had never known George Farrugia personally and that the two were never on speaking terms, Fenech recounted that the gifting incident was the first time he had met the oil trader. Indeed, Fenech said that Farrugia had only accompanied his brother to his house by chance, as he happened to be in the vicinity when his brother Raymond was about to deliver the clock to his house.

The second time they met was when Farrugia had accompanied a group of people to Fenech’s office about a privitisation request that the then-finance minister had rejected.

Quoting Inspector Angelo Gafa, Zammit Lewis said that Raymond Farrugia had confirmed that the clock was paid for by PowerPlan, the Farrugia family business. Fenech insisted that he wouldn’t have accepted the gift if he had known that a company had paid for it.

Fenech has already instituted criminal libel proceedings against ministers Chris Cardona and Evarist Bartolo, over comments they had made while in Opposition that Fenech had personally accepted a clock worth €5,000 from George Farrugia while he was the minister responsible for Enemalta.

During the PAC sitting, Fenech challenged the ministers to repeat those allegations against him in court.

“The clock was given to my wife when I was still parliamentary secretary under the finance Minister, when I had nothing to do with Enemalta, and it was only worth around €500,” Fenech said. “Ex-police commissioner John Rizzo had investigated the case and testified in court that there was definitely no link between my acceptance of the clock and any corrupt practices at Enemalta.”

Zammit Lewis quizzed Fenech as to why he had chosen to represent the Nationalist Party on the TV programme Xarabank that coincided with a crucial Cabinet meeting in which the controversial decision to grant Farrugia with a presidential pardon was taken.

“We were in the middle of an election campaign and it was my duty to represent my party on air,” Fenech said. “The Prime Minister [Lawrence Gonzi] had called me up to tell me that the Auditor General and the Police Commissioner had recommended that a presidential pardon be handed out to a witness in the oil procurement case. I can’t even remember whether the Prime Minister had said that the witness was going to be George Farrugia.”

Fenech said that police would not have been able to prosecute people in relation to the oil scandal were it not for Farrugia’s pardon.

The hearing will continue on 10 June.