Mizzi and Schembri don’t confirm PANA meeting, Nexia bosses turn down invitation

Minister Konrad Mizzi and PM's chief of staff will likely not be attending hearing of the PANA committee in Malta

Minister Konrad Mizzi (left) and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri (right)
Minister Konrad Mizzi (left) and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri (right)

The former energy minister Konrad Mizzi, and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri have not confirmed their attendance to a hearing of the Panama Papers committee, which will be sending a delegation to Malta next week.

In a letter to the PANA committee, Mizzi – now a minister without portfolio within the Office of the Prime Minister – and Schembri, informed chairman Werner Langen they would be replying “soon” to the official invitation.

Also summoned for a hearing was former Nationalist minister Ninu Zammit, who was found to have kept money in an undisclosed secret HSBC account in Switzerland during his time as minister, who is not expected to attend.

Nationalist deputy leader for party affairs Beppe Fenech Adami has confirmed his presence.

But auditors Brian Tonna and Karl Cini, of Nexia BT, who set up Mizzi and Schembri’s offshore accounts through Mossack Fonseca, will not appear before the committee.

The PANA committee arrives on Monday to continue its investigations on matters related to the Panama Papers, revealed last year by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, as well as on laws designed to fight tax avoidance and money laundering.

The Nationalist Party has called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to assume responsibility for Schembri and Mizzi’s no-show, as well as for the Nexia BT partners, who have been awarded consultancies by the government.

“Tonna and Cini’s decision not to appear before the committee shows they have much to hide, especially on Mizzi and Schembri, and that of somebody else whose name was hidden during email conversations. Had Muscat nothing to worry about, he would have sacked those who had opened secret Panama companies, and both of them would have appeared before the European Parliament committee to answer questions. Muscat is too weak to take these decisions.”