Civil servant who accepted Trafigura football tickets arrested, interrogated

Civil servant Godwin Sant was yesterday arrested and is being 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 oil trader George Farrugia.

MaltaToday has revealed that in April 2009, 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.

Farrugia had told the Maltese police in 2013 that he had no further backhand dealings to report on for the period after 2005, and that he had told them everything he knew. He was committed to reveal all that he knew after being given a presidential pardon to do so.

Sant, who held the very senior position of regulator, kept a very close relationship with George Farrugia, even furnishing him with details of other developments related with what was taking place under the umbrella of the energy portfolio at the Malta Resources Authority.