[WATCH] PM Abela says he has no information on Marsa flyover corruption allegations

Prime Minister Robert Abela said he has not received any reports of wrongdoing over the Marsa flyover project, saying any allegations of corruption in the tender have only come to his knownledge through the media. 

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Abela said that Commissioner of Police Angelo Gafà would be more informed on the matter as he himself knows nothing beyond the media’s knowledge.

“All I know is from the media,” stressed Abela while referring to local reports on the investigation by the EU prosecutor’s office (EPPO).

In the event of the Marsa flyover project being investigated, secrecy is a major principle for EPPO, said Abela. “It would be only derogatory if I try to comment on this investigation, also because I am not informed of such.”

READ ALSO: Robert Abela claims ‘no knowledge’ of Marsa flyover probe by EU prosecutor

The investigation by EPPO revolves around exchanges between a Turkish billionaire businessperson, Robert Yildirim, and Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect, Yorgen Fenech, in which bribery is suggested.

The two were locked in a dispute over a ‘success fee’ Fenech was expecting from the company after he helped it secure the EU-funded Marsa junction project.

Yildirim and Fenech have denied any wrongdoing.

A report in The Sunday Times of Malta revealed how Fenech was to be paid a €2 million success fee by Turkish construction firm Ayhanlar Yol Asfaltlama that won the Marsa junction tender.

However, Ayhanlar went belly up soon after being awarded the project and Yildirim stepped in to save it. Fenech expected to be paid the success fee by Yildirim, which the latter refused to pay.

The agreement between Fenech and Ayhanlar dictated that the money should be paid to Fenech’s Malta-based company New Energy Supply Ltd and his other company Wings Investments based in the United Arab Emirates. Wings is the sister company of 17 Black.