[WATCH] Minister will take action on Marsa flyover allegations after investigations are concluded

Action will be taken on corruption allegations in the Marsa flyover project only after all pending investigations are concluded, Transport Minister Aaron Farrugia said on Monday.

Farrugia remarked that the auditor-general is investigating the allegations, while the European Public Proscutor’s Office (EPPO) is also probing the project.

“I had a number of meetings internally and I am informed the auditor general is investigating the project. He will do what he needs to do and we are aiding him and offering our help,” Farrugia said.

Times of Malta revealed earlier this month that Yorgen Fenech was promised a €2 million success fee from Turkish company Ayhanlar Yol Asfaltlama to help it win the Marsa tender.  Half of the money was to be sent to New Energy Supply Limited, while the other half was to be wired to Wings Investments. Wings Investments is the sister company of Fenech’s 17 Black account.

Ayhanlar won the tender in 2018 but was riddled with financial issues in the weeks before it was awarded the contract. It was Yildirim who suggested that bribery could have helped Ayhanlar to win the contract. 

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.

Farrugia said he would be taking any decisions on the project once investigations have been concluded.

“We saw in the media that EPPO is investigating the project. Once their investigation, and the auditor general’s investigation have been concluded, we will look at the outcome and take our decisions then,” he said.

Pressed further on why a police investigation could not be carried out in tandem with the auditor general’s investigation he said he will allow the authorities to carry out their work.

Two weeks ago, the Nationalist Party asked the Permanent Commission Against Corruption to investigate the bribary claims linked to the project.

It was also the Nationalist Party that requested a separate investigation into the project by the National Audit Office.