[WATCH] Mizzi refuses to answer question on business mooted in Panama Papers correspondence

Tax audit will 'prove me right' - Konrad Mizzi

Minister without portfolio Konrad Mizzi insisted that he was the first Maltese politician to voluntarily ask the Tax Commissioner for a tax audit on his family trust and that he had “laid everything bare” in the process.

Mizzi refused to answer questions on his proposed Panama business, which – according to emails sent by his financial advisory firm Nexia BT – had been set up to operate in the recycling and remote gaming sectors.

He said that he had immediately made it clear that the accounts were for the family trust and that was why he had volunteered for an audit and had also commissioned a second audit through an independent company.

“I am confident that once the results are published, you will realise that I have been saying the truth all along,” he said.

Mizzi would not confirm whether the company carrying out the audit on his accounts was the same one that was carrying out a similar on Keith Schembri, the prime minister’s chief of staff.

Nor would he confirm whether he was already privy to the audit report’s conclusions or publication date.