Updated | Egrant inquiry concluded and handed to Attorney General

The magistrate investigating claims that the Prime Minister's wife is the owner of a secret offshore company in Panama, has concluded his inquiry and handed his findings to the Attorney General.

Magistrate Aaron Bugeja finalised his inquiry on Friday evening, 15 months after launching the inquiry following a complaint by the lawyers of Joseph Muscat to the Commissioner of Police.

The Attorney General's office confirmed that it received the report and that it was analysing the "voluminous" report. 

The inquiry was based on allegations by the late journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that Michelle Muscat was the owner of Egrant, a secret Panamanian offshore company unearthed in the Panama Papers as having been set up by Nexia BT, the auditors who set up Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi's offshore companies.

Looking back at 2017 | Egrant: how Caruana Galizia pushed Muscat into an early election

Five magisterial inquiries were underway investigating allegations of government corruption following the ICIJ’s explosive leak of documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca in 2016: the inquiry into alleged links between Panama-registered company Egrant and the Prime Minister being held by Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, Magistrate Doreen Clarke's inquiry into the FIAU leak of compliance reports about Pilatus Bank, then Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera's inquiry into the leak of a preliminary FIAU report on Pilatus Bank to the then Commissioner of Police Michael Cassar in April 2016, Magistrate Galea Sciberras' inquiry into Keith Schembri and Brian Tonna of Nexia BT and Magistrate Josette Demicoli's inquiry into allegations of money laundering by Keith Schembri and Adrian Hillman through Pilatus Bank.

Reactions to the conclusion of the Egrant Inquiry 

In a statement, the prime minister noted the announcement by the Attorney General that the inquiry into allegations about him and his wife is now concluded and passed over to the Office of the Attorney General.

I have been informed that independent Magistrate Bugeja concluded inquiry I asked for on allegations against me & my wife, and handed it over to Attorney General. I asked AG to publish inquiry as soon as he concludes his internal review. I will comment immediately after -JM

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) July 21, 2018

The prime minister asked for the inquiry to be published as soon as he concluded his internal review, and said that he would give his reactions immediately upon publication.

The Nationalist Party also issued a statement noting the magistrate’s conclusion.

It is in the public interest that the Egrant inquiry report is published, published immediately and published in full. https://t.co/f8jQ8sH5eM

— Simon Busuttil (@SimonBusuttil) July 21, 2018

“The PN expects that the inquiry’s conclusion are published in complete transparency,” the statement read, saying they would comment further when it is published. 

Looks like the comment is already prepared...

— Maria Efimova (@MariaEfimova7) July 21, 2018

On Twitter, Nationalist MP and former Opposition leader, Simon Busuttil, said that it is of public interest that the enquiry is published in full.

Maria Efimova also took to Twitter to comment, saying that the prime minister seems to already have a comment prepared. Efimova was the whistleblower who told Daphne Caruana Galizia that she had seen documents while working at Pilatus bank that show how the Panama company Egrant belonged to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s wife, Michelle.

Infrastructure minister Ian Borg said on Facebook that he remained four-square behind Muscat, whom he described as a courageous man who cherishes truth and integrity. Borg said he hoped the day had come to prove, black on white, the truth that Muscat had always insisted upon.