The public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia continued on Friday, hearing the testimony of Tax Commissioner Marvin Gaerty behind closed doors.
The revenue chief returned to the witness stand one week after he was confronted before the inquiry board about messages exchanged with Yorgen Fenech, the businessman accused as being an accomplice in the journalist’s murder.
During last week’s sitting, Gaerty had been asked to supply information about the tax status of companies and individuals mentioned in the Panama Papers leak.
Yet, lawyers for the tax department had argued that such information could only be provided upon clearance by the prime minister in terms of law.
The Labour Party is currently on the offensive against Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi for failing to file his 2018 and 2019 tax returns on time.
They’re right. Azzopardi’s actions are unacceptable, especially considering the political profile he has built around good governance. Explaining this away as the result of his marital separation does not quite cut it and it certainly does not explain why the 2020 returns fail to mention the income earned from his profession.
But there’s a sinister story behind how these late tax returns were exposed and it is also worth highlighting because it points towards
potential collusion involving the office of Speaker Anglu Farrugia, Prime Minister Robert Abela and Labour’s media company One Productions, which ironically hasn’t filed its own accounts in more than 10 years.
Police insist they don’t need Prime Minister’s authorisation to analyse electronic equipment
Reacting to a news report, the police deny they need any authorisation from the Prime Minister to secure and analyse information from mobile phones
28 December 2020, 4:52pm
by Kurt Sansone
Police insist they do not need authorisation from the Prime Minister to secure mobile phones (Photo: John Pisani)
The police do not need any authorisation from the Prime Minister to obtain and analyse information from mobile phones, the police force said on Monday afternoon.
The newspaper also reported that the phone includes an exchange between Abela and Gaerty on opposition leader Bernard Grech’s tax situation.