The head of the administration of the Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was suspected of receiving bribes for issuing a passport of the country to wealthy Russians. With the respective accusations against Keith Schembri (Schembri Keith) was the leader of the opposition Nationalist party of Malta Simon Busuttil (Simon Busuttil), writes on Tuesday, may 9, The Guardian.
Schembri himself denies his guilt, pointing out the lack of evidence and motive.
The corruption scandal around the head of the Maltese government broke out last year after the publication of the so-called Panama records. Later the focus turned out to be spouse and Nutmeg: according to unconfirmed reports, the owner of a local private Bank Pilatus kept the accounts of two shell companies, allegedly owned by the wife of the Prime Minister, his two closest companions and daughters of the Azerbaijani President Leyla Aliyeva. Representatives of financial institutions of all charges is also rejected.
The Guardian indicates that MEPs recently openly called Nutmeg to the resignation. In early may, the European Parliament released a statement urging the Prime Minister of Malta to give evidence on 18 may in Strasbourg, where he will be on duty. The call is not binding, and Muscat, responding to it, said that now is not the time to testify. He also assured that he will appear before the Committee of the European Parliament immediately after an independent judicial inquiry, which he initiated, will be completed.
In April 2016, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung published documents of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, which indicates that a number of world politicians and public figures are widely used offshore schemes for tax evasion. In scandals, in particular, was involved in the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Iceland, Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson.