Back in July, it wasn’t a private flight, but a scheduled one from London Heathrow

Published: July 6, 2013 at 6:38pm

This bit in Malta Today is misleading, perhaps because what they mean by ‘private flight’ is ‘a flight for private business’.

Dalli claims his cabinet were informed of his private trip, but not before it took place, specifically because he erroneously included his Bahamas ticket stub with all his travel receipts for the EC’s verification. Since the private flight could not be refunded, Dalli was handed the stub back.

It was not a private flight. You don’t get ticket stubs for private flights. It was a scheduled flight from London Heathrow. We know this for two reasons:

1. it is a fact that he handed in the stub;

2. last summer, I received an anonymous email with his flight schedule, and it seemed so very outlandish that I dismissed it as a hoax, along with the concomitant information that his daughter had rented a house in the Bahamas for the entire summer. As you can imagine, I now feel like kicking myself – more so because I cannot trace that original email with the flight schedule. I do, however, distinctly remember the LHR.

I had also heard this story about the stub and I think it is absolutely fascinating. He went to all that trouble to hide his trip, telling his Commission colleagues that he had been called away on urgent family matters in Malta, then flying to Malta unnecessarily before going on to London then Nassau.

But he carefully filed away his flight stub and presented it to his office for a refund. There is no way it could have been a mistake. A man who had been Commissioner for all that time would know the rules: that the only flights the Commission pays for are those used for Commission business.

Also, what is the first thing that a man does who has taken a secret trip? He disposes of the ticket stub in a bin far, far away from home, after ripping it to shreds.

I think what we are seeing here is yet more evidence of John Dalli’s highly complex attitude to money. He went to great lengths – literally – to hide that trip, but he couldn’t resist trying to get his money back by palming the stub off the European Commission. Addicts take huge risks, and accumulating money becomes compulsive, an addiction in itself, even if the money is not used to make life more fun. Nobody can accuse Dalli of having fun, enjoying himself, or living the high life.




14 Comments Comment

  1. Dave says:

    It’s a mix of stinginess and milking the cow. Dalli never wanted the EC job so he milked it (whilst wheeler dealering on the side).

  2. Bob says:

    Do his children live the life?

  3. Min Jaf says:

    One thing is for sure, the Dalli seniors do not seem to spend much money on their clothes.

    They move around in PortoMaso, he in old grey baggy trousers worn to a high shine, shirt ditto. She in track suit trousers well past their prime and grimy once-white tee shirt, tissue or hanky in hand, and a purse held snugly in her armpit.

    Obviously while obsessively keen on making money, not so keen when it comes to spending it.

    • dutchie says:

      Hoarding money for himself and no spending… He’s a true Mintoff copycat, which makes him subconsciously attractive to Labour. That’s what they must be defending.

  4. Kevin says:

    Meanwhile, Joseph Muscat reconfirms his trust in John Dalli. They met for an hour. Dalli explained it all. Muscat believed him. Dalli is pseudo-health Minister. Labour supporters, in their droves, hail Dall’s integrity and honesty as a politician.

    I wonder whether this whole thing will blow up in their face.

  5. ciccio says:

    Did he present the bills for rent of the the Beach View villa at the Bahamas for reimbursement? Perhaps Giovanni Kessler should check.

  6. Alexander Ball says:

    It’s great fun reading comments from diehard Labourites on timesofmalta.com. For years they were taught to hate Johnny Cash – now he is the answer to the country’s prayers because of his ‘experience’.

    How long until they are brainwashed to hate him again, I wonder?

  7. Harry Purdie says:

    There once was a boy named Joey,
    Who wished for worldwide glory,
    He swam with the sharks,
    Thought he had the smarts,
    But ended up covered with gory.

    • Harry Purdie says:

      Daphne, may I revise this a bit?

      There once was a boy named Joey,
      Who wished for worldwide fame,
      He swam with the sharks,
      Thought he had the smarts,
      But ended up covered with shame.

  8. gorg says:

    Submitting air tickets for private flights for reimbursement boils down to fraud.

    The guy has a big persecution complex but his track record speaks for itself:

    Mid med Bank
    Mater Dei
    AMS
    Daewoo
    water to whisky
    Malta International Airport privatisation
    direct orders for air ticket purchases from his daughters’ company
    snus and Silvio Zammit

    It seems that if he goes down, others will join him either through commission or omission. Hence his leverage on both parties.

  9. Riya says:

    John Dalli does not spend much money on clothes. True.

    But I have my doubts whether he forked out some good money before the last election to help Labour in its propaganda to win the election.

    I have this suspect because he was awarded a very good position and after all those accusations of corruption the Labour put on him, now they are defending him on a huge corruption case. This is unbelievable.

    My mind goes back in 1987 and I imagine what would have the people said had Dr. Fenech Adami as Prime Minister and the Nationalist administration in government awarded a very important position to Lorry Sant and also defended him in the corruption cases he was involved in.

  10. Neil says:

    This is just incredible. Where’s the ‘press’, so called? Things are just lost, shoved in a shoe box under the bed, for fear of stepping on a toe or two. It’s beyond pitiful.

  11. John Higgins says:

    There were rumblings from the PL at the time of Mid-Med Bank’s sale to HSBC that Johnny Cash had his finger in the pot. Who knows?

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