John Dalli left a Cyprus EU meeting to fly to the Bahamas two days after Silvio Zammit was interrogated by OLAF

Published: July 1, 2013 at 1:11pm

Dalli and Muscat

OLAF interrogated Silvio Zammit on 5 July last year.

Phone records taken as part of the OLAF investigation show that Dalli rang him the next day, 6 July.

On 7 July, John Dalli flew to the Bahamas.

On 9 July, he flew back for the EU health ministers meeting.

On 11 July, OLAF interviewed him and put him under formal notice of investigation.




11 Comments Comment

  1. Alexander Ball says:

    The Times said Zammit called Dalli but not according to OLAF. It clearly states Dalli phoned Zammit.

    I should charge for my OLAF report expertise.

    Just hate my mates taking the piss out of me for living in a land fit only for criminals.

  2. ciccio says:

    Now that’s an amazing fact.

    Giovanni Kessler of OLAF, whom I support fully for his work, told us many things, and investigated many facts, including the logs of phone calls made between John Dalli, Silvio Zammit and Gayle Kimberley.

    There is one fact which he never investigated, because of course it took place after he submitted his report and conclusions.

    It is the duration of the call made between John Dalli and Joseph Muscat soon after Dalli was given the option to either resign or be dismissed by Jose Manuel Barroso. And what was said in that call.

    One would hope that if OLAF re-opens the investigation, they will investigate this fact in detail, and if there were any other calls between the two.

  3. T says:

    Ma, how exciting. Brussels, Malta, Cyprus, Bahamas. What a life Mr. Dalli leads. Imagine his reply when checking in the villa and was asked for his name – “The name’s Dalli, John Dalli.”

  4. Lestrade says:

    So with this timeline, the jigsaw pieces are falling into place.

  5. ciccio says:

    The question which the media do not seem to have asked as yet about the explanation given by John Dalli is why exactly would an EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs in office travel to the Bahamas to meet ‘these persons’ and advise them about the setting up of a trust (hence a lot of legalities and formalities) in a country unknown to him, about a charity in Africa?

    Since when is it the business of an EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs to give such advice and enter into such complex financial matters which could be very risky as to origin of funds, exact intention, final destination of money etc.?
    Not that I believe his explanation, anyway.

    Then, these questions follow naturally:

    Had the Commissioner given this sort of advice before?

    What experience did the Commissioner have of setting up trusts in remote tax-havens (Monsieur Hollande, please look the other way)?

    Why didn’t Dalli seek to organise the trust in Malta?

  6. the chemist says:

    Must have chartered a plane. Wonder if he charged it to his EU expenses allowance. And why does anyone go to the Bahamas for a day ? Maybe the police comissioner overlooked this or is it common practice for EU commisioners to take day trips to these tax havens.

  7. xmun says:

    silly me, I believed him (NOT) when he said he was a prisoner in Brussels.

  8. Toyger says:

    Another issue is this: if he really had nothing to hide, why did he lie to his EU colleagues and tell them he had to visit Malta for urgent family business?

  9. Meritocracy Rules says:

    So well enough to fly to the Bahamas and back in a matter of days. But not well enough to make the 2 hr flight back to Malta shortly after.

    Un Hallina John. Who are you trying to kid?

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