The farcical irony of life – Manuel Mallia has more cash in notes under his pillow at home than Austin Gatt’s ‘Swiss account’ is worth

Published: July 18, 2013 at 12:02am
I'm not fat. I'm just well-wadded with bank notes.

I’m not fat. I’m just well-wadded with bank notes.

Are the media going to thrill and throb with excitement at the news that the Police and Army Minister keeps half a million euros in his cookie jar and under his mattress?

Yes, half a million IN CASH not at the bank.

No, because this weird piece of information is nowhere near as exciting as Austin Gatt’s ‘Swiss account’, which is worth less than that.

That’s the way it goes in this very, very strange place.




39 Comments Comment

  1. Chicken says:

    Half a million euros in cash at Mallia’s home?

    It’s the petty cash float.

  2. Pandora says:

    And believe it or not, in the TOM comments to the article about Gonzi’s last day as an MP, you still get people ranting about the 500 Euro raise. Incredible!

  3. Harry Purdie says:

    Amazing. A very, very fat cat is tooling along, scooping cash to keep criminals out of prison.

    He decides to ‘fatten’ his ego by entering politics.

    He is elected by siding with a charlatan.

  4. SB says:

    Why didn’t he publish his income for 2012?

  5. matt says:

    Personally, I don’t think he keeps half a million euros in cash at home as one thing is certain. Minister Mallia is very careful with money. Journalists must ask him about the nature of this cash and where it is.

    • twanny borg says:

      Din li jiddikjaraw kemm ghandhom flus cash hmerija kbira. Hemm xi hadd li kkonferma li din veru tezisti? Din is-somma kienet qed tigi dikjarata? Minn fejn giet?

      Dan l-ezercizju jsir biex wiehed ikun jaf kemm zdiedu l-assi tieghu. Allura wiehed ma jaqbillux jghid li ghandu miljun id-dar u wara jghid li kienu ghandu?

      U min idahhal flus mill-korruzzjoni se jaghmilhom fuq ismu?

      Nehhu kollox ghax din farsa.

  6. edgar says:

    Sleeping with a wife half your age in a bed with half a million euros under the mattress must be very bumpy.

    On the other hand why are you all surprised that he has almost 2 million in the banks? When one has free water and shops at Lidl it is amazing how much one saves.

  7. Gendus says:

    What is more amazing is the loans they declare compared to the income they declare.

    The declared income of some of them would not be enough even to service the interest on the loan, still less the actual repayments. I believe that the first 100 days of Malta Farsa Taghna Lkoll were fruitfully used to shift assets and titles to relatives so as not to be obliged to declare them.

  8. P Shaw says:

    If Mallia declared half a million Euros, probably he has double or triple that amount in cash.

    One would not hold that significant amount of cash beneath the mattress. What is the probability that he built a mini-vault/sizeable safe to hold it? In that case, one should really question his priorities, given that he shops at LIDL and his wife’s servants are sent to the public fountain to fetch water for his bath.

  9. La Redoute says:

    Manwel Mallia overruled the police on a matter of public safety

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130717/local/Msida-able-to-close-roads-for-fireworks.478292

    Enthusiasts told Times of Malta they had been lobbying various ministers for years to have fireworks again.

    “This time we spoke to (Home Affairs Minister) Manuel Mallia… he’s a man of his word,” an enthusiast said.

    Questions sent to the police remained unanswered at the time of going to print.

  10. Timothy says:

    It has to be a big cookie jar, of course.

  11. cikku l-poplu says:

    Forsi ghalhekk irregalalhom l-amnestija lil-kriminali ghaliex ghamluh miljinarju: kull qalb trid ohra.

  12. Calculator says:

    Now that we know how much Mallia keeps under the mattress, how long will it take for a good burglar to have a go?

  13. Village says:

    Not sure keeping all that cash at home is infringing some money laundering regulation. Perhaps the Minister should clarify.

  14. Joe Fenech says:

    Where he keeps his money and whether he splashes in low-quality supermarkets or elsewhere is irrelevant. I don’t know how the taxation system in Malta works, but surely the Inland Revenue should be able to trace his assets through his earnings.

    Yes, a very, very, very strange place. People always lash out at me when I compare Malta to Zimbabwe but that is fact.

  15. silvio loporto says:

    Since when is it anybody’s business as to how much cash one can keep at home?

    Haven’t some, stlll; not learnt the lesson as to how safe your
    savings are in banks?

    One hint when keeping money at home ( It is applied by local farmers) Make sure you spray the hoard with a strong pesticide. Insects can be as bad as bankers in decimating your savings.

    • Vanni says:

      @ Silvio

      With anybody else but this gentleman, police antennas would have been twitching like mad. Normal people do not keep that amount of cash at home, unless the money is ill gotten.

      Mind you, we are all certain that such a respectable person as our Minister would never be involved in any nefarious enterprise.

    • pontius says:

      Maybe he keeps that amount of money in cash so as not to declare it for tax. But in that case, why declare it in his statement here?

      • curious says:

        Today the discussion everywhere was about this millionaire’s cash amount.

        This disclosure has raised more questions than it answered. Why keep that amount at home? Why disclose it while not doing the same with a loan? Why take out a loan when you have the cash?

        Ir-risposti jinghataw f’seduta ohra.

    • Allo Allo says:

      Ghax ma tghidlux jinvestihom fit-tigieg?

  16. AP says:

    He better have a damn good home security system!

  17. francesca says:

    Taf x’naf inghajd, li kieku kont jien persuna semplici u niddikjara li ghandi nofs miljun euros taht rasi minjaf kif kont nigi imtertqa mis-CIR..

    Nispera li l-pulizija tara sew dan il-boccu x’ghandu u ma ghandux. Pero nibza li kollox ser jghaddi qisu qatt ma kien xejn.

  18. tina says:

    Poor man! These Labour ministers treat us like fools.

  19. C Falzon says:

    What makes me wonder is why did he declare that cash at all? Surely it is not because he is too honest. So what could be the reason?

  20. rpacebonello says:

    I always thought there was a limit on the amount of cash one is allowed to hold. Is this correct?

  21. aidan says:

    Are criminals likely to rob their defence lawyer?

  22. cikka says:

    What astounds me about Minister Mallia’s declaration about his cash holdings is that he seems to have no qualms about exposing his family to the danger of having their home broken into by those who may feel that half a million euros might be a good thing to get their hands on and worth the risk and effort.

    How could he be so short-sighted?

    Did it not cross his mind that once he had to declare the money he may as well take the safer route for all concerned and deposit it in a bank account.

  23. Natalie Mallett says:

    It seems like using the fountain water will make your money trees grow. I shall give it a try.

    Ahjar jitghallem igawdihom li ghandu ghax xejn mhu sa jiehu mieghu n-naha l-ohra.

  24. where are we? says:

    But is it possible that people believe that Mallia holds that money at home? Mallia, criminal lawyer, knows very well where to put his money.

    As time goes by, and questions asked, he will reply that he did declare that he had the money. I do not think that anyone, now, would DARE carry the matter further.

    • cikka says:

      Whether he does or doesn’t hold that amount of cash at home is immaterial with respect to the potential danger he has exposed his family to.

      And this from the Minister responsible for National Security.

  25. where are we? says:

    We haven’t heard from Privitera lately – is he hibernating?

  26. La Redoute says:

    He declared cash. He didn’t say he keeps the money at home.

  27. Joanne says:

    Why did he feel the need to declare how much cash he has? Not one of the other Ministers declared cash money.

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