Joseph Muscat’s consultant was debarred by the World Bank TWICE under two different aliases
Screen shot of the World Bank’s list of debarred individuals and companies
Look at the two different variations of his name, and the dates. These are two separate notifications of debarment, for what the World Bank clearly has down as two different people. But they are the same person – Joseph Muscat’s consultant – using two aliases with variations of a long Indian name that lends itself to such permutations.
Shiv Nair was debarred permanently in 1999 and again – under a different name – in 2000. The debarment was because he violated World Bank procurement guidelines.
We can reasonably conclude from this that after he was debarred permanently in 1999, he used a different version of his name to perpetrate more violations the following year, and was caught out again.
We can reasonably conclude further from this that the 1999 violations were not an unintentional slip-up (hard though that would be) but a deliberate act.
Nair uses several variations of his name and his name-spelling for his companies registered in Malta, the UK and Spain (and possibly other countries too).
Significantly, Nair himself, rather than one of his companies, is debarred – personally and permanently. Permanent barring implies a serious offence, and given that we’re talking fraud and corruption, it must be serious indeed. Ineligibility for World Bank-financed contracts extends to any organisation controlled directly or indirectly by the ineligible person.
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‘pimps, thieves and scoundrels’
Did Finance Minister Edward Scicluna have no bells ringing? He’s supposed to be an honest man and has been about a bit. So how and why did he take this fraudster at face value, as presented to him?
How well connected IS our finance minister, really, if no alarm bells rang for him about Shiv Nair? His network must be low-level, and he can’t possibly have the socio-cultural ability to read the clues about behaviour. Some people are so impressed by the smell of money that they don’t bother to follow the scent.
What is the rest of the Labour ‘team’ doing – allowing the prime minister to operate at this level with the help of his friends, while they sit there and take it like dullards?
Is this the best Mario Vella can do after vegetating for decades?
Thank God, it was the World Bank that said it, otherwise Joseph Muscat might have accused Daphne and the Nationalist Party of ‘negativity’ again.
That is where unchecked positivity takes you. I did try and send warning signals.
One must have alarm bells if they are to ring. Scicluna certainly didn’t have any when Bloomberg called him live on TV for his comments following the Eurozone finance ministers’ meeting and he precipitated a diplomatic crisis and a media storm with his ill-advised remarks.
Was Edward Scicluna the man who introduced Nair to Joseph Muscat or was another Edward involved?
The gullible were lining up in hordes for Labour because Labour’s appeal was purposely designed for the morally corrupt.
The warning signals for me sounded loud and clear when the attacks were launched on Richard Cachia Caruana and Carm Mifsud Bonnici, in cooperation with that slime, for a variety of reasons: notably a tell-tale streak of nastiness and vindictiveness. I recognised immediately where that was coming from.
Prosit, Daphne. Thank you for exposing these dirty, slimy, hurtful and deceitful scoundrels.
I feel you have given me part of my life back.
“Ineligibility for World Bank-financed contracts extends to any organisation controlled directly or indirectly by the ineligible person.”
Does this hold even for governmments? Because if it does, and we ever need the services of the World Bank (beginning to seem ever more likely), Joseph Muscat may be painting us into an ugly corner by associating so closely with this shady character.
The World Bank black lists companies and individuals, not governments. The black list is an attempt to fight graft by cutting off finance to companies and individuals that bribe government officials.
Government officials are the ones who receive graft money. Companies and individuals are the ones who pay it, hence their presence on the black list.
Which thus now puts Malta under Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s government on the World Bank watch list, as also that of the EU Commission with particular regard to the Euro 1.3 billion in EU funds allocated to Malta as a result of the trust that Malta formerly enjoyed under the Gonzi administration.
No doubt the thousands of voters who threw their principles to the wind, assuming they had any to begin with, are starting each new day with joy at the glad tidings brought about by the ‘change’ that they have inflicted upon the nation.
The 1999 debarment was for fraud. The 2000 debarment was for fraud and corruption (i.e. bribery).
We can conclude that, not only did Nair not learn his lesson when he was first debarred, he went on to do worse the next time around.
We can further conclude that he has since sunk even lower, and is taking Muscat and his government – and Malta – down with him.
Well, in 1999 it was “just” 1.15 (ii) “fraudulent practice”, but in 2000 he upgraded by adding 1.15 (i) “corrupt practice” to his portfolio.
Hardly a slip-up.
What a dismal start for a prime minister and government.
Malta and the Maltese of good faith are the losers after all.
You knew this all along, didn’t you, Daph… even prior to the election. Well, good for you.
Gives one an idea of Labour’s absolute limits.
I don’t know what’s worse, if they’re a bunch of crooks or gullible and naive enough to get conned by these individuals.
Muscat seems to have only this cunning plan for the next four and a half years. If that’s not a terrifying prospect.