Malcolm Scerri – $1.1 million; Adrian Hillman – $647,420; Keith Schembri – $725,091; Brian Tonna – $523,131 in the British Virgin Islands

The Times of Malta has carried another story today based on the documents in the Panama Papers. This one features the man who was, until he was forced to resign a couple of months ago, chairman of their newspaper group, Adrian Hillman.

The article gives the amounts which Colson, Lester and Selson – the British Virgin Islands companies owned by Keith Schembri, his business partner Malcolm Scerri and Adrian Hillman – had in their bank accounts in 2014. This does not mean that the money was acquired that year. It means that in 2014, they still owned it.

The companies were all set up in 2011, Schembri’s and Scerri’s together in January and Hillman’s a few months later. Given the timeframe, and the rough parity of the amounts – $1.1 million (Scerri, who owns half of Kasco Engineering), $647,420 (Hillman) and $725,091 (Schembri) – I’d say that they are definitely all in it together. And in fact, in an email in 2013 when he restructured these three companies for greater secrecy post-election, using nominee directors and nominee shareholders, Brian Tonna told Mossack Fonseca that they would hold the shares of a company registered in Cyprus.

So it’s as plain as day that the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, the chairman of the Allied Newspaper Group and Malcolm Scerri were all in business together and still are – except that one of them is no longer chairman.

Meanwhile, corrupt accountant Brian Tonna, who made these arrangements, has two companies of his own in the British Virgin Islands, one of them called Willerby, through which he held $523,131 in 2014.