The Malta Independent and the Times of Malta now ICIJ partners for Panama Papers

The Malta Independent/The Malta Independent on Sunday and the Times of Malta/The Sunday Times have been made ICIJ media partners for the Panama Papers, which gives them full access to all documentation just as the ICIJ’s other media partners on this tranche of information and documents have had since months before launch.

As we know already, the only Maltese PEPs who feature as the UBOs of companies in Panama, trusts in New Zealand and companies in the British Virgin Islands are Konrad Mizzi, Sai Mizzi Liang (a PEP twice over as Mizzi’s wife and through her own status as Malta government envoy), Keith Schembri, Brian Tonna, Malcolm Scerri (who owns and operates businesses with the Prime Minister’s chief of staff), Adrian Hillman (also an illicit business associate of the Prime Minister’s chief of staff), and Ninu/Anthony Zammit. The former Nationalist Minister was given an amnesty by the incoming Muscat government on the €3.2 million he hid in a Swiss bank by concealing his ownership via a BVI company set up through Mossack Fonseca.

But there should be a lot that is of interest to a Maltese readership, contained in the vast volume of emails exchanged between Nexia BT and Mossack Fonseca, that will have been mere detail to non-Maltese journalists.

There should be some interesting stories in The Malta Independent on Sunday and The Sunday Times tomorrow, though it will probably be mainly stuff that bulks out what we know already.

“Let’s move on,” he said.