Comments on: Konrad Mizzi’s state-sponsored assaults on The Malta Independent, and Godfrey Leone Ganado ripping those ‘audits’ to shreds

By: Tabatha_White

Tabatha_White — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 08:28:00 +0000

The line has forever merged with Maltese businessmen, to the point that if it’s legal, they skip out the middleman.

Kickbacks in the form of two tier invoicing is the first thing that comes to mind with all the contracts we are not being shown. Who are the contracts signed with? What other lateral contracts are in force connected to those contracts?

Then, how much being paid out by Malta Government is the actual purchase price?

Not everyone understands the mechanisms. They probably need to be broken down scenario by scenario so that 1. The difference between kickbacks and commissions is understood and underlined, and 2. So that the deceit linked to kickbacks is understood and made clear.

Otherwise, it will remain “commissions” in the minds of many. On par with what they do in the name of meritocracy.

By: AA

AA — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 17:00:00 +0000

Well said. As a warranted accountant and auditor, these were my thoughts too upon reading the financial statements.

One of the documents is not even signed by the directors but is then signed by the audit firm. An auditor’s signature should always follow that of the directors.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 10:09:00 +0000

The Opposition should, for crying out loud, STOP talking about “commission”. Commission is legal. These are KICKBACKS and GRAFT. You can’t expect the word ‘graft’ to be picked up by Maltese speakers, but KICKBACKS is just the kind of word that will enter the vernacular immediately.

By: Medit

Medit — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 08:33:00 +0000

The audited financial statements of the trust are essentially correct and standard – albeit they fail to disclose that the ultimate beneficial owners are PEP.
As in all similar audits, there can never be a guarantee that the bank balances are complete – as the auditor can only verify the bank balances with the financial institutions that the entity’s own records indicate a relationship with.

Nonetheless, such audits are meaningless and act as a distraction, considering that the trust and Panama company were exposed so early. Likewise an audit of Mr. Schembri’s offshore companies existent before March 2013 might have potentially exposed tax evasion but little more.

The core issue and the proper investigative (rather than financial) ‘audit’ if there can ever be one, is to delve into the contracts signed by the Government of Malta (or its quangos), and investigate the flow of funds paid by the entities (or their satellites or UBOs) that ‘won’, or rather were conveniently hand-picked for, the juicy and possibly inflated contracts.

By: Vigilantes

Vigilantes — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 00:15:00 +0000

You are right. You invite a professional person to give a lucid explanation and interrupt, stopping him from developing a logical argument so that ordinary people can understand the futility of the so-called “audit”.

By: Daphne Caruana Galizia

Daphne Caruana Galizia — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 22:46:00 +0000

In reply to Spiderman. Crowe Horwath New Zealand is not an international company. It is the equivalent of Nexia BT Malta. Nexia and Crowe Horwath are not a giant firm with offices all over the world, but operate on a franchise basis.

By: Spiderman

Spiderman — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 22:15:00 +0000

This fact has been bothering me since the famous “audits” were published. How could a supposedly reputable international company put their name to something as goofy as this? One does not need to be an accountant to conclude that those audits are not worth the paper they are written on.

We know that the “international audit firm” has a subsidiary in Malta. The audits were done by the local branch/partners/whatever or by the New Zealand head office ? If they were done in Malta, was it ordered by the head office ?

By: observer

observer — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 22:03:00 +0000

In reply to Tony A Zammit.

They won’t do that so easily – at least not because my friend Godfrey gives zero validity to ConRat’s ‘audits’.
Never forget that the gullibility of almost half of the Maltese electorate isn’t so ‘fickle’ to be bent by Godfrey’s assertions.

It all depends, therefore, on the number of ‘discerning’ voters who, the next time around, will be entering the polling booth scratching their heads as to which, between right and wrong, they will be choosing – because they still won’t be recognizing the difference by that time.

Just remember, however, that, by the last count, the number of the gullible and the ‘discerning’ outweighed others by a formidable 18,000.

By: Redneck

Redneck — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 21:29:00 +0000

Brilliant explanation by Mr. Leone Ganado.

By: thealley

thealley — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 21:25:00 +0000

Let’s not forget about the secret company opened by Nexia BT for that Chinese representative of Shanghai Electric Power. This is a key factor and I don’t know why it was not given full prominence by the media houses.