Company given direct order of €1.04 million has not paid tax since incorporation seven years ago

Infinite Fusion Technologies Ltd, the company to which the Police Minister gave a contract of €1.04 million by direct order last December, has not paid tax since its incorporation in 2010.

The company has filed its accounts with the Companies Registry at the Malta Financial Services Authority just once, in February 2012. Limited liability companies are required to file their accounts every year at law.

Maltese income tax law bars limited liability companies from filing their tax returns unless a copy of the accounts filed with the Companies Registry is appended. If the tax returns are filed without the accounts, they are invalid.

The Inland Revenue Department would not comment, citing strict privacy provisions in the income tax law. Attempts at reaching Liam Ferriggi, 31, who is the 100% shareholder and sole officer of the company, except for his wife Bernice Ferriggi (formerly Spagnol) who is a director but not a shareholder, were not successful. Calls made to his office at 11 Zingla Street, Zabbar, were not returned.

Maltese and EU law on public procurement bars the state, government and public bodies from entering into procurement contracts with companies which have not paid their taxes.

Shadow Minister Jason Azzopardi told this website: “The Auditor-General should intervene immediately. A direct order of this magnitude indicates mischievous and fraudulent intentions. It also creates an unequal playing-field, and I have been contacted by several operators in the IT field who are outraged.”

Carmelo Abela, the Police Minister