Man debarred by World Bank for fraud and corruption at Malta House in London for Malta Business Network event

The new High Commissioner should have been told – he might have felt compromised by the presence of somebody like that

I’m told that Shiv Nair rang around a few Maltese people who are well connected in London to ask them for lists of names of people who could be invited to a business event at Malta House in Piccadilly.

A few eyebrows were raised, for various reasons that needn’t be gone into here. But the main reason was: “Who is this man and why is he doing this? He’s not networking for Malta. He’s networking for himself. Why is he allowed to do it?”

They weren’t quite sure what the business event was. In any case, when a few of them turned up to the drinks party routinely organised by the Malta Business Network at Malta House, on Tuesday 24th September, they found him there. Those drinks parties are held roughly every month, and they’d never seen him there before.

It was the first such event at which the new High Commissioner, Norman Hamilton, was present. I can’t say ‘which he hosted’ because he’s not yet officially the High Commissioner, not having presented his credentials at the Court of St James.

We’ll know when he does, because the DOI will send us the photographs of him in his morning coat riding in that horse-drawn carriage they use, with Mrs Hamilton.