Konrad Mizzi Rues the Slanderous Accusations Thrown Against him – ‘I was a Victim of Fake News’

Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister Konrad Mizzi has told MEP's investigating the Panama Papers leak that he was "the victim of fake news". Since the Panama-gate controversy materialized and spread across the globe, various political figures have been named and alleged to have partaken in corporate espionage and other money embezzlement schemes. To name a few, Konrad Mizzi has also been named in in such a list of individuals.

In a declaration issued by the Office of the Prime Minister, Dr Mizzi accused Pana Committee members of making "politically-charged statements" and implied that the committee hearings were not objective. “How can a hearing be fair, when members of this Committee take a stand before I am heard?" Dr Mizzi said in his declaration. MEP'S investigating the Panama Papers leaks today met with Dr Mizzi and others in a whirlwind round of meetings.

In an eight-page declaration that boasted of his achievements as Energy Minister and reiterated his previous claims that he had submitted his financial affairs to unprecedented scrutiny, Dr Mizzi accused local media houses, including the Times of Malta, of taking part in a "wider coordinated attack aimed at character assassination" which was "orchestrated by the Nationalist Party.”

A wider coordinated attack aimed at character assassination...orchestrated by the Nationalist Party
In the declaration, Dr Konrad Mizzi stopped short of expressing contrition for having opened a company in an offshore jurisdiction, instead saying that with the benefit of hindsight "I should not have given such a sensational opportunity to my political opponents.”

Dr Mizzi is the only serving minister within the EU to be named in the Panama Papers data leak released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists last year. Dr. Konrad Mizzi also published an audit opinion of his Rotorua Trust for the period July 22, 2015 to June 30, 2016. The audit was carried out by New Zealand firm Crowe Horwath. The audit opinion stated that Dr Mizzi's company Hearnville Inc had not conducted any trades during the period stated and that the group and trust's liabilities exceeded its assets by US$4,285 and US$3,750 respectively.

According to auditors, the trust as well as Hearnville Inc. held no bank accounts during the period under review. They noted that the group owed Dr Mizzi US$5,235, which Dr Konrad Mizzi said represented "set up fees which I personally disbursed". Dr Mizzi said that he had recently started the process to close down the Panama Company and pledged "full disclosure on the dissolution process". In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said that no audits could replace investigations by police and anti-money laundering investigators.