Evidence published by Konrad Mizzi contradict allegations by The Times of Malta

The Times of Malta earlier stated that “A due diligence questionnaire submitted on behalf of Dr Mizzi by his financial advisers, Nexia BT, indicated the objectives of the trust as being ‘asset protection’, ‘confidentiality and privacy’ and ‘family succession planning’. It added that “The box marked ‘estate planning generally’ – the first option on the list – was left unticked.”

In reply Minister Konrad Mizzi today stated that the Times of Malta lied on this matter, given that the ‘estate planning generally category’ was ticked in the questionnaire submitted by Nexia BT.

Dr Mizzi is hereby publishing documentary evidence with this Press Release to this effect.

The Times of Malta later published on its online news portal a form printed on a “Bentleys Chartered Accountants” letter head which apparently does not include a ticked ‘estate planning generally’ box. This confirms that the Times of Malta lied when it stated that the unticked box was found in a due diligence questionnaire submitted by Dr Mizzi’s financial advisors Nexia BT.

In fact, the form submitted by Nexia BT does clearly include the ticked box as evidenced by the document being published with this statement. The Nexia BT questionnaire is consistent with Dr Mizzi’s past statements that the Rotorua Trust and related structure were solely intended as a family trust for assets and investments.

The Times of Malta falsely asserted that Dr Mizzi had not indicated ‘estate planning generally’ as an objective for the establishment of the New Zealand trust. The Times of Malta chose to create confusion by misquoting and falsely attributing authorship of documents found in the Panama Papers.

Dr Mizzi stressed that this latest lie by the Times of Malta, cannot be merely dismissed as amateurish journalism, but must be considered as part of a wider coordinated attack across multiple channels aimed at character assassination.