A former Enemalta chief projects officer was yesterday charged with corruption in connection with the oil procurement scandal – the seventh to be arraigned in 10 days.
Standing quietly in the dock, Raymond Ferris, 51, of Sliema, pleaded not guilty to trading in influence, corruption and fraud in November 2008 and in the previous months.
Sources said it was believed that Mr Ferris had been approached by George Farrugia, the local agent of oil company Trafigura, when the accused was still working at Enemalta. Mr Farrugia was last month granted a presidential pardon in return for information on the oil scandal.
Mr Ferris’s arraignment comes less than 24 hours after those of former Enemalta financial controller Tarcisio Mifsud and a former member of the corpor-ation’s oil procurement committee, Alfred Mallia, who both pleaded not guilty to corruption.
The arraignments are the result of police investigations into recent allegations that illicit commissions were paid in 2004.
Defence lawyers Veronique Dalli and Kenneth Grima requested bail, noting that Mr Ferris had been made redundant after his position at Enemalta was abolished and was still unemployed. It was hard to find a job at...
↧