Opposition MP Toni Bezzina is being interrogated by police over alleged corruption dating back to 2012.
Bezzina, the Nationalist Party transportation shadow minister, arrived at the Financial Crime Investigation Department shortly after 2pm on Monday accompanied by his lawyer Joe Giglio.
It is understood that the investigation relates to claims Bezzina used government workers to do works on a PN club in his constituency of Zurrieq back in 2012.
The matter, which allegedly occurred in the run up to the local council elections, had been reported in newspapers Kullħadd and L-Orizzont.
In 2016, Bezzina lost a libel case he had filed over the newspaper reports but won an appeal of that decision one year later.
Nationalist MP Anthony Bezzina has described the corruption investigation being pursued against him as a “political frame up”.
After an almost four-hour interrogation session at the Financial Crime and Investigation Department, Bezzina suggested to journalists that the corruption allegations being brought against him are false accusations.
“This is a political frame up against me, now one hopes that certain things come out relating to what happened and what didn’t happen - and by who this happened, that is important,” he told journalists after exiting the FCID on Monday afternoon.
Bezzina is alleged to have coerced government employees in the Public Works department to carry out works at the Nationalist Party club in Żurrieq ahead of the Local Council elections of 2012.
Construction reform plans positive but vague - Moviment Graffitti timesofmalta.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timesofmalta.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Works paving over a country lane in Dwejra with cement have been halted after the intervention of the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage.
Last week, ramblers and hobbyists decried the works, saying they prioritised vehicles to the detriment of pedestrians and further contributed to biodiversity loss.
Superintendent Kurt Farrugia confirmed with
Times of Malta that the SCH had last week put a stop to works on the site and that talks with Infrastructure Malta were ongoing “to determine the way forward”.
On Friday, heritage NGO Friends of the Victoria Lines Trail said that the road was not simply a country lane but “a historical military path built to serve the Dwejra Lines, of which it forms an integral element.”
Bernard’s troubles: one step forward, two steps back
PN leader Bernard Grech has not capitalised on polls showing the first flimsy signs of recovery to affirm his leadership in the party, backtracking on a major overhaul of his shadow cabinet, raising questions on the authority he commands in his party
28 January 2021, 8:24am
by James Debono
Days after MaltaToday published a poll showing Bernard Grech not only reuniting his party’s voters, but also making small inroads among Labour voters – with 11% of PL voters in 2017 trusting him more than Abela compared to 6% of PN voters who trust Abela more – the PN leader stumbled in the face of resistance by MPs to an overhaul of his shadow cabinet.