MaltaMedia.com

The Times, following an interview given by John Dalli, phoned the Office of the Prime Minister requesting the Prime Minister to answer the following questions:

When did the Prime Minister find out about this investigation?

How did he come to know of it?

What did he do with the information from July up to the time the investigation findings were made public?

The Prime Minister replied as follows:

“On the 5th of July 2012 he received information from the Cabinet Secretary Dr Godwin Grima that OLAF representatives were in Malta investigating a matter related to then Commissioner John Dalli. This information was communicated by AFCOS (Anti Fraud Coordinating Services – the Malta interlocutor of OLAF) to the Cabinet Secretary but no further details were made available.

“At a later date the Cabinet Secretary updated the Prime Minister and informed him that John Dalli was aware of the investigation. The Prime Minister called John Dalli and asked him what this investigation was about. John Dalli stated that he knew about the investigation and that the matter was being clarified by him directly with OLAF.

“With regards to your third question, the Prime Minister immediately instructed the Cabinet Secretary to make sure that full cooperation was afforded to OLAF by all concerned.

“Prior to the 17th July PN Executive Meeting, there was a telephone call as well as a meeting at John Dalli’s request on the 19th of July at 11.00am at Auberge de Castille. The telephone call and the meeting dealt with his allegations regarding hacking and with allegations regarding a list of seven persons.”