Inquiries fast and slow – Ranier Fsadni
What makes an inquiry too long? It depends on which inquiry you’re talking about, and who’s doing the talking.
It has taken around three- and-a-half years to conclude the magisterial inquiry into the alleged kickbacks between Brian Tonna and Keith Schembri. For the Labour machine, that’s a sign of justice taking the necessary time.
“The institutions are working.” Even if, in this case, the “working institutions” have to include the Attorney General’s Office, which then did nothing. In 2017, the police already had the evidence needed, according to Daphne Caruana Galizia, who broke the story in April that year.
Oh, and there’s that muscular institution, the Cabinet of Ministers. They were all working so hard that they failed to notice the incongruous details of the case.
The revelations were based on a leaked FIAU report. It named sums, origins and account details. It considered the explanation offered by Tonna and Schembri – return of a loan to help out with a marital settlement – and found it made no sense. No trace of the loan.
Soon it was public knowledge that the date of the ‘loan’ didn’t fit the excuse. And, even if it did, accountants cannot take a loan from a client. Tonna...