LETTERS | Sunday, 15 July 2007
Joe Cordina, Mayor, Xaghra, Gozo
I refer to article published on the front page of last Sunday’s MaltaToday. I would like to clarify that:
I stopped acting as company secretary of Ulysses Lodge Co. Ltd on 29 January 2002, on the same day Chev. John Portelli, Mr Paul Portelli and Mr Martin Portelli resigned as directors of the same company.
My involvement with the company stopped completely with the transfer of the shares from Lingi Holdings Ltd to the present owners. The fact that Form K was not filed at the Registry of Companies does not mean that I was or that I still am involved in the affairs of the company. I explained that I had never been asked by the new owners to continue serving as company secretary, and I assumed that they had appointed another person to act as secretary, as usually happens when there is a share transfer. I based this assumption on the fact that one of the new owners, Mr Mario Grech, is himself an accountant and therefore would obviously not need my professional services.
When this matter was recently brought to my attention, I asked the new owners to remove my name as company secretary from the MFSA’s company register and when I realised that the new owners were taking too long to do it, I asked the Registrar of Companies to do it himself.
Since the company was taken over by the new owners, I had never had any contacts with the company, nor had any professional involvement nor was I paid for any professional services by the new owners.
I explained this to journalist Karl Schembri before he decided to publish. I cannot understand where the “shocking news” which Mr Schembri tried to reveal to his readers are to be found. I believe the article deliberately set out to tarnish my reputation. In fact, it was widely used by the PN media and by other PN Activists such as Eddie Aquilina when they knew that I was never involved in any way with the new owners.
Following the publication of last week’s article, and after research that was made, I would like to ask Mr Karl Schembri to publish the names of the councillors that he allegedley contacted, and make a formal declaration that he was not commissioned to print the article by someone who wished to harm my reputation.
I assure everybody that nothing is going to intimidate or keep me from maintaining my stand against the Ramla il-Hamra development.
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Editorial Note:
Mr Cordina is an accountant and should be aware of what his legal obligations with the MFSA are. As in the case of Parliamentary Secretary Tony Abela, who still appeared in the MFSA records as being involved in a company, Cordina cannot expect the media, especially MaltaToday, to investigate one politician while ignoring another. Mr Cordina only acted with the MFSA after the MaltaToday story. His assumption that Mr Schembri was commissioned by third parties is outrageous and farcical. What we reported was factual, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And finally it would be pertinent for Mr Cordina to remember MaltaToday places the reader and the story first not anyone’s agenda.
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