Why would it have been considered ‘normal’ for Mr Fenech to offer gifts in the five figure price bracket?
So my last post about Malta’s biggest panto took Joseph Muscat to task for inviting the likes of Yorgen Fenech to parties at Girgenti and accepting highly expensive gifts like Bulgari watches and Petrvs wines.
Following this, I received some messages along the lines that I am being unfair. The reason for all the above, I am told, is that the PM had been advised to ‘act normal’ by the Secret Services so as not to tip off Mr Fenech about the investigations being made in his regard.
Which would be all well and good except that – you don’t get to the level of limited edition Bulgari watches and bottles of Petrvs out of the blue.
So the question is: how did our Prime Minister reach that level of affinity with Mr Fenech felt it ‘normal’ to be invited to Girgenti and splash on gifts that reach the five figures?
How did our Prime Minister reach that level of affinity with Mr Fenech that the latter felt it ‘normal’ to be invited to Girgenti?
How did he reach such a level of affinity that not inviting Mr Fenech to Girgenti would have been viewed as suspicious?
What I want to know is what happened between them BEFORE the Secret Services started investigating Mr Fenech. Because, to use the vernacular, such gifts ‘ma jaqawx mis-sema’.
Think about it. What is the likelihood that past Prime Ministers like Alfred Sant or Lawrence Gonzi received such gifts? Or that they invited prominent businessmen to personal parties at Girgenti? I really don’t think so.
There’s a reason for this. A Prime Minister should not be getting close and personal with such people. When the business community sends gifts to OPM, a specific procedure is typically followed.
The gifts are never personal. They are a token, and not an OTT gesture costing thousands of Euro. And they are received by the Office, and not by the Prime Minister himself.
Sending a hamper to be received by OPM and distributed among all the employees is the norm. Sending a couple of Bulgari limited edition watches isn’t.
So the question begs itself. What was the nature of the relationship between Joseph Muscat and Yorgen Fenech, that Mr Fenech felt such a gesture would be welcomed?
And what about the personal invitation to Girgenti? What nature of relationship with the Prime Minister would have made Mr Fenech expect such an invitation?
Was the entire Maltese business community invited? I don’t think so. Why Mr Fenech?
You can see why I am not buying this whole ‘I was part of a Secret Services sting’ malarkey. What I want to know is the following.
What happened between Joseph Muscat and Yorgen Fenech BEFORE the Secret Services started their investigation?