John Dalli A Corrupt EU Commissioner: John Dalli - A Corrupt EU Commissioner

At the time Ellul Grech was arrested Mr. George Grech was the Police Commissioner. On his watch in August 1994 the police force awarded the company a tender to supply ten Daewoo Espero models (see list below). Soon after delivery these vehicles developed a serious steering column shake when travelling over 30mph. Many modifications were made and fitted by Korean technicians sent to Malta for the purpose. Despite this the problem persisted and the vehicles became unsafe to drive.

Without regard to these serious mechanical faults the company was awarded another tender in June 1995 by the Police Commissioner for another twenty models (see list below). The tender was valued at Lm250, 000 (€570, 000 approximately).

ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403666	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404340	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P.	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404155	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404157	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404343	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404342	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404344	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403586	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403582	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403583	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403585	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403662	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403663	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403664	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403665	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	403584	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404341	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404154	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404153	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1SB	404156	COMMISIONER OF POLICE	C.OF.P	02.06.95


ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	732998	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	732980	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	732999	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	733000	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	732981	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	733001	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	732982	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	732988	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	732989	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94
ESPERO	KLAJF19W1RB	732983	COMMISSIONER OF POLICE	C.of P.	19.08.94

Like other clients the police complained about the faulty Espero model and a small compensation package was agreed. This consisted of five Daewoo Racers free of charge on condition that the following was permanently displayed on them: “Donated by Daewoo Malta Ltd for the benefit of the community.”

Most of the Espero models sold to the police and private owners ended up being written off before the expectant date because of this design fault. No further compensation was paid to anyone.

It was this background and public anger that prompted the Labour Party and other bodies to demand an investigation.

Many people knew what was going on but nothing was done. The police never had any interest in conducting a proper investigation. Their only interest was to discredit and convict an innocent person.

2^nd December 1999: In this court sitting in The Police vs Joseph Ellul Grech the computer forensic expert Martin Bajada who was appointed by the court gave his evidence. He confirmed to the court that there was no evidence that the defendant’s computer was linked to the anonymous letters and the charges being made by the prosecution and John Dalli. The sitting lasted about an hour.

Among the hardware and peripherals seized was an Epson Stylus 800 colour printer. This was supposed to have been used to print 20, 000 anonymous letters each containing three A4 sheets of paper. 60, 000 sheets of paper would have been required or one hundred and twenty packets (reams) of paper. It would have been impossible for the defendant to print such a large volume with the printer in his possession. Also a large amount of ink cartridges would have been required. The police did not find any evidence of stationery or ink used at the defendant’s home.

Martin Bajjada the computer expert also confirmed that the defendant’s computer had not been in use since the 9^th or 10^th October 1999 until the day the police seized it. Another reason why it was impossible for the defendant to be connected to the sending of the anonymous letters.

On the same day Christopher Farrugia stated in his witness that the analysis for saliva he had conducted on the envelopes and stamps up to that point in time had produced negative results. However, he still had approximately another 1, 000 to analyse. All that remained was Ivan Formosa the handwriting expert and PC956 Andrew Caruana to conclude their investigations.

In his witness on that day PC956 confirmed that he had not started his investigations as yet. This was the expert witness that delayed the proceedings for years because of one excuse or another.

Reports on the situation at Daewoo continued to be published by the media regularly. Allegations that the company was bankrupt were denied.

12^th December 1999: the media reported the leader of the opposition Dr. Alfred Sant, in parliament gave detailed information of all the clients that had their HP payments misappropriated.

The press reported that Lm1.5 million of clients HP payments were misappropriated from some 1, 500 clients. When the bank realized that client’s HP payments were not being passed on to them they asked for an HP accounts reconciliation and contacted all clients demanding payments that they had already made. Many of these clients were police officers who had bought vehicles on HP from the company. However, for some reason the client’s anger was suppressed. From all the clients who were defrauded only two managed to start proceedings against the company. They were intimidated into stopping their cases against UCA/Daewoo (Malta) Ltd.