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There has been no impropriety in this transaction, says GSD
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The latest statement by the Government relating to transactions between the previous Government and family interests of the wife of ex-Minister Edwin Reyes, "is just the latest example in an obvious strategy by the Government to “drip feed” innuendo of impropriety to tarnish the GSD Government," says the GSD.
"It will be recalled that a similar innuendo has recently been made in relation to the OEM developments. The Government cannot justify this disgraceful strategy by dressing it up as “asking the Principal Auditor to look into” payments." The obvious intention is to cast innuendo of impropriety. It is an abuse of power and immature," they add.
"Transactions with SP Butchers Ltd were concluded in June 2007 and the payments in question were made to that company in February 2008. The Principal Auditor operates independently of the Government and does not need to be encouraged by new Ministers, five years later, to do his job. If the Principal Auditor had thought that the payments were improper he would presumably have said so during the last five years.
There has been no impropriety in this transaction and the Opposition will make a detailed statement later in the week. In the meantime, the new Government should get on with governing Gibraltar and spend less time trying to orchestrate witch-hunts."
*The new Government said yesterday that they have asked the principal Auditor to investigate the payment of nearly half a million pounds to the family interests of an ex-Minister in Mr Caruana's Government.
They said that the previous administration paid £480,000 to a company called SP (Butchers) Ltd, relating to stalls in the public market, a vault in Fish Market Road and land in Catalan Bay area.
2012-02-21
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