Maltese police have reopened an investigation into Gayle Kimberley, a key prosecution witness in the “Dalligate” scandal, a series of allegations of corruption that led to the resignation of former Health European commissionner John Dalli, reveals The Times Of Malta.
The decision came after the publication of fresh e-mails which suggest Kimberley, a local representative for tobacco firm Swedish Match, guided lobbying efforts of Silvio Zammit, a Maltese businessman and close friend of Dalli.
Zammit allegedly demanded a €60m bribe from the company in January 2012 in order use his influence over Dalli to help lift a ban on snus – an orally consumed form of tobacco that can only be sold in Sweden under EU rules.
According to the Maltese daily, the EU anti- fraud agency (OLAF), which first investigated the case,
suggested that Dr Kimberley should be prosecuted but Maltese investigators concluded they did not have evidence against her and treated her as a witness. […] Mr Zammit’s lawyers […] now claim that evidence in their client’s possession shows that he was acting on Dr Kimberley’s instructions.
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