WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday barred two former Malta government officials and their immediate families from entering, citing suspicions of involvement in significant corruption.
The move targets Maltese ex-premier Joseph Muscat’s former chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and former energy minister Konrad Mizzi, the U.S. State Department said in a statement.
“Specifically, there is credible information that Mizzi and Schembri were involved in a corrupt scheme that entailed the award of a government contract for the construction of a power plant and related services in exchange for kickbacks and bribes,” department spokesman Ned Price said.
Representatives for Schembri and Mizzi could not immediately be reached for comment.
The two former officials have been linked to companies revealed by the Panama Papers, a huge leak of documents detailing undeclared offshore investments.
Mizzi has previously said his Panama company was for family financial planning and Schembri, who heads a business empire, has said his was for asset management. Both have denied any criminal activity.
(Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
