In greed he trusts

It wasn’t my business to see where he got the money from  – it was the notary’s job. That was Robert Abela’s attempt to wash away his guilt. Abela made €45,000 from a deal with Christian Borg, who is accused of kidnapping and recidivism. Borg is also investigated for drug smuggling and money laundering. 

On the day Abela bound himself to buy the “small plot in Zabbar,” Borg obtained planning permission to build apartment blocks and garages on that land he didn’t own. Abela subsequently transferred his purchasing rights to Borg who bought the land for over €310,000 – at the tender age of 24.

Abela surely knew Borg was up to no good. But Abela stood to gain. Instead of doing what was right, he chose money. Didn’t Abela realise that by doing business with Borg he made our country less safe, the future of our children more dangerous? Has he never seen the ravages of drug addiction on the faces of young people? He is lucky never to have seen the mutilated bodes of those caught in drug feuds. He’s never had to patch up the mangled flesh of those blown up. 

Does anybody believe it was sheer coincidence that Borg’s planning authority permit was issued on the day the authority’s lawyer got hold of that land? Does anybody believe it was sheer coincidence that Abela bought his Zejtun property for a rock bottom price days after the massive illegalities were sanctioned by his planning authority? 

As the PA lawyer, Abela knew the implications of building a sprawling villa illegally on ODZ land. He knew that Zejtun property was illegal. What would a conscientious man do?  He would steer clear, have nothing to do with it.  What would a PA lawyer of integrity do? He would make sure the letter of the law is applied, the illegal ODZ villa is demolished, law-abiding citizens are protected and that those who built the property illegally receive the punishment the law prescribes.

Instead, Abela saw his chance and pounced. Instead of castigating the former owners, Abela rewarded them by having their illegal property sanctioned by the planning authority days before he bought it. This wasn’t altruism for the owners.  It was pure greed that drove Abela – he would make a killing from the sale.  Nobody believes a 2,270 square metre villa cost €600,000 in 2017.

Abela rented out that Zejtun property to Russian prospective passport buyers. Abela is a lawyer.  His firm sold golden passports. He knew the rules.  Only those with genuine links to our country can buy a Maltese passport.  Abela knew his property was uninhabitable. He knew the Russians who rented his property never lived there. He knew that by renting them his uninhabitable villa he was providing them with evidence required to circumvent the rules.

Abela knew his actions could endanger the safety of his countrymen and other Europeans.  Abela knew it was wrong, but did it anyway. Because there was money in it for him.

Even after the European Commission instituted infringement procedures against Malta’s golden passports, Abela defiantly insisted on retaining the scheme. When Ursula von der Leyen visited Malta insisting it was of “utmost importance to stop the passports scheme,” Abela insolently replied ‘that’s not your business’. Even when Russia invaded Ukraine, Abela continued selling passports until forced to change tack.

What do other EU prime ministers think when Abela sits next to them in Brussels? This is the prime minister who made thousands selling passports to Russian oligarchs and made even more thousands renting out his uninhabitable property to help them get an EU passport they weren’t entitled to. This is the greedy prime minister who jeopardized the security of the EU and his own country to make more money. 

Abela didn’t need to.  He was making close to €28,000 per month from the planning authority, ARMS, the environment ministry, Airmalta and the Gozo ministry.  He even had the cheek to charge the planning authority €80,000 in overtime, despite the millions it paid him.

The dream of collective prosperity Labour promised turned into nightmares for the majority and monumental wealth for Abela. The promise of transparency transformed into Abela’s absolute secrecy. He assiduously refuses to declare his income, refuses to publish his tax returns, evades journalists’ questions, escapes from interviews with independent media. Abela cannot reveal his wealth.  The more of it is exposed, the more unexplained it becomes.  A man so deeply invested in secrecy cannot lead a democracy – what he’ll lead is an adulteration of democracy.

“One who is greedy stirs up strife,” the wise Solomon proclaimed. Abela, for another five years, is a guarantee of that.  It is not just his greed that is revolting but his willingness to violate others to acquire more. He fleeced the country like a sedated sheep.

Aristotle noted that the desire for more becomes worse with increasing power.  That is exactly what Abela has just secured. 

Abela is the paradigm of unnatural acquisitiveness. He just can’t help it. Paul Piff, asistant psychology professor at University of California Berkeley convincingly showed that as a person’s privilege and wealth increases, his level of compassion and empathy decreases while egoism and entitlement escalate.

This is Abela. When challenged about the obscene amount of money he earned at the planning authority, he wasn’t embarassed.  He was entitled to it – occasionally he even worked Sundays he rebutted. He only showed how totally detached he is from real lives of real people who regularly work Sundays and barely earn in one year what Abela earned in a fortnight.

Abela squandered every opportunity to choose right from wrong. Every time, he got it wrong. It was always somebody else’s responsibility to do the right thing – the notary, the planning authority – never his. Abela saw no evil, heard no evil, spoke no evil – because he stood to gain. In Greed he trusts. Yet the nation has entrusted him with its future.