(ANSA) – LA VALLETTA, 02 JUL – One of the main Maltese construction magnates, 62-year-old Charles Polidano, was arrested yesterday together with his son Gordon for questioning by the police for money laundering and corruption. The two were released on bail today, the Times of Malta reports.
Polidano, one of the richest men in the archipelago and known as Il-Caqnu, just a month ago appeared in the Maltese media for having settled a scandalous backlog of 30.4 million in taxes with a payment of “over 20 million euros”. never paid in two decades of activity as a protagonist of tenders for large public infrastructures. Last year it emerged that his holding company, Polidano Bros., had continued to win tenders over the years by systematically applying the method of starting a negotiation to settle the backlog, pay a single installment and forget the rest until the next tender.
After the scandal was revealed, an initial settlement agreement with the finance ministry was rejected by the new government and ordered to pay the backlog in full. A new negotiation started in 2021. The ToM indicates that up to last month two arrears of 6.3 and 1.2 million had been settled in the name of two other minor companies in Polidano. In the meantime, the tycoon has been included in the ‘black list’ and excluded from tenders, including two already won for multimillion-dollar projects (11.8 and 19.7 million euros) and revoked last March.
Yesterday’s arrest is linked to the alleged bribery of a senior government official through the sale of a property.
The group told the Times of Malta today that it is assisting the authorities in verifying payments made to the company during a transaction made in 2014 concerning a public procurement. “The group is confident that the authorities will be satisfied once the verifications have taken place. The group will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities,” Polidano Bros wrote in a statement. (HANDLE).
Source: Ansa
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