Johann Buttigieg’s corruption with his friend Adrian Buttigieg continued well into his tenure as Executive Chairman of the Planning Authority. Johann Buttigieg was the case officer who approved Adrian Buttigieg’s scandalous National Aquarium project, for which the government provided the land free of charge.
Between 17 and 20 January 2014, Johann Buttigieg stayed in a Queen Room at the Royal Garden Hotel in London under a booking made by his close friend Adrian Buttigieg’s company, La Salita Leisure Holdings Ltd.
The reservation documents listed La Salita Leisure Holdings Ltd as the company behind Johann Buttigieg’s booking, at a rate of £107 per night for three nights, amounting to £321. You can view the booking here.
La Salita Leisure Holdings Ltd is the company behind the Maritim Antonine Hotel & Spa in Mellieħa, one of Adrian Buttigieg’s principal business interests.
During that weekend, Johann Buttigieg and Adrian Buttigieg travelled to London together and attended the Chelsea–Manchester United football match on 19 January. They were accompanied by Bank of Valletta executive Alfred Attard, then the bank’s executive head of corporate finance. At the time, BOV was considering financing La Salita Leisure Holdings with a loan of up to €10 million which was eventually approved.
Separately, the planning authority subsequently approved a two-storey extension to Adrian Buttigieg’s Maritim Antonine Hotel in Mellieħa in November 2015. Johann Buttigieg maintained that he was not involved in processing that application and said that he left the board meeting before the application was discussed and voted upon.
The case was eventually reported by Arnold Cassola to the Permanent Commission Against Corruption in 2021, together with other reports of Johann Buttigieg’s dealings while heading the Planning Authority. Arnold Cassola specifically asked the Commission to investigate the London trip and what he described as a £321 gift consisting of Johann Buttigieg’s three-night hotel stay.
The Permanent Commission Against Corruption never published its findings about the investigation.
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