Maltese tycoon arrested over anti-corruption journalist’s murder ‘owned Dubai company that was due to make payments to firms owned by former energy minister’
- Yorgen Fenech was arrested Wednesday on board his yacht in connection with murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was investigating corruption
- Comes after Fenech was revealed to be the owner of Dubai-based firm 17 Black
- Company was allegedly due to make payments of $2m to Panama companies owned by Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri
- Fenech re-arrested Friday amid reports he is being probed for money laundering
A Maltese tycoon arrested in connection with the murder of a journalist investigating corruption owned a company based in Dubai that was allegedly due to make large payments to two politicians.
Yorgen Fenech, who is one of Malta’s richest men, was first arrested on Wednesday as he tried to flee the country on his yacht, then re-arrested Friday amid reports that he is now being investigated for money laundering.
Fenech is connected to prominent blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was investigating political corruption, by a company based in Dubai called 17 Black.
Yorgen Fenech, one of Malta’s richest men, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, then re-arrested Friday and taken by police to watch them searching his yacht
Fenech (pictured today) is linked to Ms Galizia via a company called 17 Black, based in Dubai, which she had reported on eight months before her death. The company was due to make large payments to two Maltese politicians, a subsequent investigation showed
Police swooped on Fenech in a dawn raid on Wednesday as he attempted to flee Malta aboard his yacht, before bringing him back to the harbour
Eight months before she was killed in a car bomb, Galizia had reported on the existence of the company and said it was connected to Maltese politicians, though did not publish evidence.
A Reuters investigation subsequently uncovered Fenech as the owner.
The firm is significant because documents uncovered by financial regulators in 2015 showed that several years before it had been due to make payments worth some $2million to two senior government figures for unspecified services.
Those figures were Konrad Mizzi, Malta’s energy minister from 2013 to 2016, and Keith Schembri, the prime minister’s chief of staff.
In return for the money, the documents show Mizzi suggested offering concessions on a power station to be built on Malta to the company’s owner.
The Tumas Group, a property developer which Fenech also owns, was awarded a large energy concession from the Maltese state in 2013 and was granted the right to build a $517 million gas power station on the island.
Fenech was detained on his yacht at dawn Wednesday, the day after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat promised to pardon an alleged middleman if he named the person who ordered the attack on Galizia.
His arrest came after Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat offered a pardon to a middle-man involved in the murder case if he revealed the name of the man who ordered the killing
Galizia, known as a ‘one-woman Wikileaks’, blogged about political corruption in Malta based on the Panama Papers before she was blown up with a car bomb in 2017
Investigators have described him as ‘a person of interest’ in the murder.
He was interrogated for 48 hours by Maltese police who released him on Thursday night, then promptly re-arrested him on Friday morning.
He was subsequently pictured standing next to his yacht as police searched it, while Malta Today also reported that his home had been searched.
The same news organisation also reported that the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit is being consulted over possible money laundering.
Caruana Galizia, described by supporters as a ‘one-woman WikiLeaks’, was blown up in a car bombing at the age of 53 near her home in the small village of Bidnija in northern Malta.
Her family welcomed Fenech’s arrest, but said Muscat’s office was implicated in the case and that he should distance himself from the investigation.
Muscat told reporters that police would initially have liked more time to probe new leads, but had been rushed into arresting Fenech after he attempted to leave the tiny Mediterranean island on his sleek blue and white yacht.
Friday’s re-arrest buys them another 48 hours.
Protesters have demanded that Prime Minister Muscat step down over the case, which sparked outrage around the world
People demonstrate calling for the resignation of Joseph Muscat, following the arrest of one of the country’s most prominent businessmen
Fenech is from a wealthy family with a sprawling business empire that draws it wealth from sources including energy and hotels.
His arrest prompted calls for Muscat’s resignation over the long-running case, which sparked outrage and has raised questions about the rule of law in Malta.
Civil society groups and Maltese journalists on Friday slammed the lack of police press conferences and Muscat’s decision to ‘shoulder the responsibility’ for informing the public on updates in the case.
‘The arrest of Yorgen Fenech is an important and overdue development in the investigation into our wife and mother’s assassination,’ the Caruana Galizia family said in a statement.
But it added that the prime minister had ‘no place near the investigation’, and it was ‘prepared to use all legal means at our disposal to ensure that the investigation is independent and impartial, and that it runs its full course’.
The alleged middleman in the case, taxi driver and loan shark Melvin Theuma, who was arrested last week, was hospitalised Friday for an unknown medical complaint but his condition was not serious, Muscat said.
Security was tightened at the hospital after the 41-year old was admitted, he said.
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