It’s abnormal that politicians and activists have to prompt our authorities to act on allegations of corruption, but this is not the first time, and ultimately this is why Labour hates individuals like David Casa and Jason Azzopardi and why the government restricted the use of Magisterial Inquiries by private citizens.
Earlier today, David Casa said that the Attorney General had passed his complaint on to the Police. The complaint involved an allegation of perjury by Yorgen Fenech during the trial in relation to 17 Black. During the trial, Yorgen Fenech said that 17 Black was intended for his private business purposes and that it was unrelated to Electrogas. However, multiple investigations and documents have linked 17 Black to the network of companies that were intended to receive funds connected to the Electrogas project.
There is also an extensive history of Magisterial Inquiries into the matter. In 2018, Simon Busuttil and David Casa requested a separate inquiry into 17 Black. Magistrate Francesco Depasquale ruled that the allegations should instead be incorporated into the existing Panama Papers inquiry opened by Magistrate Ian Farrugia. In January 2019, however, Judge Giovanni Grixti revoked the decree that had opened that inquiry, effectively killing the judicial route into which the 17 Black evidence had been incorporated.
However, last year, the Police and the Prosecutor were about to charge Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, Karl Cini, Brian Tonna, Paul Apap Bologna, Mario Pullicino over Electrogas but for some reason this prosecution didn’t go through the Courts yet. The charges include bribery, trading in influence, participation in an organised criminal group, money laundering and fraud.
Yorgen Fenech himself also admitted during his Police interrogation that he knew about corruption with the Joseph Muscat administration involving “lots of millions and millions of Euros”.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
Leave a Reply