From the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, August 13:
In the trial of business magnate Yorgen Fenech, a middleman’s secret recordings and auto-deleting texts exposed the chilling mechanics behind the 2017 car bombing—and the political leaks that shielded the killers.
Secret audio recordings captured on a device hidden in a sock, along with text messages presented in a Maltese courtroom, laid bare the mechanics behind the 2017 assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia—linking a prominent tycoon to hitmen, cash payoffs, and high-level government leaks.
The recordings were played at the trial of Yorgen Fenech, the businessman accused of ordering the assassination. Caruana Galizia, 53, was killed by a car bomb placed beneath the driver’s seat of her vehicle and detonated remotely via SMS on the outskirts of Mosta.
Five men—George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio, Vince Muscat, Robert Agius, and Jamie Vella—have all been convicted for their roles in the murder. Fenech denies any involvement and has pleaded not guilty.
The tapes were recorded by Melvin Theuma, a confessed middleman who was granted a presidential pardon in exchange for evidence. Theuma hid the recorder in his sock and began taping Fenech in April 2018, months after the hitmen were arrested.
“I started recording Yorgen because I needed the proof,” he told jurors. “I knew they were going to betray me either by killing me or throwing me in jail.”....
....MUCH MORE
Previously:
September 2018 - "Who Killed Investigative Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia?"
Pilatus: A Private Bank for Azerbaijan’s Ruling Elite...
October 2018 - "Malta, A Modern Smugglers’ Hideout"
October 2018 - "Death in a Smugglers’ Paradise"
December 2019 - Was 17 Black the Motive Behind the Assassination of Maltese Reporter Caruana Galizia?
March 2021 - "Hitman Pleads Guilty in Maltese Journalist’s Murder"
I missed this when it first came out. There are people on Malta and on the mainland who think this goes a lot deeper than the three arrested....
May 2021 - Murder on Malta: "New evidence links former police officer to Daphne murder leaks"
When all is said and done I would not be surprised if Italian mobsters, Azerbaijani kleptocrats and that Josef Mifsud guy all make an appearance.
Previously on Malta:
How Malta Became A Global Online Gambling Giant
Grand Theft Europe: Malta’s role in a scam worth €50 billion annually"
Combining three of our favorite topics: skullduggery, Malta, and skullduggery on Malta.GFI Names the #1 Money Laundering Facility of 2018
After Reporter's Murder: "Malta's Pilatus Bank has European licence withdrawn""2019 Man Of The Year In Organized Crime And Corruption: Malta's Joseph Muscat"
It was a weaker than average field but still a deserved win for the former MEP and soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister.
Here's hoping that Africa and the 'Stans up their game in the New Year to compete with the Westerners who will be in the running in 2020....
In other mysteries, whatever became of Josef Mifsud?
