Tag: Keith Schembri

Keith Schembri, former Chief of Staff of the Maltese Prime Minister, is accused of money laundering and corruption. His legal team has requested that forensic expert Samuel Sittlington, Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa, and former Deputy Commissioner Alexandra Mamo testify to clarify alleged negotiations for consultancy services during the investigation. The defense calls into question the expert’s independence, further complicating an already contentious trial.

Joseph Muscat, former Prime Minister of Malta, pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, corruption, and other crimes during a dramatic court appearance on Tuesday. The proceedings mark the first time in Maltese history that a former politician has faced such charges. If he is found guilty, he could face an 18-year prison sentence. Muscat's supporters have compared the charges to those against Jesus. Hello, really now?

Malta's former prime minister Joseph Muscat, his chief-of-staff Keith Schembri, ex-minister Konrad Mizzi, and 19 other individuals and companies will be charged with money laundering, corruption, bribery, and other serious crimes, the Times of Malta reports. This case, unfolding within the already tarnished framework of Maltese political integrity, recalls previous reports by FinTelegram detailing the island's longstanding issues with corruption.

Last week, two brothers, George Degiorgio, 59, and Alfred Degiorgio, 57, charged with the car-bomb assassination of the Maltese journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia in October 2017 have been sentenced to a 40-year prison term. They pleaded guilty to her murder on the first day of their trial. Caruana Galizia, the "one-woman Wikileaks" had investigated political corruption in Malta and abroad. She was known as a harsh critic of the Maltese government.

Disgraced Joseph Cuschieri, who led the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), was busy on a spending spree from taxpayers’ monies. Cuschieri was not just busy touring the world with his friend and colleague Edwina Licari, from public funds but was also promoting himself in flashy magazines. An interview with a Maltese lifestyle magazine owned by Josette Schembri Vella, the wife of Keith Schembri, who was the chief of staff of Malta’s former Prime Minister, did cost taxpayers more than €2,200.

The FATF greylisting of Malta disgraced the EU tax haven and money-laundering hub. And the disgrace continues. An independent investigation into the murder of Maltese blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia concluded that the government at the time was complicit by failing to act. Today, Assistant Police Commissioner Ian Abdilla has been suspended. The former head of the Economic Crimes Unit (ECU) had already been heavily criticized for failing to investigate the Panama Papers. He was one of the good friends of the Maltese corruption network around Yorgen Fenech and former government officials Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.