Crooks in office

An investigator who exposed State corruption was arrested. He discovered a $230 million heist of taxes by criminal senior police officers and politicians. The State illegally paid them quarter of a billion dollars on Christmas Eve. 

That fraud would have remained secret had it not been for the investigator. He hoped the good guys would get the bad guys. His problem was there were no good guys. Instead of arresting and prosecuting the criminals, the police arrested him.

He was tortured and pressured to withdraw his accusations. He refused. After he lost 20kg and his health,  he was transferred to another prison for medical care. Instead of receiving treatment he was beaten to death by prison guards. He was 37 and left behind his wife and two young children. That investigator was Sergei Magnitsky. That State was Russia. Its leader was Vladimir Putin.

Another investigator exposed State corruption. She exposed fraudulent deals between the State and corrupt elements valued at billions of euro.  The hospitals’ deal alone was estimated at €4 billion. The Azerbaijan energy deal was worth over €1 billion. Nobody knows how much Electrogas was worth, but by 2021 there were €417 million in outstanding debts on the project. All would have remained secret had it not been for her. She hoped the good guys would get the bad guys. Her problem was there were no good guys. Instead of investigating the crooks, the tax compliance unit investigated her. 

She was subjected to harassment, dehumanisation and libel suits by Labour’s prime minister and his ministers. She faced the most libel suits in Europe. Labour’s ONE depicted her as a witch. She was pressured to stop investigating. She refused. On October 2017, while working on the Electrogas scam, she was blown up. She was 53 and left behind her parents, husband and three children. That investigator was Daphne Caruana Galizia. That State was Malta. Its government was the Labour Party.

Putin exonerated and promoted those who Magnitsky exposed and who beat him to death. Labour still protects Konrad Mizzi. Keith Schembri still enjoys the proceeds of corruption. So does Adrian Hillman, Karl Cini and Brian Tonna. His indispensability to those he created financial structures for, provides Tonna security. Too many powerful people fear the secrets he carries. Half-hearted attempts at prosecution led nowhere.

Magnitsky’s murder led to the enactment of the Magnitsky act in the US. The law targets those involved in gross corruption.  Abusers can be hit with freezing of assets and visa bans. Canada, UK, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kosovo, Jersey, Australia and Gibraltar all have Magnitsky legislation to hit those “who have materially assisted, sponsored or resourced significant corruption”. The EU is planning its own.

Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri were banned from entering the US in December 2021.  According to the State Department, “they were involved in corrupt acts”. 

“There is credible information that Schembri and Mizzi were involved in a corrupt scheme that entailed the award of a government contract for the construction of a power plant and related services in exchange for kickbacks and bribes”.

“The government in Malta made no immediate comment,” Reuters reported. That government led by Robert Abela still hasn’t, three months later. 

Abela showed no outrage at “the credible information” about Mizzi and Schembri. The police did not raid their homes. Labour’s Bedingfield still protects Mizzi at the Public Accounts Committee.

After Magnitsky’s murder, Putin’s government claimed the 37-year-old died of natural causes.  Malta’s Labour couldn’t make such claims about Caruana Galizia.  But did everything possible to conceal the truth. 

From deflecting attention onto oil smuggling as the motivation, to rejecting an independent inquiry, to clearing her memorial.  When the Council of Europe mandated an inquiry, Abela did his utmost to undermine it and shut it down.  The disgraceful Joseph Muscat called it an “exercise in curiosity.

His close allies doggedly obstructed the inquiry. The spineless Speaker refused to co-operate. The three murderers accused knew in advance of their arrest. The alleged mastermind was in contact with the prime minister’s chief of staff the day before his arrest. The middleman was given a phantom job from Castille. The police commissioner handed him information. The deputy police commissioner watched Champions league matches with the alleged mastermind. And Robert Abela now torpedoes all attempts to implement the recommendations of that inquiry.

Abela’s links to shady characters and his business deals with alleged criminals highlight his total unfitness for office. The infiltration of criminals into Labour’s core is symptomatic of state gangsterism. Labour’s core has become another private gang claiming special rights on the basis of their power. 

Abela entered into a business deal with an alleged kidnapper, narcotics smuggler and money launderer. He attended a dinner organised by a mega developer notorious for numerous illegalities including an illegal batching plant, built on public land, from which government still procures concrete.

Abela made huge profits from an Iklin property development in partnership with Gilbert Bonnici of Bonnici Brothers. He acquired a huge villa built illegally on ODZ land which was sanctioned days before he purchased it at a huge discount.

Despite his wealth, Abela’s law firm continued to squat in government owned offices in Valletta, selling golden passports. His wife started the process to register a new company, Nibral, at the same office on which neither she nor her husband had legal title while her husband was prime minister. Lease on that office expired four years ago.

Abela is the money-grubbing, secretive, amoral, scheming miser this country is planning to put back in power.

Dodgy operators have blended in with Labour’s elite.  Christian Borg calls Abela “my prime minister and my friend” having paid him €45,000. He travelled to the US with Tax Commissioner Marvin Gaerty. Yorgen Fenech travelled to Italy with Joseph Muscat and Schembri.

Silvio Valletta enjoyed Fenech’s lavish hospitality. Joseph Cuschieri, former MFSA head, lounged on Fenech’s luxury yacht. Rosianne Cutajar collected thousands of euro from the tycoon. Zammit Lewis was hosted in Fenech’s French Alps Hilton.

The intricate connection between Labour’s elite and criminal elements revolves around mutually beneficial relationships. While other countries set up Magnitsky acts to deter corruption, Malta’s Labour orchestrates corruption.