Malta Casino Tycoon Accused of Journalist Murder Gets Bail After 5 Years

More than five years after Yorgen Fenech was intercepted by Malta’s armed forces as he attempted to flee the Mediterranean island on his yacht, the murder-suspect casino tycoon has been granted bail.

Fenech, one of Malta’s richest men, was arrested on Nov. 20, 2019, on suspicion of complicity in the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Last Friday, a courtroom in the capital Valetta approved bail for the businessman who denies the charges against him.

As the majority shareholder in the Tumas Group, Fenech owns Malta’s Qawra Oracle Casino and Portomaso Casino.

The gambling tycoon has repeatedly sought bail since his arrest but has been previously denied as a flight risk. He hugged members of his family in court after the judge’s decision, Reuters reported. Despite years of pretrial proceedings, a date for a trial still hasn’t been set.

Mafia State

The Caruana Galizia case brought down the Maltese government in 2019, and questions still linger about the possible complicity of members of the political establishment at the time.

Caruana Galizia died on Oct. 16, 2017, when a bomb exploded in her car, killing her instantly.

At the time of her death, she was pouring over the Panama Papers, a cache of 11.5 million leaked documents detailing financial and attorney-client information for more than 214,488 offshore entities.

Caruana Galizia discovered that a Dubai-registered company, 17 Black, planned to make a US$2 million payment to two offshore shell companies owned by Keith Schembri, then the chief aide to now ex-prime minister Joseph Muscat, and Konrad Mizzi, Malta’s energy minister and later health minister.

The day before Fenech’s flight, he was named as the mastermind of the murder plot by the alleged “middleman” in the scheme, Melvin Theuma.

Theuma promised to spill the beans in return for a pardon. He also named two gangster brothers, George and Alfred Degiorgio, and an associate, as the men who planned and carried out the murder. The trio were convicted and are currently serving long prison sentences.

Corrupt Contract

Prosecutors believe that Fenech had Caruana Galizia killed because he feared she would expose an allegedly corrupt $500 million energy contract awarded by the Maltese government to Electrogas, a company in which Fenech held a major stake.

A criminal inquiry recommended earlier this month that Schembri and Mizzi should be prosecuted for their association with 17 Black.

Fenech’s bail is guaranteed by his aunt’s 15% stake in the Tumas Group, which will cost her around €50 million if he decides to skip town.