Updated: 10:45 am with response from Kevin Deguara Police have raided the offices and the home of lawyer Kevin Deguara, senior partner of DF advocates and one of the shareholders of the Shoreline project at Smart City, this website is informed. The raids were are believed to be connected to ongoing investigations and a magisterial [...]
Rosianne Cutajar has been given a final opportunity to respond to accusations that she breached Council of Europe rules by hiding her relationship with Yorgen Fenech when she spoke at the Parliamentary Assembly in 2019. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe groups together Members of Parliament from all 44 member states. Rosianne Cutajar [...]
A meeting of the members of Repubblika adopt yesterday changes to its Statute adding to its list of functions the mission of an anti-mafia organisation. Repubblika has since its inception campaigned to raise awareness of the infiltration of the mafia in the economy of Malta as well as its government and state institutions. In the [...]
Football clubs are not allowed to spend beyond their means. NGOs are required to share with the regulator information on everything they earn and everything they spend. Anyone in the employment of someone else has their taxes deducted before they even collect their salaries. These rules are set for all of us by parliament. Members [...]
I’m no art critic so I will not evaluate the technical or artistic qualities of Patrick Dalli’s portrait of Joseph Muscat. My concern is the subject matter. A portrait of Genghis Khan can capture the character, be a masterpiece of contemporary brush techniques, immortalise a posture never before seen in its genre. It will still [...]
Free speech NGO PEN Malta has published today a letter it sent to Prime Minister Robert Abela responding to his request for the organisation's advice on how to deal with the disinformation campaign against journalists that flared up over the past few weeks. The NGO said it is consulting technical experts on possible technical solutions [...]
The Central Bank has issued new rules severely restricting the use of personal bank accounts it holds for its employees. The bank’s employees have been told they can only receive their salaries in their bank accounts and use their account to withdraw those funds. They will need to set up a bank account with a [...]
This piece is dedicated to Daphne Caruana Galizia and to her remarkable family who have never stopped fighting for justice. Picture: Seb Tanti Burlo'. With permission. A new day began which was always the same. But not quite. The flowers looked similar, but they were always fresh. The photos were exchanged for other [...]
Leading supplier of slot machines and casino games Novomatic has “paused” services to the Tumas Group’s casinos Portomaso and Oracle after a court ruled that Yorgen Fenech and other senior officials of the Tumas Group have a case to answer in charges of using the casinos for money laundering. Sources within the Tumas Group told [...]
I am translating an extract from the speech delivered yesterday by Notary Myriam Spiteri Debono at the official gathering in front of the Great Siege Memorial in Valletta marking the anniversary of the end of the 1565 siege. Myriam Spiteri Debono is the only woman ever to have served as the Speaker of Malta’s Parliament. [...]
A few days ago I suggested to Joseph Muscat, shamed former prime minister, selected as the most corrupt politician of 2019 and also known as ‘Ix-Xiħ’ to disappear after his feeble attempt to become relevant again. Today I would like to invite Mr Angelo Gafà, Commissioner of Police, to come into view. It has been [...]
Updated at 14:20 Simon Mercieca thought he caught Jason Azzopardi plagiarising from M, the James Bond character. In Skyfall (2012), M testifies in front of a hostile parliamentary committee and in a flourish of drama, recited chillingly by Dame Judi Dench, she mouths some free verse that apparently Simon Mercieca found used in a speech [...]
I’m sorry if I’m starting to sound like a stuck record but faced with repeated behaviour, the reaction will inevitably be repeated. I can hardly doubt President George Vella would really like for this country to start the healing process after the trauma of the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia. But he’s really limiting the [...]
Consider for a moment the reactions by the political parties to the report by the Times of Malta of a company set up by the Labour Party to camouflage donations from Yorgen Fenech as payments for “consultancy”. First, the background. So-called consultancy contracts are entry-level methods of laundering unlawful payments. They’re up there with family [...]
I don’t want to jump the gun here, but things did not sound very encouraging in today’s hearing of the case against Yorgen Fenech for money laundering. The magistrate will decide later this week if there is a prima facie case at all and, let’s just say, she did not sound impressed with the case [...]
President George Vella has been making public remarks that among other things amount to chastisement for his critics for, as he puts it, spreading the “false impression” that just about everyone in public office is corrupt or somehow compromised and working on behalf of hidden interests. The president expressed sympathy with people in public office, [...]
Jose’ Herrera announced he would spend €200,000 on cultural events in Marsa. The taunting in that statement is truly maddening. He provokes us to accuse him of using his Ministry’s budget to pander to his constituents. Because when we accuse him of that we help carry his message to his constituents that they should vote [...]
Former EU Commissioner John Dalli, who was forced to resign in disgrace in 2012 after an OLAF investigation into allegations that a henchman for John Dalli solicited a €60 million bribe from a Swedish manufacturer, is due to appear in court in the next few days to face charges in connection with the case. The [...]
Updated: Adds comments by IĠM President Matthew Xuereb. (10:36) Updated: Adds nuisance calls made to Christophe Schweiger. (12:00) Emails sent to newsrooms last night purporting to have been sent from Lovin’ Malta’s generic email account include links to a spoof image of the Lovin Malta website carrying an article aimed at discrediting Opposition MP and [...]
There is no man so blind as he who will not see. As governor of the Central Bank, Edward Scicluna’s job is to anticipate economic trends and take the steps necessary to keep the boat afloat. He is to run the bank that banks trust. He is the guardian of the vault. When everyone else [...]