Money, Murder, Malta: Episode 1
A three part series revealing the scandals from the heart of the Mediterranean.
Prologue
Malta, the jewel of the Med. Famous for it’s rich blue seas, slow paced lifestyle, vast history and all-year-round warm weather has placed it’s status as a top tourist destination for decades. Before that, Malta was well estabislished as a strategic post, set at the heart of the Mediterranean seperating Europe, Africa and the Middle East. For various reasons, Malta has lured people for centuries.
Now you’re probably wondering why a story about a place you never heard of matters to you. Well, quite simply, the heist of the century has taken place.
The “Jewel of the Med” has been the victim of an established blueprint, robbing the people of everything that made it special. The beaches are robbed of sea life. The relaxed lifestyle replaced with the rat race. The history, physically being destroyed in real time, replaced with high rises and awful ‘modern’ apartments. And to top it off, the warm weather, fuelled with too many cars, constant construction, the butchering of trees and the urbanisation of the island has created an urban heat dome, making the warm weather, scortching.
Now again, why do you care? Well, here’s why. The blueprint involves the utter destruction of culture, degredation of public infrastructure and plundering of the treasury. The blueprint in Malta is easy to identify since it involves big numbers in a small place. Couple that with a intense tribal political environment and any whiff of a scandal is ripe to exposure.
The blueprint is real, the story is all too familiar.
Change
March 2013, Joseph Muscat wins the general election for the Maltest Labour Party on a red wave of change, replacing a Nationalist government that had practically held power for a quarter of a century. At the time, the country was facing high energy prices, low wages, little social care and relative stagnation in roads and infrastructure. Muscat promised to change that. And change it he did.
Flagshig projects on gas led the way, moving from heavy oil to LNG. This resulted in significant energy savings for citizens and businesses. Next was raising the minimum wage and pensions. The first of it’s kind in over 20 years. Other bold projects on roads and infrastructure would finally bring Malta to the 21st century.
Muscat worked wonders for the economy, making it one of the best growing and best performing economies in the EU area between 2013 and 2017. All seemed well.
Change was promised. It was being delivered.
Panama
In April 2016 the infamous Panama papers leak revealed that two of Muscat’s trusted confidantes, Keith Schembri (Chief of Staff) and Konrad Mizzi (Minister for Energy and Health) had companies set up in their name in Panama, with the intention to receive 2 million euros. This leak was significant, revealing conspiracy of corruption at the highest levels. Furthermore, a third company had been set up, Egrant. To-date it is ‘unknown’ who the company was set up for but allegations that it belonged to Joseph Muscat or a family member persist to this day. A public inquiry in 2019 concluded that there was no veriable evidence to confirm the allegation.
Muscat publicly backed Mizzi and Schembri and called a snap election to sure up support. The public overwhelmingly backed the Labour party, giving them the biggest majority in Maltese history.
Muscat was vindicated. Invictus.
Daphne
The panama papers scandal and it’s subsequent local links was broken in Malta by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Daphne had decades of experience in media and journalism having worked for local media houses before setting up her own blog in 2008 called Running Commentary. The blog, from which she published current affairs commentary and deep investigative reporting, was a success, garnering her more views than all the other media outlets combined.
Daphne’s bold approach had already put a target on her back. Her house was set on fire twice. Two of her dogs were murdered, one with it’s throat slit. A third was poisoned. Daphne had enemies. Enemies with big secrets.
Daphne had revelead a plethora of scandals including:
Panama Papers
Government Corruption
Money Laundering
Organised crime links to Malta’s flourishing gambling industry
Malta’s passport for sale flagship policy
Malta’s dodgy deals with Azerbaijan [more about this later]
Revelations
16th October 2017, Daphne released her final blog post titled:
That crook Keith Schembri was in court today, pleading that he is not a crook.
Yes ,this is the actual heading. Her final comment of the same post was as poignant then as it is revealing today:
There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.
Less than an hour later she was assassinated when her car exploded with her in it, close to her home. Daphne Caruana Galizia, Maltest biggest investigative reporter, had been murdered in broad daylight.
This was the sixth car-bomb in a year. Most had put the others down to gang-on-gang crime. This was different. It was seismic.
Fallout
After Daphne’s murder, Muscat had the power to order a public inquiry. He hesitated. It was her heirs who forced one. Her heirs also demanded Muscat resign. He didn’t.
Muscat and President Coleiro condemned the attacks but were deviously using the murder to show a united nation. One of Daphne’s sisters denounced it, stating “their should never be unity with the criminal and corrupt”.
The news went global with the European parliament addressing the issue, calling the incident a "tragic example of a journalist who sacrificed her life to seek out the truth".
Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, offered a reward for information of the attackers.
Even the Pope sent letters of condolences.
Tainted
Muscat promised change but with the revelations of multiple scandals, government corruption and the assasination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the change that was promised was tainted.
Konrad Mizzi had been told by Schembri that he had the midas touch. It turns out he did, but not for who he was elected to represent. Every single project and policy that Mizzi managed, from energy to healthcare to airlines, were riddled with corruption. Deep seeded.
Schembri, Muscat’s schief of staff, is going through money laundering proceedings of his own prsently.
Muscat, well, we’ll get to Muscat.
Since Daphne’s assasination a deep web of criminal involvement with Government officials has surfaced. Several deals have been scrutinised with one hospital deal recenlty being declared void by the Maltese courts on the grounds of blatant fraud and corruption. Malta is truly living it’s house of cards moment. Muscat like Underwood, built his legacy on shaky foundations, amlost as shaky as the ones propping up the ugly buildings that have come to represent his tenure.
Muscat lent on his roadmap to show the people that change was possible. In secret he was running the blueprint to enact his own version of change. A change to his and his associates fortunes.
This is the first instalment of this mini-series.
The second instalment will focus on the key scandals and how the organised crime syndicate led by Muscat managed to swindle the public in broad daylight, with their own approval.
We don’t yet know how this story ends but this is how it began. Welcome to Malta.