Judge Lifts Freeze On Yorgen Fenech’s Assets
The criminal court has lifted the freezing order on Yorgen Fenech’s assets, which was in place since his arrest in 2019.
Judge Edwina Grima, who will also preside over Fenech’s future trial, ordered the removal of the asset freeze earlier this month.
The decision came to light through a notice posted on the Asset Recovery Bureau’s website.
The change follows a recent legal requirement for the attorney general to specify the amount of assets that should be frozen based on the alleged crime.
The deadline to quantify Fenech’s assets had lapsed, leading Judge Grima to cancel the blanket order imposed since November 2019.
Fenech has spent the past five years in preventative custody as he awaits trial.
Besides the murder charges, he faces several other serious allegations, including money laundering linked to a gaming company he partly owns, accusations of orchestrating a “phantom job” for Melvin Theuma (a confessed middleman in the murder), and attempting to order grenades, pistols, and poison over the dark web.
Court sittings related to these charges are held behind closed doors.
Fenech has maintained his innocence in all cases. Additionally, the businessman is under investigation in a magisterial inquiry looking into alleged corruption involving former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and ex-minister Konrad Mizzi.
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