Keith Schembri, the Office of the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff, will appear in court in the first sitting of the compilation of evidence over charges related to corruption and money laundering.

Schembri was arrested and charged, among 10 others, including his father Alfio Schembri, KASCO Group CEO Malcolm Scerri, and accountant Robert Zammit, on Saturday 20th March. He was denied bail and has been in Corradino Correctional Facility ever since.

He is facing a litany of charges including money laundering, criminal conspiracy, false declarations, false testimony, presenting false documents, and falsifying public documents.

The Schembris, Scerri and Zammit will be in court this morning from 8.30am. The men have been charged in relation to two magisterial inquiries.

One inquiry is related to allegations that Keith Schembri channelled over €650,000 to then-Allied Newspapers Managing Director Adrian Hillman in suspicious payments between 2011 and 2015 in a deal which saw his company, Kasco, supply a printing press to Times of Malta in 2018.

The other is related to a suspected passport kickbacks scheme between Schembri and Nexia BT’s Brian Tonna. According to a leaked report by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), Tonna transferred two €50,000 payments through Pilatus Bank to Schembri.