Tax chief Marvin Gaerty is no longer on police bail according to his lawyers, following interrogations over Whatsapp chats with Yorgen Fenech.

Gaerty was called in for questioning by police in December for his part in an investigation over alleged trading-in-influence with businessman and Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Yorgen Fenech. 

His lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia confirmed that Gaerty was no longer on police bail but that investigation were on-going. They confirmed that their client was told he didn’t need to come to an appointment at the Financial Crime Investigation Department this Monday.

The issue stems from VAT irregularities within the Tumas Group and their operations inside the Portomaso Tower. It never made it to court and the issues were settled with a fine.

WhatsApp chats between Fenech and Gaerty reportedly show the latter indicating that no charges will be brought against Fenech.

Gaerty has said he has given an explanation to authorities and did not have any relationship with Fenech, or accepted gifts from him.

The investigation into Gaerty forms part of a wider probe into Fenech’s sphere of influence within the government, most of which has come to light after his phone was seized by police following his arrest in connection with the assassination.

Fenech’s WhatsApp exchanges with Malta’s political elite have slowly been revealed. Fenech shared over 700 messages with Malta’s Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis between January 2019 and October 2019. There are also roughly 800 WhatsApp messages between Fenech and Schembri.

It has also been confirmed by inspectors that Muscat, Schembri, and Fenech had a shared WhatsApp group between themselves.

Fenech’s conversations with former PN Leader Adrian Delia were the spark that led to his eventual removal.

A previous version of this article erroneously depicted Nexia BT head Brian Tonna in the cover photo.

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