Yorgen Fenech attempted to hack an unnamed individual’s phone soon after the reveal that he owned Dubai-based company 17 Black. 

In court, lead investigator Keith Arnaud confirmed that Fenech reached out to an individual to provide the service. Fenech was first told that the person would run a penetration test, which would be undetectable to the target. 

The test would have allowed the individual to determine what will be needed for the hack and the costs involved. 

Arnaud confirmed that the exchange took place on 25th November 2018. It has already been revealed that on the same day, Fenech attempted to purchase several weapons, including cyanide, grenades and Uzi machine guns with some 800 rounds of ammunition.

This came on the same month that Times of Malta and Reuters revealed that Fenech was the owner of 17 Black. The identity of the person targeted for the hack is unknown, however, sources believe that it could be one of the journalists involved in the reveal, Jacob Borg.

Fenech’s 17 Black has long been linked to government corruption. It was listed as the target clients for Tillgate and Hearnville, the two Panamanian companies owned by former Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi.

According to one e-mail found in the Panama Papers, Schembri and Mizzi were set to receive payments of up to $2 million from 17 Black.

Meanwhile, it has been recently revealed that Enemalta forked out €10.3 million to purchase a Montenegrin wind farm from a company linked to Yorgen Fenech.

A leaked report by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) found that 17 Black had received €161,000 from the local agent for the tanker supplying gas to the LNG power station, and two separate payments amounting to €1.4 million from Rufat Baratzada, a security guard at a construction site in Baku with links to the ruling elite.

The murky structures have been linked to the Electrogas deal, which Fenech forms part of. The deal itself has been flagged as a potential motive by Matthew Caruana Galizia.

Most recently, the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation has claimed that 17 Black forms part of an “Azerbaijani Laundromat,” a network of shell companies used to embezzle public funds out of Azerbaijan and pay bribes around the world.

Fenech was officially indicted earlier this week and will face trial for his role in the murder of Caruana Galizia with prosecutors seeking a life sentence.