These Are All The 11 Suspects Who Were Charged In Today’s Massive Maltese Court Case
Malta was left stunned today as several high-profile people were prosecuted over a range of serious accusations, from corruption and money laundering to false testimony.
The suspects are pleading not guilty to all the charges, but magistrate Charmaine Galea turned down their requests for bail.
The charges are related 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 between 2011 and 2015. The other is related to suspected kickbacks amounting to €100,000 from the sale of citizenship between Schembri and Nexia BT’s Brian Tonna.
Here’s a breakdown of everyone who was charged today and the individual charges they’re facing.
Keith Schembri
Keith Schembri
The chief of staff of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the owner of the Kasco Group of companies. He has been charged with corruption, money laundering, criminal conspiracy, fraud, giving false testimony and making false declarations.
Alfio Schembri
Keith Schembri’s father and chairman of Kasco Holdings Ltd. He has been charged with money laundering and criminal conspiracy.
Malcolm Scerri
Keith Schembri’s business partner and CEO Kasco Group. He has been charged with money laundering, criminal conspiracy, and corruption.
Robert Zammit
An accountant who works with the Kasco Group. He has been charged with money laundering, criminal conspiracy, and breaching his duties as an accountant.
Left: Brian Tonna, Right: Karl Cini
Brian Tonna
The founder and partner of Nexia BT, the financial services firm which had infamously set up Panama companies for Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi, as well as the mysterious Egrant. He has been charged with money laundering, crimes connected to corruption, submitting false declarations to authorities, fraud and giving false statements to the courts.
Karl Cini
An accountant and partner of Nexia BT, who was personally involved in the establishment of the Panama companies. Like Tonna, he has been charged with money laundering, crimes connected to corruption, submitting false declarations to authorities, fraud and giving false statements to the courts.
Manuel Castagna
An auditor and Nexia BT partner. He has been charged with money laundering, submitting false declarations to authorities and fraud.
Katrin Bondin Carter
Nexia BT’s financial controller. She has been charged with money laundering.
Matthew Pace
Matthew Pace
A director of Zenith Finance (formerly MSFP Financial), a financial advisory firm which Keith Schembri used to handle his overseas investments. Pace recently sat on the Planning Authority’s board but resigned because of a conflict of interest due to his involvement in real estate.
He has been charged with money laundering, false declarations and criminal conspiracy.
Lorraine Falzon
The compliance director of Zenith Finance. She has been charged with money laundering, false declarations and criminal conspiracy.
Vince Buhagiar
Former managing director of Allied Newspapers, which publishes Times of Malta. He has been charged with money laundering, criminal conspiracy, fraud, corruption and false declarations to both Customs and Malta Enterprise.
Besides these 11 individuals, several companies were also charged:
Nexia BT, Nexia BT Limited, BT International Limited, Nexia BT Advisory Services Limited, BTI Services Limited, SPX, Willerby Trading, and KBT Holdings were charged along with Tonna, Cini, Castagna and Bondin Carter, with Tonna’s daughter Beverly Tonna appearing as a representative for KBT Holdings. Beverly Tonna hasn’t been charged herself.
Willerby is owned by Tonna and was the company used to transfer suspicious funds to Keith Schembri’s company Colson. Schembri has insisted this payment was the settlement of a loan he had given Tonna.
Colson was also charged along with Keith Schembri, as were Kasco Ltd and several companies, including offshore ones, linked to the former OPM chief of staff and his business group.
Zenith Finance was also separately charged.
What do you make of today’s developments?
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