Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1050749
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 NOVEMBER 2018 confirmed nor denied owning the Dubai company. Fenech said he and his companies "never had (or intended to have) any untoward business relation" with any politicians or politically affiliated in- dividuals or entities. "We have always and consistently run our operations in compliant, transparent and above- board fashion," he told Reuters. What did Reuters discover about 17 Black? Reuters said 17 Black was registered in Ajman, an emir- ate part of the UAE. The com- pany opened an account at Noor Bank in Dubai in June 2015. Banking correspond- ence from the UAE reviewed by Reu- ters stated that the company declared it was 100% owned by Yorgen Fenech. The correspond- ence also said Fenech was the account's sole signa- tory. A source in the UAE told Reuters that around €9 mil- lion to €10 mil- lion went through 17 Black's account at Noor in 2015, after which the ac- count became dormant. Reuters could not confirm the figures. The source told Reuters that most of the money paid into the 17 Black ac- count had "swiftly moved on to other entities", while retaining a balance of about €2 million. The bank appears to have frozen the account in the absence of evidence for the business purpose of these in-out transactions. The Maltese FIAU had traced two payments to 17 Black, one from a Sey- chelles-based company fronted by an Azeri national and one from the Malta agent of the gas tanker at Delimara. ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt NEWS 17 BLACK pany 17 Black as having received funds from the Maltese agent of the gas tanker supplying fuel to the new power station. But in April 2018 the Daphne Project revealed the documents that showed how 17 Black was one of two target clients of Tillgate and Hearn- ville. Keith Schembri had released a statement in which he confirmed that 17 Black had been included as part of a business plan for his Panama company but nothing ever came of the plans. Schembri never clarified what the na- ture of the business with 17 Black was and who its owners were. Fact 5 17 Black received money Information coming from a leaked FIAU report had revealed the exist- ence of at least two money transfers to 17 Black. One of the transfers for $200,000 was made by Orion Engi- neering Group on 10 July 2015. Orion is owned by Mario Pullicino, who also acted as company secretary of the Maltese company that acted as agent for the floating gas storage tanker. Pullicino has confirmed the money transfer to 17 Black, insisting it was to procure manpower unrelated to the gas power station project in Malta. Another payment to 17 Black con- sisted of $1.5 million in November 2015 by the Seychelles-based com- pany Mayor Trans Limited. The com- pany, fronted by an Azeri national, transferred the money from its bank account in Latvia. Fact 6 17 Black was subject of FIAU investigation The Financial Intelligence Analy- sis Unit has been probing 17 Black for more than a year. Excerpts of an incomplete FIAU report on Konrad Mizzi that was leaked last year had flagged the company and the money transfers it received. Earlier this year, MEP Ana Gomes divulged part of the contents of an exchange she had with the Latvian FIU, which showed that the Maltese watchdog requested, and were provided with, information from its Latvian counterpart informa- tion on the ownership of 17 Black. The Latvian FIU gave the details re- quested in February 2018. The FIAU has said it was precluded by law to divulge any information when asked to confirm whether it did pass on a report to the police for a money-laun- dering investigation into 17 Black. Fact 7 Yorgen Fenech has not denied owning 17 Black The latest revelations made by Reu- ters are based on multiple sources in Malta and the United Arab Emirates who spoke to the international news agency and documents pertaining to financial transactions from Noor Bank in Dubai. The documentary evidence has not been published but significantly when Reuters spoke to the man at the centre of the allegation, Yorgen Fenech, he did not deny ownership of 17 Black. It is inconceivable how someone who has nothing to do with 17 Black was not forthcoming with an outright de- nial when faced with the question. Even if one were not to believe Reu- ters, Fenech's non-reply is very tell- ing. Fact 8 All men have denied wrongdoing All key players in the 17 Black saga have denied any wrongdoing. While Keith Schembri did admit that 17 Black was listed as a target client for his Panama company, he denied knowledge of the company's owner- ship. Schembri has also denied any involvement in the power station deal. He has insisted he did nothing wrong. Konrad Mizzi has also denied any wrongdoing, insisting all along that the Panama company and a New Zea- land trust were set up for family pur- poses. He has also denied knowledge of 17 Black and its ownership. Mario Pullicino of Orion Engi- neering, who has admitted making a $200,000 payment to 17 Black has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the payment was unrelated to the power station project. Likewise, Yorgen Fenech has denied any wrongdoing or link with politi- cally exposed persons. It started from a cryptic message on Daphne Caruana Galizia's blog in February 2017 and reached a climax in April this year when Keith Schembri confirmed that 17 Black had been included in a business plan for his Panama company. Now, one of the owners of Electrogas, Yorgen Fenech (pictured here at his Oracle casino, far right) has been identified as the owner of 17 Black in Dubai