Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1081437
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 13 FEBRUARY 2019 3 NEWS ANDREINA Fenech Farrugia's career in the fisheries sector began in 1997, when she was re- cruited as a scientist in the fisheries ministry. In 2005, she obtained a doctorate in fishery management from the University of Plymouth, with a focus on tuna management strategies in the Mediterranean. Her role within the ministry grew, and in 2009 she was appointed director of the fisheries de- partment by a Nationalist government, but was replaced in November 2011 by veteran civil serv- ant Joe Caruana. Just months before Caruana's appointment, Lowri Evans, then European Commission fish- eries chief, had warned Malta's authorities that the local fishing industry could be facing its own destruction if administrative shortcomings re- mained un-addressed, according to a report in Times of Malta from the time. With Caruana at the helm, things in the sector appeared to be getting better, and Evans had said she was happy with how Malta was progressing, considering how two years back fishery had been "in a very bad state," the newspaper reported. However, despite the sector having improved significantly and seen its credibility strength- ened, in May 2013 Fenech Farrugia was reinstat- ed, under a Labour government, in the role of di- rector general of fisheries, substituting Caruana. In 2017, she was appointed for a second term as deputy chair of the European Fisheries Control Agency's administrative board, having first been approved for the position in 2015. Most recently, in May 2018, she was award- ed France's Ordre du Mérite Maritime by the French ambassador to Malta, thanking her for her work "both in Malta and in the EU in favour of the protection of the oceans". Following the news on Tuesday of her impli- cation in tuna bribes, and her subsequent sus- pension from her post by the government, the French embassy promptly removed the article reporting the presentation of the award from its website. Compiled by Masimo Costa bio However, what raised suspi- cion was the fact that Fenech Farrugia used a Spanish mo- bile phone number registered by Fuentes's company, Ricardo Fuentes e Hijos. Spanish investigators believe this was an intentional arrange- ment to maintain "absolute confidentiality" during conver- sations between the two. It appears that the only calls made to Fenech Farrugia's Spanish number were from Fuentes's secure phone. Soliciting payment In a three-minute conversa- tion recorded on 20 June last year, Fenech Farrugia allegedly asked Fuentes for "payment" while on an official EU fisher- ies meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria. "I'm in Bulgaria just for you, you have to pay me, because there's a meeting and I'm with the [director] general of Brus- sels," Fenech Farrugia told Fuentes, who had just com- plained to her over the phone that it was more difficult to meet her than the minister. But the phone taps also lift the lid on the level of familiari- ty between Fuentes and Fenech Farrugia. In one of the conversations recorded on 15 June, Fuentes casually addressed Fenech Farrugia as "gorgeous". She al- legedly played up the remark, insisting that "all the world wanted her". During the same conversa- tion, Fuentes suggested that Fenech Farrugia needed to have "a good massage" when she told him that her back was hurting. According to the Spanish investigators, these conver- sations were indicative of a long-standing acquaintance between the two. "Pay attention to Fish & Fish" But a more telling part was Fenech Farrugia's cautionary remark in the same conver- sation from 15 June, asking Fuentes to "pay attention" on how to report things "so that Fish & Fish do not say any- thing". Fish & Fish is a rival Maltese tuna operation run by Elbros. It is unclear from the tran- scripts seen by MaltaToday why Fenech Farrugia felt the need to mention Fish & Fish. But she also told Fuentes not to speak to anyone, including a certain Giovanni. The tran- scripts do not say who Gio- vanni is but Fenech Farrugia allegedly implied that she did not trust him much. The two also talked of apply- ing pressure on politicians. In another conversation on 24 June last year, Fuentes in- formed the Maltese DG that he was going to visit Malta to meet the minister, ostensibly Jose Herrera. Fenech Farrugia allegedly in- formed Fuentes that she had started "moving things" and asked the Spaniard whether he would be spending one day with the minister. The conversation than took a more personal twist with Fene- ch Farrugia telling Fuentes that her partner was "all day at foot- ball". Cannot be seen together A day later, Fuentes called Fenech Farrugia to inform her that he would be arriving in Malta at 10.30pm and would be staying until Thursday at the Hilton. Fuentes asked her whether she would like to dine with him but Fenech Farrugia insisted that she "cannot be seen" with him in Malta. She then suggested meeting him at the hotel at 11pm or 6am on the next morning. Denial Spanish investigators esti- mate that the black-market trade in tuna could be worth millions of euros and the tran- scripts cast Malta as a key play- er in this dirty business. The Environment Ministry yesterday said that a police investigation and magiste- rial inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing by the Spanish company's Malta operation had been underway for quite a while. The police have now asked Europol for the information linked to Fenech Farrugia that has emerged in Spain. A source close to government told MaltaToday that although Maltese investigators were probing the matter, Fenech Farrugia's name only cropped up in Spain as a result of the mobile phone taps of the Span- ish numbers. Fenech Farrugia was yester- day suspended "indefinitely" by Environment Minister Jose Herrera after Spanish media revealed the Malta link. She has denied any wrong- doing, insisting that she had "always observed and em- ployed the highest standards of diligence and professional- ism" in her work. Fenech Far- rugia said she always took the necessary legal steps "against all operators, at all times, when any illegalities were de- tected". director suspended after phone taps collusion with Spanish tuna boss Andreina Fenech Farrugia has denied any wrongdoing