Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1187474
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 NOVEMBER 2019 ANALYSIS to award a maximum of 11,423sq.m of development. The Quad Business tow- ers in Mriehel, owned by the Tumas and Gasan groups, would not have been ap- proved had the govern- ment not included Mriehel among the localities that can be considered for high-rise buildings of over 10 storeys. This was not the case when a draft policy was first issued for public consultation in November 2013. This meant that the public never had any chance to comment on the choice of this site. "An op- portunity came and we took it," Ray Fenech told Malta- Today, while outlining am- bitious plans to turn Mriehel into a business hub. The aborted Paceville mas- terplan also included plans for land reclamation near Portomaso in an area which includes protected sea grass- es. A leaked report by the Environment and Resources Authority also included the entire stretch of coastline between Portomaso and Xghajra among the potential sites. From property to energy magnates Tumas Group also broad- ened its horizons beyond property development, hos- pitality and gaming. Under a PN government it initially formed part of the winning consortium for the operation of the privatised public transport system. But in 2012 Tumas Group sold its 33.3% share to Arriva, whose head office and bus depot were located on Tu- mas Group-owned property. But the greatest leap tak- en by the group was that of joining an international consortium, which gave life to Labour's election prom- ise to privatise energy sup- ply to enable its conversion to more environmentally- friendly natural gas and re- duce bills by 25%. It was Yorgen Fenech, now associ- ated with Daphne Caruana Galizia's elimination, who represented the group in the company's board. In this ambitious venture the Tumas Group teamed up with Gasan Group and CP Holdings to form the Maltese leg of a consortium, which also brought together the Azeri national energy company SOCAR, the Ger- man multinational Siemens and initially GASOL, togeth- er. Although the contract was awarded after an inter- national call, speculation was rife on whether the con- sortium predated Labour's election victory. The participation of Nexia BT, the accounting firm re- sponsible for the registra- tion of Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi's secret com- panies, in the adjudication process further fuelled this perception. Paul Apap Bolo- gna, a director in GEM Hold- ings, the Maltese company holding Tumas and Gasan's interests, had also been ap- pointed on the Planning Au- thority board by the newly- elected Labour government – even if he had to abstain on all permits connected to the power station. The Maltese way of doing business? But the greatest shadow was cast by revelations that Schem- bri and Mizzi's secret Panama companies set up after the 2013 elections, had listed Yor- gen Fenech's 17 Black – a se- cret company registered in Dubai – along with Macbridge, another secret company whose owners are still unknown, as "target clients" for their Pana- ma companies. This, in itself, raised ques- tions of an inappropriate re- lationship, possibly criminal, between one of the owners of the power station, the en- ergy minister and the PM's chief of staff. The fact that the 17 Black owner is now facing more se- rious charges related to the murder of a journalist makes this relationship more toxic than ever. For, inevitably, the decision to retain Schembri as chief-of-staff and Mizzi in his Cabinet has now re- turned to haunt Prime Min- ister Muscat. Yet while the rise of the Tumas Group from hoteliers and property developers to energy magnates is impres- sive, it is not alone in taking opportunities presented to them by shifting policies. Under previous PN govern- ments, the surname Poli- dano was synonymous with impunity in the planning sector. Meanwhile under Labour, other players like Joe Portelli of Mercury House reached new heights, and others like Gaffarena burned them- selves after being exposed for being too greedy. One may well argue that these businessmen are do- ing what businessmen are meant to do – make money whenever an opportunity arises and creating more economic growth and jobs in the process of doing so. The problem arises when policies are tailor-made to fit their exigencies sometimes at the cost of the common good. Yorgen Fenech's alleged involvement in the Caruana Galizia murder case does not in any way incriminate his family's legitimate business operations. It may well have been an aberration which goes against the code of honour of Maltese business. But it does raise the question whether the nexus between business and politics, which is an in- tegral part of doing business in Malta, gives certain play- ers the impression that they are above the law. Was this sense of impunity, which gave the impression to those who commissioned the as- sassination the impression that they could literally get away with murder? Fenech's alleged links with the criminal underworld cast a dark shadow on the rela- tionship between organised crime and legitimate busi- nesses, a relationship not unique to Malta and which increasingly characterises international capitalism in its bid to skirt national regu- lations and taxation by rely- ing on offshore companies. But the alleged involve- ment of a powerful business- man in the murder by com- mission of a journalist who was investigating his busi- ness relationship with politi- cians raises the spectre of a Maltese mafia. Whether this was an ad hoc reaction to an isolated threat or a more systematic approach reminiscent of the Sicilian and Eastern Europe- an mafias remains to be seen. The only reassuring aspect of this story is that despite any pretentions of impunity and any political connec- tions he might have had, Fenech has been arrested and brought to justice after his yacht was intercepted af- ter leaving Portomaso. This, in itself, does suggest that state institutions have not been captured by any mafia even if the fact that those behind the murder felt bold enough to blow up a journalist suggests that they may have thought that they carried enough clout to get away with it. Was this a delusion or a be- lief grounded in the Maltese way of doing business? Fenech's alleged links with the criminal underworld cast a dark shadow on the relationship between organised crime and legitimate businesses, a relationship not unique to Malta and which increasingly characterises international capitalism in its bid to skirt national regulations and taxation by relying on offshore companies Yorgen Fenech: the tycoon has requested a presidential pardon