Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1342444
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 FEBRUARY 2021 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Buttigieg is currently held in Corra- dino Correctional Facility, where he is serving time on drug-related charges after a lifetime of criminal convictions. In an amazing twist of events, this week his lawyer Edward DeBono filed an urgent court application in the pa- ternity case, informing the court that it had come to Buttigieg's knowledge that Tumas Fenech's grave had either been emptied or the remains substituted, in an effort to thwart Buttigieg's claim. Sources said Buttigieg, who has prior convictions for theft and heroin pos- session and who is currently in prison, is thought to stand to gain "millions" if found to be an heir of Fenech's. DeBono asked the court to order the Addolorata graveyard's director or the Director for Environmental Health to declare whether the grave in ques- tion had been opened in the past few "months or years" after the interment of the remains, as well as whether they were placed elsewhere or substituted and if so, where. He also called for DNA comparisons of all the Fenech siblings, as well as him- self, in the event that the disinterment request was not upheld, "to ensure that no treachery in all that is being request- ed for the best conclusion of this case." "Because of the urgency of this con- tent, it is required that the court give orders and take immediate action in the interests of justice," reads the court ap- plication. Over the past 22 years, Buttigieg has been in and out of prison, and is cur- rently understood to be incarcerated. In 1999 he was sentenced to eight months in prison for theft, later re- duced to six months. After an acquittal on a heroin possession charge in 2003, he was jailed for two years for subse- quent charges of heroin possession in 2005, and for six years in 2015, again for heroin possession. He filed the case for paternity in 2013. magius@mediatoday.com.mt Prison inmate claiming to be Tumas heir says magnate's remains removed from grave Family patriarch: Tumas Group founder Tumas Fenech built an empire that is today run by his children Imprisoned man claiming to be Tumas Fenech heir says business magnate's remains were 'moved or substituted'