Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1363129
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 APRIL 2021 NEWS e business community in Malta has the opportunity to be part of Expo 2020 Dubai being held between 1st October 2021 and 31st March 2022 through their participation in events and other initiatives that will be organised by the Malta Pavilion during this six-month period. Companies interested in being part of this experience can send an email on maltapavilion-expo2020@maltaenterprise. com by not later than Friday 30th April 2021. More information on this opportunity will be provided following this initial contact. Detailed information on Expo 2020 Dubai can be found on the official website https://www.expo2020dubai.com Malta Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai ISLA ranks as one of the dens- est places on earth with a pop- ulation of just under 3,000 sandwiched between the ram- parts of the fortified city. Home to the iconic Gardjo- la that overlooks the Grand Harbour, the town boasts of a 78-year-old football club, Senglea Athletic. Founded in 1943, the club has a lacklustre story, playing for a good part of its long history in the lower divisions of Mal- tese football. The closest it ev- er came to some form of glory was when the club made it to the FA Trophy final in 1981 but lost to Floriana. The club played in the Pre- mier League for the past four seasons and was relegated this year after finishing last. But this is not about football. It is a story of how clubs can be used by some to wash their dirty cash and gain legitimacy. In June 2019, Senglea were seeking to strengthen their squad and as part of the trans- formation, former national team footballer Darren Debono was elected to the committee. His appointment raised eye- brows since Debono had al- ready been charged in Italy with involvement in an internation- al fuel smuggling ring and ju- dicial proceedings against him were pending. Senglea's president – the notary Reuben Debono, a part-owner of the FES Group plc, a boutique hotel group with a €5 million bond issue – had at the time told Net FM's Replay Ikompli, that Darren Debono will have "an impor- tant role" within the club and will be "more than just a com- mittee member". A month later when the club presented the official list of committee members for vet- ting to the Malta Football As- sociation, Debono's name was not on the list. It appears Senglea Athletic did not want adverse publicity but a glimpse of Debono's con- tribution to the club was pro- vided in court a fortnight ago. Paying foreign players Debono and another former footballer, Jeffrey Chetcuti, are charged with fuel smuggling, money laundering and other financial crimes in the Maltese courts. During compilation of evi- dence proceedings against the pair, the Senglea Athletic cash- ier testified how the accused were roped in as sponsors to pay the costs of foreign players recruited by the club. The cashier, Stephen Butt- igieg, told the court that the ex-footballers lent a great help- ing hand, financially and by offering advice. He said Debono was never a member of the club commit- tee but helped cover the costs of wages of foreign players and trips abroad. Buttigieg explained that monthly wages varied be- tween €770 to €1,000 or more and Debono would pay the footballers directly. "All I know is that the players nev- er came to us to complain," the cashier said, adding that Debono paid the players be- tween August and November 2019. Debono's generosity with the club went as far as pro- viding a €70,000 sponsorship that was paid in two €35,000 cheques from a company owned by him. This testimony lifted the lid on how the murky world of money laundering has latched on to football. Infiltration of organised crime Last August, Europol, the EU law enforcement agency, released a situation report in which it warned of the infil- tration of organised crime groups in sports to move large sums of dirty money. Football was a main target be- cause of its popularity, finan- cial dimension and large turn- over betting market attached to it. Europol intelligence observed an increasing trend especially in football, where clubs of low- er divisions, sometimes beset by heavy financial problems, are taken over by individuals and companies. The legal structures most of- ten used to move the money would be players' agent com- panies, organisers of sporting events and gambling-related companies. The reasons for Debono's in- terest in Senglea Athletic are unclear. He never had ties with the club or the town and yet chose to finance the cost of the foreign players. He may have been seeking legitimacy but the pattern be- came clearer in separate mon- ey laundering proceedings against Debono's step-daugh- ter, Florinda (Floren) Sultana. She and a former bank official were charged with operating two fish restaurants in Vallet- ta and Marsaxlokk, which were used to launder money from Debono's oil smuggling oper- ation. A bar donation A search of Sultana's home yielded some €52,000 in cash, various branded items includ- ing Gucci and Armani and ten watches, including a Rolex, Senglea football club: fuel smuggling and generosity Money laundering cases against former footballers Darren Debono and Jeffrey Chetcuti lifted the lid on how they tried to buy legitimacy. KURT SANSONE looks at how the murky world of money laundering has latched onto football