Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1376560
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 MAY 2021 NEWS Expression of Interest TradeMalta Limited, The Clock Tower, Level 1, Tigné Point, Sliema TPO 01 | Tel: +356 2247 2400 Business Mission to Libya TradeMalta is pleased to invite Malta-based businesses to join a trade delegation to Libya. The business delegation shall be visiting Tripoli between 29 th and 30 th June 2021. This delegation will focus on enterprises having their main export activities in health and medical related services, civil engineering and construction, mechanical and electrical engineering, oil and gas services, logistics and distribution. This mission is an unparalleled way of assessing the market and gaining access to decision makers and commercial leaders as well as meeting potential clients and business partners. Interested parties must submit the following information with their application: • Company's track record in international business • Experience or preparedness in doing business in Libya Expressions of interest should be submitted at info@trademalta.org by Monday 31 st May 2021 at 17:00 hours. TradeMalta reserves the right to reject any application. For more information visit www.trademalta.org CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The pardon for Theuma was sealed during the political cri- sis of December 2019, when the Muscat Cabinet was read out details of the crimes Theu- ma was requesting a pardon on. The role of Theuma, who turned State's evidence and ac- cused Tumas magnate Yorgen Fenech of masterminding the Caruana Galizia assassination, once again emerges as pivotal in a world of crime in which the protagonists have been the same; amongst whom, the Degiorgio brothers Alfred and George, who stand accused of the Caruana Galizia murder. The brothers are now mount- ing a constitutional case to clinch a presidential pardon, accusing the Cabinet that re- fused it of discriminating against them. The third accused, Vincent Muscat 'il-Koħħu', has already pleaded guilty to the Caruana Galizia assassination, in return for a pardon on the Carmel Chircop murder. That pardon led to the arrest of the 'Maksar' gang, namely brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, and Jamie Vella, accused of the Chircop murder and of providing the bomb that killed Caruana Gal- izia. However, the three men's claims of knowing of a former Labour minister, as well as of a sitting Labour minister, and two middlemen, implicated in the Caruana Galizia assassina- tion and other major crimes has flung the door of specula- tion wide open. The police are indeed inves- tigating the claims that Labour minister Carmelo Abela was an accomplice in the failed heist on HSBC Bank's main office 11 years ago, when he had been a bank employee as a senior in- surance and statistics officer within the bank's Department of Security, Health and Safety. He has denied any involve- ment and initiated libel pro- ceedings against Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi, who ad- vanced the claims on social media as well. In a request for a presiden- tial pardon that was eventually turned down, Alfred Degiorgio claimed that he has "direct" in- formation on "a sitting minis- ter" who was an accomplice in the 2010 failed heist. Muscat also recounted to police what Degiorgio had told him. A second request for pardon on the HSBC heist filed by Muscat 'il-Koħħu' was turned down by Cabinet. They did not name Abela but lawyer Jason Azzopardi claimed in a Facebook post that the allegations concerned the minister and that he had been promised €300,000 for provid- ing inside information. Now Vincent Muscat and Daren Debono 'it-Topo' (not the former footballer) are awaiting trial for their involve- ment in the daring heist. A third person, Fabio Psaila, is also awaiting trial. Carmelo Abela was asked to testify in court for the HSBC heist magisterial inquiry as a bank representative in Febru- ary 2011 behind closed doors. The deposition seen by this newspaper shows that Abela had confirmed under oath that he sometimes used the security equipment that produced the electronic access cards, known as Cotag cards, used by bank employees. However, when confronted by the media with his own tes- timony in the previous weeks, Abela insisted he could not recall testifying in the compi- lation of evidence. The police had later charged a former po- lice inspector turned lawyer, David Gatt – then a partner in former Labour minister's Chris Cardona's legal office – with masterminding the heist. Gatt was acquitted. Abela has refused to resign his ministerial post pending the police investigation. Police investigating the heist were always convinced that the thieves had someone on the inside of the bank, who provid- ed them with access cards and video footage of the route they had to take to reach the cash centre. Theuma provided safehouse for men involved in shoot- out with police 2010 HSBC heist The police are investigating claims that minister Carmelo Abela was an accomplice in the failed 2010 heist