Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1380662
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 JUNE 2021 NEWS FOR Malta's prime minister Robert Abe- la, a point-blank accusation by two hard- ened criminals that sitting minister Car- melo Abela played an essential role in the foiled 2010 HSBC heist, poses an enor- mous ethical dilemma. Can he afford having this dark shadow cast over his Cabinet, or does he set a precedent that also puts his entire Cabinet at the mercy of accusations by two alleged murderers? In a letter strategically sent to the Eu- ropean Commissioner for justice in Brussels, Didier Reynders, the Degiorgio brothers – currently facing charges of murdering journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia – have directly implicated sitting minister Carmelo Abela in the 2010 HS- BC bank heist along with former min- ister Chris Cardona, who they accused financed an original Daphne Caruana Galizia murder plot in 2015. The Degiorgios said that if granted a pardon they would spill the beans: providing the times and locations of meetings held in the preparation of the planned heist between the masterminds and others, including Cardona and Car- melo Abela; the planned payments from the stolen cash to be divided amongst all those involved; the confidential informa- tion and equipment used by Abela when he was Insurance Officer at the HSBC Head Office and the involvement and complicity of then members of the Malta Police Force. Named and shamed This represents a crucial development because for the first time, the Degorgios have mentioned Abela by name. Previ- ously the role of a sitting minister in the heist was mentioned by Vince Muscat 'il- Koħħu', who has already been convicted of Caruana Galizia's murder after getting a reduced sentence for testifying against the Degiorgios on the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop. Subsequently it was the Degiorgios who referred to the involvement of a sitting minister in the heist, in their own first request for a pardon. But why on earth would the Degorgios mention Abela – far from the obvious politician to be as- sociated with a hold-up – and why would they risk requesting a pardon which would be withdrawn if the information provided is not successfully corroborat- ed? It also raises the question on whether they are latching on to Abela's employ- ment with HSBC's internal division that dealt with the cotag access system, sim- ply to fabricate a bargaining chip; possi- bly to create hubris. It was Nationalist MP and Caruana Galizia family lawyer Jason Azzopardi who earlier in November 2020 had de- clared on Saturday during a programme on 103FM that Abela was aware since March 2020 that a member of his Cabi- net – "not a lawyer" (to exclude the tra- ditional caste of politician) – was impli- cated in a crime by Muscat, in his pleas to police for a presidential pardon in return for information on a series of crimes. "The Prime Minister knows, he has known since March, that he is not the only one who has to leave that room," Azzopardi said, referring to the Cabinet. "Because the prime minister knows that Vincent Muscat, in the information he gave to police this March, and I'm not enter- ing into any details, mentioned a person who occupies a Cabi- net post, a minister, sitting not past – let nobody think that I am referring to some past minister – and this person is not a lawyer, he did not give some advice to some perpetrator." Suspicion easily fell on former HS- BC employee Carmelo Abela, and six months later in April 2021, Azzopardi made a more categorical allegation in a Facebook status he posted, in a reaction to disparaging com- ments made by Abela. In no un- certain terms, Azzopardi made the most blatant of accusations that was an accomplice of the HSBC heist's mastermind by passing on internal footage of the HSBC headquarters and false keys. "I am no saint... but better not to have been an accomplice in the HSBC hold-up," Azzopardi said, add- ing that Abela was promised a €300,000 payment from the loot and that he was an accom- plice with the mastermind of the heist in threatening witnesses via Signal. This prompted Abela to sue him for libel, apart from strongly de- nying any involvement. But Abela was now hesitant this week w h e n Can Robert Abela have his Cabinet under a dark shadow over the allegations of two criminals, and how far can the Opposition go in raising the stakes of a case that could even backfire on them? Cracking the Carmelo Abela paradox JAMES DEBONO Enzo Tortora, from Portobello conductor to innocent man in prison Labour minister Carmelo Abela: now named as an accomplice in the 2010 HSBC heist by the Degiorgio brothers. But are their claims true?