Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1429136
4 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2021 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS NEXT month, a court is to decide on a request for a variation of a freezing order issued on former Progress Press Chair- man Vincent Buhagiar. Buhagiar stands accused of money laun- dering after allegedly receiving hundreds of thousands of euros under a 'gentle- men's agreement' with disgraced for- mer OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri. Schembri is charged separately with cor- ruption and money laundering, as well as other offences. The case against Buhagiar and that against Nexia BT partners Brian Tonna, Karl Cini and Nexia employee Katrin Bondin Carter continued on Tuesday before Magistrate Donatella Frendo Di- mech. Buhagiar's lawyers, Veronique Dalli and Dean Hili asked the court to vary the con- ditions of the freezing order on the for- mer Chairman. The court said it would hear arguments on the request in the next sitting. Auditor Stephen Galea was summoned to the witness stand, telling the court that he had worked with the accused, Bri- an Tonna in particular, for many years. Galea had carried out some audits of their companies. These were sensitive audits in which it was felt that using a third-party auditor would be more fitting. Galea exhibited an invoice to him for €57,660, adding that €5000 were also paid in cash, all for professional services. Questioned by de- fence lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell, he confirmed that the documents were pay- ments for professional services and a tax invoice had been issued. A court-appointed IT expert presented the court with a copy of a report he had compiled on data extracted from mobile phones and electronic devices seized from various people with ties to Progress Press. Later on in the sitting, prosecuting law- yer Antoine Agius from the Office of the Attorney General told the court that the prosecution was close to summoning its last witnesses. Court to decide on request to vary freezing order on former Progress Press Chairman A court will decide next month on a request for a variation of a freezing order issued on former Progress Press Chairman Vincent Buhagiar Former Allied Group managing director Vincent Buhagiar was the only one to be granted bail KARL AZZOPARDI PRISON inmates from four di- visions inside Corradino Cor- rectional Facility have refused to sign a petition in support of Lt. Col. Alex Dalli, who is suspended from CCF boss after a prison su- icide last week – the 14th death in Corradino since he took over the reins. Prison sources told MaltaToday that inmates in divisions 4, 5, 13 and 17 refused to sign the peti- tion, but a few hardened inmates are believed to be supporting Dal- li's reinstatement – among them Leli Camilleri 'il-Bully', Alfred Bugeja 'il-Porporina', and Pierre Cremona 'is-Cigar', who were al- so said to have disseminated the petition handed to them by pris- on warders. Leli l-Bully is currently serving a prison sentence for coordinat- ing a substantial drug deal while serving time for the attempted murder of a police inspector. Il-Porporina is currently serv- ing time for a number of crimes; while Pierre Cremona, whose Ar- mier boathouse had been target- ed in a bomb attack in 2014, was found guilty of trafficking and possession of 1kg of heroin. The Home Affairs Ministry has refused to condemn the petition being disseminated among pris- on officials calling for Dalli's rein- statement. Former Red Cross and Detention services chief Robert Brincau was appointed instead of Dalli. Prison sources who spoke to this newspaper said there are cur- rently two petitions being passed around in prison – one for in- mates, and one for prison guards. Sources said a number of guards are afraid of being singled out for not signing the petition. "They are telling us that Alex Dalli will be reinstated into his role, and so some are fearing retaliation for not signing it," one source said. "How can you not sign, knowing the kind of things he is capable of?" MaltaToday reached out to the Home Affairs ministry for an explanation on the matter, with questions on whether the minister feels it appropriate for such a petition to be dissemi- nated, whether it will be halted, and whether Dalli will be rein- stated should the petition garner enough signatures. "The Ministry is only aware that there are workers that are exercising their right of signing a petition. However, decisions will be taken in the best interest of the Corrective Services Agency," the reply read. On Sunday, newspaper Illum reported on how the former pris- on director had boasted with a minister and government offi- cials on how he bullied prisoners into submission by putting a gun in their mouth. The newspaper reported that Dalli had also mentioned the name of at least one prisoner he threatened with the weapon, soon after becoming director. Corradino inmates refuse to sign petition for Dalli reinstatement Hardened criminals inside Corradino among those tasked with disseminating a petition among inmates from high-ranking prison officials Former CCF director Alex Dalli (right) at Corradino prison