Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1474484
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 JULY 2022 NEWS NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS 65-YEAR-OLD Marsa resident, Mario Degiorgio, broth- er of Alfred and George Degiorgio, who are indicted over the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, was arraigned in court on Tuesday, accused of extortion and money laun- dering offences. Police inspector Leanne Bonello, prosecuting, said that the police had investigated the accused and a warrant was issued. On the strength of that warrant, Degiorgio was arrested at his home in Marsa on Monday. Degiorgio's lawyers told presiding magistrate Rachel Montebello that there had been no disclosure of evi- dence to the accused before the statement. He did not reply to almost any questions during his in- terrogation, said the inspector. She said she was unable to make follow up questions in view of his lack of coop- eration. Although the police had disclosed their evidence re- lating to the money laundering charge to the accused before interrogation, the disclosure of evidence on the extortion charges was incomplete, claimed the defence. Inspector Bonello insisted that the evidence in hand at the time had all been disclosed to the accused. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. The defence's bail request was objected to by prosecuting lawyer Francesco Refalo. The charges were serious, said the prosecution, adding that the accused had been laundering money to- gether with his brothers and third parties who are yet to testify. The accused knew what to expect and could ap- proach witnesses, said the Refalo. The prosecutor angrily refused a defence request that he identify the "at least six" civilian witnesses in open court. Lawyer Lennox Vella pointed out that the charges relat- ed to the period 2017-18. "These are very old offences." The principal witness, Melvin Theuma, is already un- der police protection and had already testified several times, said the lawyer, arguing that Degiorgio had no in- terest in approaching any of the witnesses. "I am seeing no risk of tampering with evidence," Vella submitted, citing the presumption of innocence. The court, however, opted to deny bail, urging the prosecution to summon all witnesses without delay. Who is Mario Degiorgio? During the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, it had emerged that the self-confessed middle- man in the murder, Melvin Theuma, had handed over documents to the police following his arrest. These documents included receipts handed to Theuma by Mario Degiorgio, brother to Alfred and George De- giorgio, to show the flow of money from Fenech to the Degiorgios. Johann Cremona, an associate of Fenech's, had also tes- tified to having been told by Melvin Theuma that Mario Degiorgio had claimed that former minister and deputy leader of the Labour party Chris Cardona was involved in the murder, together with lawyer David Gatt, with whom Cardona once shared an office. Lawyers Francesco Refalo and Marthese Grech repre- sented the AG in the proceedings. Lawyers William Cuschieri and Lennox Vella appeared for the defendant. Brother of Daphne hitman charged with extortion, money laundering Excelsior and Ramla Bay hotel extensions set for approval in August JAMES DEBONO THE extension of the Excelsior and Ramla Bay hotel will be the first two major decisions to be taken by the recomposed Planning Authority's board, now chaired by Emmanuel Camilleri, in the first two weeks of August right in the middle of the hol- iday period. In both cases the case officers are recommending approval, claiming that the hotel extensions will actually improve the landscape. The most controversial decision will be taken on 11 August when the board will convene to decide on plans for the construction of a new five to six-storey lateral extension to the Ex- celsior hotel, along a retaining wall beneath the fortifications. Plans for the 77-room addition to the Excelsior Hotel have been down- scaled from an original proposal for the new wing to rise above Great Siege Road, obscuring the bastions. But the project will still have a major impact on harbour views as seen from Msida and Ta' Xbiex, a visual impact study confirmed in May. The study, based on photomon- tages of the proposed development, considers the lateral extension of the main hotel building along the eastern boundary of the site where it borders Great Siege Road, as the "most crit- ical element" of the proposed devel- opment in terms of changes to the townscape. The study concludes that the new hotel wing will change views of the harbour fortifications, which are designated as an Area of High Land- scape Value (AHLV) from four points across Marsamxett Harbour. The most noticeable change will be in the views from the west, from Msida and Ta' Xbiex, where the new accommodation wing would be more exposed than when viewed from the east. The new wing will screen much of the retaining wall along Great Siege Road. "As viewed from Msida and Ta' Xbiex, the new accommodation wing will screen much of the retaining wall along Triq L-Assedju Il-Kbir and will serve to pronounce the hotel against the backdrop of the Valletta Fortifica- tions," the study by ADI Consultants concludes. But the case officer is dismissive of these concerns arguing that the pro- posed new wing will complement the existing approved hotel in an holistic project which will promote high qual- ity accommodation standards within the Maltese Islands in line with the demand of the market. "The pro- posed design, with a low-lying profile and with the choice of materials, will not dominate the existing hotel or its surround context creating a visual impact that has been overall consid- ered acceptable within its immediate and wider context." The proposal has been positively considered by the Malta Tourism Authority in terms of number of beds and facilities provided within the whole complex, by the Environment and Resources Authority in terms of environmental impact, by the Super- intendence of Cultural Heritage in terms of visual and archeological im- pact, and by Transport Malta in terms of impact on the existing network. The Superintendence's blessing makes its approval more likely; sur- prisingly, no consultation has taken place with UNESCO despite Vallet- ta's World Heritage Status. The heritage watchdog welcomed the fact that the redesigned wing will not extend above the level of Great Siege Road, nor will it visually en- croach on the lower part of the sched- uled fortifications and obscure them describing this as "a very considerable improvement on the earlier proposal". Another decision due on 4 August which will have a major impact on the iconic view of Cirkewwa from the Gozo ferry is the extension of the Ramla Bay hotel. According to the case officer the innovative design of the proposed de- velopment will "contribute to a new lively and livable high-quality accom- modation standard" creating "a land- mark building" which " merge within its context due to the organic shapes extruded from the morphology of the promontory" and will "promote a re-branding of the Maltese Islands as a destination of choice worldwide". The new development will comprise 400 guest rooms, a banqueting area, restaurants and new kitchen facilities, gym and indoor swimming pool, car park facilities, and new landscaping. The new development will comple- ment the 100 apartments approved in 2019. The visual impact assessment on the latest plans and photomontages also conducted by ADI consultants still deems the impact on views from the Gozo ferry to be of "major signif- icance." According to the report, compared to the present situation from the viewpoint, "the scheme appears bulk- ier and, although it remains within the site footprint, the perception is of a larger structure that has spatially extended." In this case the project does not even have the go-ahead of the Su- perintendence for Cultural Heritage which had warned that views of Mar- fa as seen from Comino and from sea- craft in the Gozo Channel will forever "be conditioned and marred by the enormous volume extending above the existing skyline." Malta's cultural heritage watchdog warned that this development will "subvert the current and longstand- ing perception of Malta as seen from the 'il-Fliegu' crossing". But the case officer contends that these concerns were addressed through a "a partial redesign of the upper part of the buildings" mainly consisting of the relocation of roof top services, which led to "a lessening in the overall volume."