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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 JANUARY 2025 NEWS Yorgen Fenech's THE alleged mastermind behind the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was granted bail on Friday, 24 Janu- ary, more than five years after his arrest. The court decision drew the criticism of many, including Daphne Caruana Galizia's fam- ily, NGOs and the Nationalist Party. Fenech was arrested on his yacht as it departed the Portoma- so marina on 20 November 2019. The compilation of evidence against him has been going on since then and he is now awaiting trial. He denies the charges. But how did we get here? 17 Black and Daphne's murder It all started almost eight years ago in February 2017, when Daphne Caruana Galizia pub- lished a cryptic post on her blog, Running Commentary, titled '17 Black – the name of a company incorporated in Dubai', and a photo montage of Keith Schem- bri, John Dalli, Joseph Mus- cat and Konrad Mizzi with the words '17 Black – Dubai' embla- zoned beneath them. It was later in the comments section of the same blog post that Caruana Galizia also mentioned Yorgen Fenech when replying to an observation made by one of her readers. Today, the comment that trig- gered Caruana Galizia to men- tion Fenech is no longer available since it was deleted. What we are left with is her reply: "A couple of the owners of their magic new corruption power station: and it's Yorgen Fenech. So, thanks for this, because it really figures." Eight months later, on 16 Octo- ber 2017, Daphne Caruana Gal- izia was murdered outside her Bidnija home by a powerful car bomb. On 4 December 2017, 10 indi- viduals were arrested in connec- tion with the murder, and three – Vince Muscat, and brothers George Degiorgio and Alfred De- giorgio, were later charged with executing the car bomb attack. In February 2021, Muscat was sentenced to 15 years in prison after admitting guilt and secur- ing a plea bargain deal to provide information that could be used to prosecute third parties. The Degiorgio brothers were handed a 40-year sentence in 2022 after pleading guilty to the murder charges. But it was in November 2018, a full year before his arrest, that a Reuters and Times of Malta in- vestigation named Tumas Group shareholder and CEO Yorgen Fenech as the owner of 17 Black. The revelation was damning because it provided a direct link between one of the owners of the new gas power station – Fenech not only owned shares in the Electrogas consortium but was also its primary interlocutor with government – and two of the most powerful men in govern- ment at the time – energy minis- ter Konrad Mizzi and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri. The gas power station project had been piloted by Mizzi and was a central plank in the PL's 2013 electoral manifesto be- cause it allowed the government to shift electricity production to cleaner gas and lower electricity prices. On 20 November 2019, Yorgen Fenech was arrested aboard his yacht as a person of interest in the Caruana Galizia murder in- vestigation. The arrest led to a chain of Just over five years since his arrest and arraignment on charges that he masterminded the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Yorgen Fenech is about to be released on bail. KARL AZZOPARDI charts the course of criminal proceedings since 2019. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Sources close to proceedings said the court is wait- ing for a court-appointed expert, Martin Bajjada, to conclude his job of removing any reference to sources from the information extracted from Daph- ne Caruana Galizia's Cloud data. Last November, Bajjada said he could only print 8,000 pages a day amid impending holiday plans. Reacting to the bail decree, Daphne's son, Mat- thew Caruana Galizia, blamed the government for failing to fix the system. "The blame for killers being released on bail with- out any trial date in sight lies with the prime minis- ter and the minister of justice. They had five years to fix the system and did nothing. Failure after failure by the courts, it's become increasingly clear whose side they're on. The side of criminals and not regular people," Caruana Galizia wrote on social media. In her ruling, the judge noted that the length of time Fenech has been held in preventive custody could no longer be ignored despite the persistence of previous misgivings over bail. Fenech's previous bail applications have always been turned down because the court agreed with the prosecution that he constituted a flight risk and out of fear that he could tamper with evidence. But there is also a legal limit that a person can be kept in custody without going on trial and that limit was fast approaching. Nonetheless, in her ruling on Friday, Grima said the guarantees offered by the accused were "very strong" when compared to the serious nature of the crime he is charged with. Fenech's bail was secured against a deposit of €80,000 and a personal guarantee of €120,000. He also provided the court with a fixed address in Swie- qi where he will be residing on his own. Aunty's shareholding guarantee Fenech's adherence to bail conditions was also se- cured against a guarantee made by his aunty, Moira Fenech, who put up her 15.46% shareholding in Tu- mas Group Company as collateral. The sharehold- ing would be forfeited to the government if Yorgen Fenech breaches bail conditions. Company filings show that Moira Fenech has a direct shareholding of 13.4% in Tumas Group and a further indirect shareholding of 2.1% through shares held in TGI Ltd. Although the court decree does not put a value to Moira Fenech's shareholding, the latest compa- ny documents from 2022 show that Tumas Group Company has a net asset value of €339 million. Moira Fenech's shareholding at 15.46% is thus worth at least €52 million. According to the court decree, Moira Fenech has also inherited an equivalent shareholding from her sister who passed away, which would double the val- ue of her holdings. Financial analysts have told MaltaToday the value of Moira Fenech's shareholding is "prudent" since it does not take into account the company's perfor- mances in 2023 and 2024. It also does not include the revaluation of assets that would have appreci- ated since 2022 and excludes undistributed profits from ventures where the Tumas Group does not have a controlling stake such as Valletta Gateway Terminals, a port operator in the Grand Harbour. "The real value of Moira Fenech's shareholding to- day is probably worth double what it is if one takes into consideration assets held in companies where the company is a minority shareholder and the fact that property would have appreciated in value over the past two years," an analyst told MaltaToday. Legal sources have described the bail conditions imposed on Fenech as the most onerous they have ever seen in terms of value. "The shareholding runs into millions of euros, something I have never come across in my legal career," a lawyer with vast experi- ence in the criminal field said. Yorgen Fenech's bail conditions Apart from the financial guarantees and deposit, the judge imposed several conditions on Yorgen Fenech. His passport and identity documents are withheld by the court and is prevented from board- ing any boat, ship and aircraft. Fenech cannot be within 50m of the coast or the perimeter of the air- port and has to sign the bail book daily at the St Ju- lian's police station between noon and 4pm. The court also imposed a curfew on Fenech, who cannot exit the residence indicated by him between 5pm and 11am. The court also ordered the Police Commissioner to provide a 24-hour fixed point sur- veillance outside the residence. Crucially, the judge prohibited Fenech from ap- proaching or trying to communicate in any way, even through third parties, with any of the prose- cution witnesses, specifically, pardoned middleman Melvin Theuma and former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri. Fenech is also barred from communicating with the relatives of Daphne Caruana Galizia with the judge issuing a protection order in their favour. Fenech was not released on bail on Friday because the administrative work needed to secure Moira Fenech's shares in favour of the government still had to be completed. The process may take sev- eral days and it is only after this is completed that Yorgen Fenech can be released from the Corradino Correctional Facility. 'They had five years to fix the system and did nothing' Yorgen Fenech