Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/744537
7 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and four months in jail for mafia association, particularly for his role as a cashier for the Capriati clan of Puglia's organised crime syndicate, the Sa- cra Corona Unita. According to the report by Matteo Civilini and Craig Shaw, the Martiradonna family appears to have dodged the seizure of its British assets by moving the Bet1128 franchise to Malta in November 2009, when Operation Domino start- ed closing in on them. A month later, Martiradonna and his two sons Michele and Francesco were arrested on fraudulent transfer charges, but for which they were later acquitted in 2012. Francesco was also charged with cocaine trafficking, for which he first received a 12-year sentence but was later absolved on ap- peal. According to the report, when in the November 2009 sale the British company Paradise Bet sold Bet1128 and 11 other assets to the Malta-based CenturionBet, Michele Martira- donna was then the primary shareholder from 2005 until his arrest in December 2009. While the Martiradonna family denies any connection to the Maltese company, the journalists together with the sup- port of the IRPI network (Investigative Reporting Project Italy) uncovered evidence that suggests otherwise. While family members are not listed as owners or directors of the company, Martiradonna's two sons have listed themselves on networking site LinkedIn as managers of several gam- bling operations that, according to Malta's business registry, operate from the same address as CenturionBet. Throughout its existence, CenturionBet's ownership has shifted from one British Virgin Islands company to another, with the stated beneficial owner listed as Antonio Buon- tempo, who happens to be a former Paradise Bet employee and a director of a company that shared an address with Paradise Bet. And in phone conversations intercepted by the Italian police before the November 2009 sale, Francesco Martira- donna repeatedly discussed moving Paradise Bet's assets to Malta and once suggested using nominee directors to do this, according to Italian arrest warrants obtained by IRPI. The Martiradonna family's lawyer, Giancarlo Chiarello, has denied that Vito Martiradonna's children had anything to do with the Maltese company. "The company Centurion- Bet has never been the subject of a criminal investigation," Chiarello said. "And I am not aware that Francesco Martira- donna played a role in its corporate structure." On its part, the Malta Gaming Authority has taken excep- tions at suggestions that the alleged associates of the Marti- radonna family found it easy to move their betting compa- nies in the "gaming paradise" that is Malta. "The inference in the article that Malta has lax oversight is totally untrue and unfounded," executive chairperson Jo- seph Cuschieri told this newspaper when asked to comment on the findings. "Our standards of due diligence, technical standards and regulatory oversight are world class and go beyond what other European gaming regulators perform. Furthermore, it is also untrue and misleading to allege that Malta is used by online gambling companies to operate illegally in Italy." Cuschieri said that Centurionbet Ltd currently holds one class 2 (sports betting) remote gaming licence. "In view of the fact that this company is a licensed entity all supervisory and compliance checks in their regard would be conducted in line with the MGA's internal policies and procedures. Needless to say, the MGA conducts its own ongoing local and international media scanning and investigates any such allegations seriously; taking action when required and based on evidence and analysis." According to company registry records, Centurionbet Ltd had at one point in its establishment in 2009 used the ser- vices of a former Gaming Authority legal and enforcement director, the lawyer Anthony Axisa, as director. In 2013, Centurionbet moved its offices to 119, Sliema Road, Gzira – the same address that housed the gaming offices of the 'Ndrangheta's betting franchise Betuniq, that had culminat- ed in the extradition of six Italian nationals, among them the mafia turncoat Mario Gennaro. mvell@mediatoday.com.mt maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2016 News TIM DIACONO POLITICIANS from both sides of the divide laud their respective parties' achievements in improving the quality of public education, but there is perhaps no better litmus test to assess the true attitude of the political class towards state schools than to check whether they are will- ing to actually send their children to one of them. Tax returns obtained by Malta- Today show that 11 MPs – includ- ing the Prime Minister – claimed tax rebates for sending their chil- dren to private schools in 2014. Yet, most were reluctant to explain why they chose to send their children there and whether it reflects dis- satisfaction with the quality of state schools in the country. "The decision on our children's education, taken more than seven years ago, was purely a private mat- ter and a family decision as much as it is for every family in Malta," Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, a father of twins, told this newspaper. "It cannot be read otherwise." Yet national statistics show that 69% of primary and secondary- level children were enrolled at state schools during the 2013/14 scho- lastic year – a figure that does not include the children of the Prime Minister, nor of PL deputy leader Chris Cardona or the two PN dep- uty leaders, Beppe Fenech Adami and Mario de Marco. In earlier years, the children of both education minister Evarist Bartolo and the PN's education spokesperson, George Pullicino, were enrolled in church schools. The children of Opposition leader Simon Busuttil had attended a Eu- ropean School in Brussels, where their father used to work as an MEP between 2004 and 2013. It is practically impossible to quantitatively compare and con- trast the results of different schools on the island; the education minis- try recently refused MaltaToday's request for data showing how the students of individual schools fare in their 'O' Level exam, on the ground that the data would lead to school league tables that risks stigmatizing and labelling teachers and students from low-performing schools. This effectively means that par- ents' choices to send their children to independent or Church schools instead of to state schools is ulti- mately based on perception. Yet MPs who spoke to MaltaTo- day were all cautious not to criticise the public education system when asked why they had chosen a pri- vate education for their children. PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami said that the choice of his children's school should remain a private family matter, but insisted that he has "great respect for the public educational sector and the professionals who operate therein". Fellow PN deputy leader Mario de Marco said that his and his wife's choice to send their children to a private school was not based on malaise towards public education. "My wife and I considered differ- ent options and different schools before deciding on the school we sent our children to," he said. "Our choice was not based on whether other options or schools were worse or better but on the holistic education, ethos and environment provided. The school we chose was the school we felt could provide our children with the formal kind of holistic education and environment we wanted our children to have." While Labour MP Silvio Parnis appears as having claimed €900 in tax rebates for two consecutive years on private education, he said his choice did not reflect that he and his wife had anything against government schools. Possibly the most forthright re- sponse came from Labour MP Etienne Grech, who said that he had chosen to send his children to San Anton after hearing positive feedback from his peers who had also sent their children there. "After doing my research, my wife and I decided to bear the financial sacrifices and send our kids to this school," he said. "Our children were and are still happy about this decision and they were periodically asked by us how happy they are at school, and the answer was always positive." However, he insisted that the choice did not reflect distrust with public schools, recounting how a child had once asked for his opin- ion on whether he prefers govern- ment or church schools and how he had chosen the former. He added that his two older boys have now moved to government post-secondary education after graduating from secondary school. The tax returns also show that PL deputy leader and economy minis- ter Chris Cardona, competitiveness minister Manuel Mallia, parlia- mentary secretary for local coun- cils Stefan Buontempo, Opposition MPs Marthese Portelli and Claudio Grech, and Labour MP Luciano Busuttil send their children to pri- vate schools. In a joint reply from the PN, the party's spokesperson said that the MPs' decision to send their chil- dren to private schools was a purely personal matter. "The PN was, and still is, in favour of pluralism in edu- cation." tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt Tax returns for 2014 reveal that 11 MPs send their children to private schools. MaltaToday asked them whether this betrays a lack of faith in the public education system MPs reticent on why they chose private education for their children Italian police tapped phone conversations where Malta relocation of suspect assets was discussed 17-OTT-2016 Estratto da pag. 6 a cura dell'Ufficio Stampa e Comunicazione 'Bari calling Malta: Little Vito and online gambling' reads the headline in Il Fatto Quotidiano, and on its front page, the newspaper says: 'The company the scent of mafia finds a new home in Malta' MP 2014 rebates 2013 rebates De Marco, Mario -€ 3,200 -€ 3,900 Fenech Adami, Beppe -€ 4,600 -€ 3,200 Grech, Claudio -€ 2,900 -€ 6,900 Grech, Etienne -€ 3,900 -€ 2,900 Mallia, Emmanuel -€ 3,607 -€ 6,200 Muscat, Joseph -€ 3,200 -€ 3,122 Parnis, Silvio -€ 900 -€ 3,200 Portelli, Marthese -€ 1,600 -€ 900 Puli, Clyde -€ 700 -€ 1,600 MPs who claimed rebates