Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/963162
maltatoday SUNDAY 8 APRIL 2018 2 News MATTHEW VELLA A preliminary court hearing in Catania on charges of fuel smug- gling against the former Malta international footballer Darren Debono has been postponed to April 20. The businessman and restaura- teur was arrested on the island of Lampedusa in October last year, on charges that have also landed him on an American trade black- list. Debono and his businesses, as well as other accomplices, were blacklisted in a fresh round of sanctions by the US Treasury De- partment, aimed at blocking the trafficking of oil from Libya. His seafood restaurant in the Marsamxett port of Valletta, Scoglitti, was also hit by the US Treasury Department blacklist. But this week, the restaurant – which has been shuttered since Debono's arrest – was preparing to reopen under a new name: Por- ticello, which like Scoglitti, is a Si- cilian town. MaltaToday was unable to es- tablish whether Debono still re- tains the trading licence of the new restaurant, or whether it has passed on to a close associate. While in Catania, Debono re- mains under house arrest. His lawyer said he is not required to sign at a police station, and ex- pressed confidence that some of the more serious charges against his client could be downgraded. Debono will next face a prelimi- nary court hearing before a 'GUP' judge, in a court hearing that is akin to a compilation of evidence sitting. The GUP is to decide whether the evidence is sufficient to take the case forward for hear- ing before another judge. Debono was arrested in October following an investigation by Ital- ian police into a racket where Lib- yan 'smuggling king' Fahmi Bin Khalifa supplied smuggled Libyan fuel through Debono's ships, to an Italian merchant. Debono is believed to have used his fleet of fishing vessels to trans- port the smuggled fuel out of Libya so that it could be sold in Italian ports. The crime syndicate included Maltese businessman Gordon Debono, who was arrest- ed in Catania, and Nicola Orazio Romeo, said to be a Siclian Mafia associate. The trade blacklist by the US Treasury Department's office of foreign asset control hit Dar- ren Debono, Gordon Debono, Rodrick Grech and Terence Mi- callef in a list of six individuals, 24 companies and seven vessels. They included Debono's vessels, the Maltese companies that acted as clearing houses for the oil tran- shipments, as well as his own Val- letta restaurant, Scoglitti. The €30-million fuel racket was dismantled by Italian police in- vestigators who had been inter- cepting phone-calls from Darren Debono for two years. He is suspected of having been the crucial link that made possible the transportation of smuggled Libyan oil to Italian markets, with the help of Gordon Debono to is- sue false invoices. The investigators said Darren Debono and Gordon Debono would participate in "summits" in Italy with broker Marco Porta, and then meet Bin Khalifa in Libya. In a bid to hide the illicit origin of the fuel being bunkered out at sea, Gordon Debono would use the company Petroplus Ltd to is- sue false invoices; while Darren Debono and Romeo would use the company Oceano Blu Trad- ing Ltd, as well as other offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands, to hide the flow of money used to pay Bin Khalifa. Once the fuel was bunkered at sea, and then acquired by Marco Porta's Maxcom Bunker SpA in Italy, Porta would use false documentation issued by Petro- plus, to hide the origin of the fuel – documents which were, pos- sibly unknowingly, validated by the Libyan-Maltese Chamber of Commerce. Debono was also intercepted coordinating the movements of the ships involved in the bunker- ing of the Libyan oil, showing how he had a handle on the shipping movements carrying the smug- gled fuel. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Arrested footballer's Valletta restaurant, blacklisted by the Americans, to change name KURT SANSONE THE election of a special rapporteur on Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination is on the agenda of the Council of Eu- rope's parliamentary assembly later this month. A motion for a resolution was tabled last January by Dutch MP Pieter Omtzigt and 113 others from all political groups, calling for international monitoring of the ongoing investigation into Caruana Galizia's murder. On 15 March, the motion titled, 'Daph- ne Caruana Galizia's assassination and the rule of law, in Malta and beyond: en- suring that the whole truth emerges', was referred by the bureau of the assembly to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Hu- man Rights. Günter Schirmer, head of the depart- ment of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, has confirmed that the election of a rap- porteur is on the agenda of the next par- liamentary assembly meeting on 23 April. The motion drawn up by Omtzigt gained widespread support and speaks of the responsibility of the international community to monitor the ongoing mur- der investigation. It also asks the assembly to ensure that all aspects surrounding the assassination are "thoroughly and impartially investi- gated by the authorities, without politi- cal interference suspected by numerous Maltese demonstrators". The motion says the examination must include a review of institutional failures and "the systematic targeting of Caruana Galizia for her work". It also urges the assembly to help shed light on the background of the crime in co-operation with the relevant Maltese authorities. Only last week, the committee of min- isters of the Council of Europe expressed confidence in the work being carried out by the Maltese authorities in their inves- tigation of the murder. The committee was replying to a ques- tion filed by Omtzigt, who asked whether it would be requesting explanations from the Maltese government on the "failure" of the police to investigate money laun- dering by government officials and ad- equately protect Caruana Galizia. The committee said it did not see any reason for taking additional measures, as the necessary investigations were being conducted by "independent judicial bod- ies and in full cooperation with all com- petent Council of Europe mechanisms in place". Caruana Galizia was killed on 16 Octo- ber last year in a powerful car bomb, just after leaving her house in Bidnija. Three men have been charged in court with the murder but those believed to have commissioned the crime are still at large. External monitor for Caruana Galizia murder investigation on Council of Europe's agenda Scoglitti restaurant, in Valletta, was hit by the US Treasury Department blacklist. As the sign says, the restaurant will change its name to Porticello, in a probable bid to skirt the OFAC blacklist