Former Porticello chef under freezing order

The former chef-patron at Porticello, the Valletta restaurant operated by Darren Debono, is the subject of a freezing order, according to court documents.

The Asset Recovery Bureau announced the freezing order on 9 June 2021, given by the Court of Criminal Inquiry presided over by Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras.

The inquiry named Marvin Schembri, 44, and chef Patrizio Cassar, 40, as subjects of the temporary attachment order.

MaltaToday understands that Marvin Schembri had been a chef-patron at the Valletta restaurant Sciacca Grill, a restaurant owned by Kasco Foods, a company belonging to former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri. The restaurant was later sold to a new operator.

Marvin Schembri later was a shareholder in the operation running the Capo Crudo restaurant in Valletta.

But soon after he also took up a head position at the Porticello restaurant, a premises under American trading sanctions due its ownership’s role in a €30 million oil smuggling operation. Since then, several other restaurateurs connected to Darren Debono, have been charged with money laundering offences.

Schembri was at one point the founding shareholder of the company MS1 Catering, which ran the Porticello operation, before transferring his shares to Debono’s daughter-in-law Florinda Sultana in January 2020.

In the community, Schembri paid it forward during the COVID lockdown by teaming up with a number of food suppliers to support the Filipino community in Malta facing dwindling supplies and fewer job opportunities. After Maltese suppliers and restaurants reached out to offer their support, Schembri began picking up supplies from all over Malta and delivering it to the community. The migrant community had praised his generosity.