Police look into bomb target’s thriving business

Investigating police officers will open a line of inquiry into the business activities of Sandro Ciliberti, whose companies Hangman and Al-Nibras won various public tenders in 2015 for the provision of school equipment and furniture.

Ciliberti, 45, was targeted with an explosive device on Friday, which was placed near the garage of the businessman, known affectionately as ‘ic-Chilly’. The blast took place in Triq Ġnien Xibla, Xagħra, at 3:50am. The businessman and his partner, Alexandra Bosios, who own the company Hangman Ltd, were inside the garage but no one was injured.

Sources who spoke to MaltaToday said that in their search for leads, criminal investigators are looking at the scale of public tenders clinched by Ciliberti’s company Hangman over the past year.

Ciliberti is also the sole registered owner of Al-Nibras, a company specialising in the procurement of scientific products, chemicals and labware for pharmaceutical and petro-chemical companies, research centres and government institutions.

Both companies were focused on the supply of lab equipment and school furniture to state schools, clinching some €2 million in public contracts since 2013, 75% of which were won in 2015.

In the first half of last year, Ciliberti’s companies clinched 21 procurement contracts won by public tender after submitting cheap and competitive offers: they included the supply of lab refrigerators, furniture and spectrophotometers for the Water Services Corporation, office furniture for the University of Malta, the Gozo Sixth Form, and various state schools. Most of the contracts were won in June and July.

Ciliberti’s two companies were also listed as among the main suppliers in state schools, according to information laid in parliament by education minister Evarist Bartolo.

In all, Al-Nibras and Hangman are together listed 54 times as suppliers for products and services to 36 state schools.

“When a successful businessman is targeted in such a heinous manner, it is only obvious that investigators look into his interests to try and identity any potential adversaries,” a police source told this newspaper.

TVM.com.mt yesterday said that two men had been held for questioning by the CID. The Times yesterday also reported that investigators were also looking into a beach concession in Comino which Ciliberti was awarded last summer by the Malta Tourism Authority for the hiring of umbrellas and deckchairs at Santa Marija Bay in Comino. The contract was won by Ciliberti following a bidding process which saw 16 submissions. Weeks after starting operations, the businessman claimed that part of his property in Comino was damaged in an arson attack.

The blast on Friday damaged a Mercedes Benz and a Ford Transit that were parked in front of the garage. The blast failed to detonate four large gas cylinders inside the garage.