Daphne Foundation welcomes Keith Schembri’s arrest: ‘Action long overdue’

Daphne Caruana Galizia would still be alive today had Malta’s institutions worked effectively from the start, her family foundation said as it welcomed Keith Schembri’s arrest.

“We welcome the arrest of Keith Schembri, the former prime minister’s chief of staff, on suspicions of serious financial crime. The action against Schembri and his money laundering network is long overdue,” the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation said on Tuesday.

Schembri was arrested by the police in the early hours of Tuesday in relation to a criminal investigation prompted by a magisterial inquiry into claims that the former government official had received kickbacks from the sale of Maltese citizenship. The Attorney General on Monday asked the court to freeze all Schembri's assets, along with those of Nexia BT's Brian Tonna and Karl Cini.

READ ALSO: Criminal Court issues freezing order on Schembri, Tonna, families and business accounts

Caruana Galizia first revealed Schembri received kickbacks on the sale of Maltese passports, and laundered the proceeds through his network, on 24 April 2017.

“For three and a half years, the Malta Police Force and the Attorney General failed in their legal obligations to act against Schembri. A magistrate’s inquest conducted in secret, whose findings remain secret, is no substitute for justice. Had Malta’s institutions worked effectively from the start, Daphne would be alive today and the country would have been spared years of ​pain, grief, and shame,” the foundation said.

Caruana Galizia was murdered on 16 October 2017 in a car bomb just after leaving her Bidnija house. Police believe she was killed because of something she was going to write about.

Three men have been charged with executing the assassination and businessman Yorgen Fenech stands accused of masterminding the murder.

Fenech had business plans through his Dubai company 17 Black with Schembri, the powerful chief of staff in Joseph Muscat's administration.