Electrogas deal must be scrapped - Daphne Foundation

The Daphne Foundation is is continuing calls for government to scrap the Electrogas deal altogether, following revelations that one of its shareholders had an offshore company akin to Yorgen Fenech's 17 Black.

Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family had written to Siemens AG asking the company to sue for the Electrogas contracts to be rescinded, on the basis that they were procured by corruption. Daphne paid with her life to reveal the corruption behind the deals.

"Today we reiterate our call to Siemens and also call on the Government of Malta and the Opposition to commit to scrapping the Electrogas deals. Our leaders must stand for the public interest instead of the private interest of the criminals who profit off us all."

The Times of Malta reported on Sunday that Paul Apap Bologna incorporated a company called "Kittiwake" in Ajman only two months after Yorgen Fenech incorporated 17 Black.

Both companies were set up in the United Arab Emirates.

Apap Bologna replaced Yorgen Fenech as a director of the Electrogas company after Fenech was arrested and charged with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

He is a shareholder in the project and received a "success fee" when the government awarded the tender to the consortium.

Kittiwake is among the companies being investigated in a money laundering probe linked to Fenech and the Panama companies that had been acquired by former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi.

In February 2017, days before Caruana Galizia first mentioned 17 Black on her blog, Kittiwake wired $200,000 to 17 Black’s sister company Wings Investments, according to the report.

Five days before the Kittiwake transfer, company-of-interest EN3 Projects wired $300,000 to Wings Investments.  

17 Black’s name was changed to Wings Development one month after the transfers took place.