Trail of misery, lies and debts left behind after Terence Gialanze disappearance

A man who vanished in November 2012 was in business with two brothers who were arrested in connection with Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, a MaltaToday investigation can reveal.

Terence Gialanze, 24, was last seen seven years ago in Luqa and nobody, including family members, have heard of him since. He is considered by the police as a missing person although it is not known whether he is still alive.

MaltaToday can reveal that four weeks before disappearing, Gialanze had disposed of his shares in a company he jointly owned with Żebbuġ brothers Adrian and Robert Agius.

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The Agius brothers, known by the family nickname Tal-Maksar, were among 10 people arrested in a police raid as part of the Caruana Galizia murder investigation in December 2017. They were later released, while three men – George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat – were charged with the murder.

Gialanze’s disappearance remains shrouded in mystery but court documents reveal how the young man left a trail of debt behind him and victims who were sweet-talked into acting as guarantors for loans he took to finance his business and lavish lifestyle.

At the time of his disappearance, Gialanze was also being chased by HSBC over missed repayments on two personal loans running into hundreds of thousands of euros.

Company documents show that Gialanze set up Globe International Enterprises Ltd with the Agius brothers in 2009 to import and export beverages, detergents, cosmetics, toiletries, sanitary ware and food.

Shareholding was split equally between the three men and the company was headquartered at the Żebbug office belonging to Adrian and Robert Agius.

Adrian Agius was appointed sole director and had to represent the company in all its dealings, leaving little doubt as to who was calling the shots in the partnership.

However, on 2 November 2012, company records show that Gialanze transferred his shareholding (2,000 shares) to Imora Holdings Ltd, belonging to Adrian Agius.

Then on 9 November, Gialanze made a €7,000 lump sum payment on his HSBC home loan after having defaulted on repayments for almost a year.

The young man who boasted with friends of living in a villa in Bidnija, owned a 40-foot Sunseeker boat moored at Portomaso Marina, and a Bentley, among other luxury cars, went missing on 27 November.

On 3 December 2012, Gialanze’s black Fiat 500 was found parked in Qawra with no sign of a break-in. It is understood that the car had been parked in the same spot for five days.

In a 2017 affidavit, forming part of a case in which Bank of Valletta is chasing Gialanze and a guarantor for money it is owed, Gialanze’s father, William Gialanze, said: “I do not know where my son is. He may have escaped from Malta.”

Gialanze’s Russian wife and his step-sister also told the court in separate cases that they did not know where their next of kin was.

The man’s disappearance remains a mystery but it also raises serious question marks as to how a 24-year-old could have had easy access to bank finance, which he used to sustain his over the top lifestyle.

In a blogpost in 2014, two years after the disappearance, Daphne Caruana Galizia described Gialanze as an “associate” of Adrian Agius, alleging that he was involved in criminal activity.

She did not elaborate further but today’s revelations establish for the first time a direct business link between Gialanze and the Agius brothers.