FORMER MGA CEO HEATHCLIFF FARRUGIA CHARGED OVER LINKS TO YORGEN FENECH

Former Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) CEO, Heathcliff Farrugia, has been charged following a criminal investigation into his links with disgraced Maltese business tycoon Yorgen Fenech. 

Farrugia resigned from the MGA in October 2020, shortly after being initially questioned by police over communications with Fenech. According to the Times of Malta, he was then formally charged in January 2021 – though news of the investigation and charges were apparently covered up because of its potential to damage the image of Malta as a gaming jurisdiction.

One of Malta’s most prominent business owners and former CEO of Tumas Gaming and the Portomaso Casino, Fenech was seized by police and the Armed Forces of Malta back in November 2019, while trying to flee the island on his yacht. 

He is suspected of being the mastermind behind the October 2017 car bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia – the investigative journalist who exposed Maltese involvement in the so-called ‘Panama Papers’ scandal.

Reports suggest that Fenech and Farrugia had been communicating “at some length”, and had specifically discussed sensitive commercial information about other gaming operators, along with an anti-money laundering inspection at the Portomaso Casino.

In January 2021, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) appointed Dr Carl Brincat as its new Chief Executive Officer. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Obviously, it is inappropriate to comment on specific ongoing criminal proceedings, but judging from Maltese media reports, it does seem that Fenech had extensive political and regulatory connections. 

For example, former Planning Authority chairman and current Malta Tourism Authority CEO, Johann Buttigieg, is also now facing calls to resign over his links to Fenech. The former Chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), Joseph Cuschieri, also resigned ahead of an investigation into a free trip he took to Las Vegas with Fenech in May 2018. Interestingly, Fenech and Cuschieri were also reportedly joined in Vegas by Edwina Licari, who was a senior official at the MGA at the time, and is now with the MFSA.

And, yes, people are now screaming “Muscat” and innumerable other names at the screen. But, we really don’t have the time (or security budget) to go down that rabbit hole. Of course, the list could go on and on, but if political intrigue and corruption in Malta is of interest, you might want to check out local independent media like theshiftnews.com.

We’ll just say, the whole Zimbabwe-Malta gaming regulator relationship seems more fitting now.