VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Attorney General’s office has referred a request for an investigation into suspected perjury by Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech to the Police Commissioner.

The request was made by Nationalist MEP David Casa and concerns testimony Fenech gave under oath during his trial for the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Casa has questioned Fenech’s claim that Electrogas and 17 Black were entirely unrelated, describing them as “apples and oranges”.

In his request, Casa cited documentary and financial evidence concerning 17 Black, its ownership, alleged payment arrangements and links to Electrogas.

Fenech owns 17 Black, a Dubai-registered company whose ownership was exposed in 2018. Financial documents had identified the company as a “target client” of Panama companies linked to former energy minister Konrad Mizzi and former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s chief of staff Keith Schembri.

The relationship between 17 Black and Electrogas was a key issue during Fenech’s 55-day trial, with prosecutors arguing that Caruana Galizia’s investigations into the two provided a possible motive for her murder.

Fenech denied the allegation and told the jury that the two entities were unrelated.

He was acquitted earlier this month of complicity in Caruana Galizia’s murder and of association with others to commit a crime in Malta.

The nine-member jury returned an eight-to-one not-guilty verdict on both counts.

The prosecution is expected to appeal the acquittal within the 15-working-day deadline, potentially seeking a retrial over issues concerning the jury trial process.

Casa has called for Fenech’s full testimony to be examined against banking records, communications and other evidence.

Separately, Judge Edwina Grima ordered evidence given by witnesses during the trial to be sent to the Police Commissioner to determine whether criminal proceedings against third parties should be initiated.

She also ordered the trial proceedings and related documents to be included in the ongoing magisterial inquiry into Caruana Galizia’s murder.

Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb attack in Bidnija in October 2017. Nine years later, the mastermind behind the murder remains unidentified.

– photo IPA Agency –

(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews