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Businessman Yorgen Fenech who once had ties to Malta's BestPlay Gaming Ltd on trial accused of complicity in journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia voluntary homicide and criminal association.
Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb in 2017.
The trial is ongoing and featured testimony from Fenech's former business partner, Johann Cremona, who claimed that a middleman the two knew confiding in him about his role in the assassination plot.
VALLETTA, Malta (Gambling911.com) - Malta's BestPlay Gaming Ltd continues to play prominently in the ongoing trial of Yorgen Fenech.
In November 2019 Fenech was arrested as a suspect in the 2017 murder of the investigative-journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. He stands charged with complicity in her voluntary homicide and criminal association.
Fenech is a prominent Maltese businessman and former CEO of the Tumas Group, a conglomerate with interests in hotels, real estate, energy, and gaming. While not accused of personally carrying out the killing of Caruana Galizia, prosecutors allege that Fenech masterminded and commissioned her assassination.
The prosecution's theory is that Caruana Galizia's investigations threatened Fenech's business interests.
Fenech has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
During Fenech's murder trial, Johann Cremona repeatedly referred to Fenech as his business partner and testified that they ran t BestPlay Gaming Ltd. together.
Court evidence included lease agreements, rent receipts and company records involving BestPlay Gaming and Melvin Theuma, the self-confessed middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination case. Those documents were introduced to establish relationships and chronology, not to accuse the company of participating in the murder.
Cremona admitted on Tuesday that he did not want Theuma to go to the police because he feared the fallout from the Galizia murder investigation would destroy his business and cost him “everything”.
The businessman told jurors that Theuma became increasingly unstable after confiding in him about his role in the assassination plot. Theuma received a presidential pardon.
Despite intimidation and threats, libel suits and other lawsuits, Caruana Galizia continued to publish articles for decades. She was even arrested by the Malta Police Force on two occasions.
On 16 October 2017, Caruana Galizia was assassinated nearby her home when a car bomb was detonated inside her vehicle, attracting widespread local and international condemnation of the attack.
A neighbour, Francis Sant, testified that he was driving in the opposite direction and saw Galizia coming towards him moments before the explosion.
“I realised that from the person inside it – I felt that something had happened to her. She appeared panicked.”
Sant said he stopped his car, then he described what appears to have been a two-stage explosion. The first detonation left the victim conscious and in fear for her life, he said.
“She wasn’t right. I thought, what’s wrong with her? A few seconds passed – things happened so fast. I saw the first spark, under her car, like a festa [celebration] firework going off. She was still conscious. I heard her scream. Her window was open, maybe in panic she tried to roll down her window and get out.
“When that first spark happened. I think she either felt something, maybe the bomb device activating. She realised something was very wrong.
“Then, a big explosion came out through the windscreen.
“The car went out of control. The second explosion tore it apart. It flew into the field, where another fireball formed … The car was literally shredded.”
Sant said he got out of his car but did not immediately call emergency services.
“I knew there was no hope. I didn’t even think of my phone.”
The government’s handling of the investigation led to mass protests and ultimately to the resignation of the Maltese prime minister, Joseph Muscat.
The trial was briefly interrupted Wednesday due to power outages associated with an intense heat wave on the island.
BestPlay Gaming Ltd has become part of the evidentiary record in the Fenech murder trial because of historical business relationships involving Fenech and Cremona. However, there is no public indication that BestPlay Gaming Ltd itself has been charged with a crime or sanctioned by the Malta Gaming Authority.. The company remains licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority. The licence does not identify its current directors, CEO, shareholders, or management team.
Since his 2019 arrest, Fenech has ceased active involvement in his broader business interests, and nothing in the current court proceedings indicates he is still involved with the company.
Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com
