News • 3 November 2002

Magistrate Carol Peralta: the Worshipful Master of Masonic Lodge 387

PAOLA - It is now confirmed that Carol Peralta, the boisterous, flamboyant magistrate was the most senior freemason at the Leinster lodge No 387 LC at Villa Blye in Paola before being appointed magistrate. It is not known whether he still is a freemason. This fact is known to Justice Minister Austin Gatt who in recent weeks viewed documents confirming that Carol Peralta was indeed the Worshipful Master, W Brother C. Peralta of the Villa Blye lodge.

The documentation available to MaltaToday was made available to other newspapers namely The Malta Independent on Sunday but for reasons known best to that newspaper the story was never carried. Dr Austin Gatt when interviewed on a TV programme on PBS by former Nationalist information officer Lou Bondi, now a popular TV star, dismissed and ridiculed allegations made by this newspaper about Carol Peralta.

Dr Gatt did not stop here, he confirmed on PBS that he would take action if he had proof of the allegations.

The lodge which Magistrate Carol Peralta had led as Worshipful Master included other distinct members, including some very well known businessmen and lawyers. There are no known politicians in any of the two lodges, but MaltaToday has discovered individuals who were close to a former Labour minister now deceased. This also includes a very well known notary.

Though it is not unlawful to be a member in a secret society, the fact that freemasons meet in secrecy and pass through rigorous procedure before being accepted, fuels speculation about their true role.

Magistrate Peralta has always avoided rebutting his involvement in the freemasonry. And the Commission for the Administration of Justice seen by many as an ineffective commission to oversee justice in this country, has refused to take a proactive role in stamping out any links with freemasonry.