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Karl Schembri
Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech confirmed that the Maltese trader of Mesopotamian artefacts and Maltese antiquities, Joseph Schembri, has been under investigation following an Interpol alert.
Unmasked by MaltaToday, the minister said last Monday in Parliament that the Cultural Heritage Superintendent was collaborating with the police on Schembri’s case after they were notified about his dubious internet deals by Interpol.
Replying to a Parliamentary Question by Labour MP Evarist Bartolo, Zammit Dimech said: “The superintendence is informed that the case was already being investigated before it was publicised in the press after an Interpol alert. The police have other similar cases under investigation.”
Bartolo asked the minister whether the superintendence had actually verified that the items being auctioned by Schembri on eBay highlighted by Interpol and international heritage authorities had been found and verified as authentic but the minister did not reply. He said: “The superintendence collaborates fully on such cases when asked to establish the authenticity and provenance of items such as these.”
Home Affairs Tonio Borg on the other hand refused to answer all of Bartolo’s parliamentary questions about the progress in investigations. He just said: “This case is still being investigated by the police and therefore I don’t think it’s appropriate that details about this are published.”
MaltaToday revealed that Schembri was allowed to leave Malta unchecked on 21 April while under investigation and has since there failed to return from abroad. He last made contact with MaltaToday via email from the UK.
The Mellieha resident was on Iraq Museum International’s alert list last month as he was trading anonymously a set of Babylonian cylinders and stamp seals dating around 1,000 BC believed to have been looted from Iraq, together with other historical items from Malta under the name of “qvadricavincente”.
karl@newsworksltd.com
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