Judge offers to abstain from Daphne inquiry after husband linked to property deal involving Yorgen Fenech

Judge Abigail Lofaro is willing to abstain from the Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry in the wake of her husband’s professional involvement in a property deal concerning Yorgen Fenech.

In a statement released this morning, Lofaro said that she “is willing to abstain” from the inquiry board “to avoid any shadow of doubt” on her participation.

However, she stopped short of resigning, insisting she will continue to serve on the board “as long as the State and the Daphne Caruana Galizia family declare that they trust her impartiality, independence and integrity”.

MaltaToday and The Sunday Times of Malta yesterday reported that Lofaro’s husband, Pierre Lofaro, acted as the representative for the seller in a May 2019 promise-of-sale agreement for a property in Mdina that murder suspect Yorgen Fenech was going to buy. 

READ ALSO: Yorgen’s €3.1 million Mdina deal, Rosianne Cutajar, and the judge’s husband

The deal fell through, and Labour junior minister Rosianne Cutajar is now being chased for a €50,000 broker’s fee she was paid in cash, but which the seller claims has not been returned.

Pierre Lofaro, on behalf of his client, was the one who chased Cutajar and her aide for the broker’s fee. Lofaro resigned as director of the fiduciary company on 20 January 2020 – just over a month after his wife Judge Abigail Lofaro, was tasked to sit on the public inquiry board into the Caruana Galizia assassination.

In her statement on Monday, Judge Abigail Lofaro said she only got to know of the “allegations and insinuations” mentioned in the newspaper articles on 19 December 2020 – a day before they were published.

She said that none of the “allegations and insinuations” mentioned in the articles warranted recusal according to law. 

“While I refute any allegation or insinuation made in my regard in terms of my participation in the public inquiry as untrue, I declare that I am ready to abstain from being a member of the inquiry board to avoid any shadow of doubt,” she said.

Meanwhile, lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who is representing the Caruana Galizia family said the family had “absolute trust in the integrity, impartiality and independence of Abigail Lofaro and every other member of the board”.

Public inquiry sitting behind closed doors

A sitting of the public inquiry was held behind closed doors this morning to hear a witness testify. This newspaper is informed that Judge Lofaro withdrew from the hearing.

The public inquiry's next scheduled hearing is at the end of January.