Police question Freeport CEO over Charles Polidano case

The private sector operator believed to have been part of an allegedly illicit inducement by construction magnate Charles Polidano, is Alex Montebello, the CEO of Malta Freeport Terminals.

Montebello and his wife were questioned by police in an ongoing investigation which has seen Polidano and his son Gordon being arrested and interrogated on Friday morning, over suspicions of corruption and money laundering.

The alleged incident would date back to the time when Montebello was chief financial officer at Malta Freeport Terminals. MaltaToday is informed that the investigation was spurred by inexplicable amounts of money in Montebello’s personal accounts.

The case was then handled by the police financial crimes investigation department (FCID). The alleged corruption would have taken place through the sale of a property.

Polidano Group categorically denied any wrongdoing, in a statement sent to this newsroom saying it was assisting the authorities in verifying payments made to the company in 2014, involving a public deed.

“The Group is confident the authorities will be satisfied once these verifications have taken place. The Group will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities,” Polidano Group said.

This is not Polidano’s first brush with the law. Last year, Polidano was interrogated by police on alleged threats, use of force, bodily harm and revenge porn. Months before this, he was served with a number of court documents ordering him to pay a massive €40 million bill, some of which stretches back to the 1990s. 

In 2021 he was fined €22,000 over animal welfare breaches at his Montekristo Estates zoo in Siggiewi. He had initially pleaded not guilty but eventually filed an admission.

Montebello joined Malta Freeport in 1989, coinciding with the company’s initial establishment. Montebello has been the CEO of Malta Freeport Terminals since 2014, also serving as a board member on the Malta Maritime Forum, as well as one of the directors of the AS Hibernians football team, according to company records.

Malta Freeport Terminals is the private company that runs the transhipment hub in Birzebbugia. The company was privatised by the State in 2004. The company is owned by Terminal Link, the Turkish Yildirim Group, shipping line CMA CGM, and China’s lagest terminal operator, China Merchants Port Holdings.