Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri associate had plans to profit from bottle refund scheme

Close of associate of Keith Schembri, Malcolm Scerri, and Yorgen Fenech had plans to profit from the recycling scheme, as early as October 2014

Yorgen Fenech (top left) and Malcom Scerri (top right) had planned to profit from the beverage container refund scheme
Yorgen Fenech (top left) and Malcom Scerri (top right) had planned to profit from the beverage container refund scheme

Malcolm Scerri, a close associate of former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and alleged mastermind of Daphne Caruana Galizia murder, Yorgen Fenech, had planned to profit from the beverage container recycling scheme.

The Times of Malta reported that Scerri and Fenech had set the ball rolling to profit from the bottle recycling scheme as early as October 2014, even before the government had formally announced any plans for the scheme.

Malta’s first plastic beverage container refund scheme went live on 14 November 2022 with the installation of 85% of the Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) by the licensed operator, BCRS Malta.

320 RVMs were installed across Malta and Gozo, allowing consumers to return empty beverage containers to the RVMs and get back the €0.10c deposit on each container, in the form of vouchers redeemable at retail outlets that sell such beverage containers. The refundable deposit of €0.10c is chargeable on each beverage container.

According to the investigation by TOM, Scerri had sent an email to Fenech, suggesting a meeting with “KS” (which are the initials of the former OPM chief of staff) over the tender call and the organisational structure of the recycling scheme.

The report states also that Fenech and Scerri had already drawn up a detailed cost-benefit analysis for running the bottle refund scheme in Malta, and one month later the government announced plans for a call for proposals for the operation.

Lawyers for Fenech denied suggestions that the former Tumas magnate had insider knowledge of the scheme and they insisted that Fenech was a businessman with interests in waste management, even though Tumas Group was never involved in the field.

Fenech was good friends with Keith Schembri and former disgraced Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, so much so that police had interrogated Muscat over the contents of a WhatsApp group chat between the trio.

Fenech is facing trial for allegedly masterminding the brutal murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.